UConn meets Missouri with Final Four berth on line
UConn meets Missouri with Final Four berth on line
Will the Price be right for the Huskies in tomorrow's Elite Eight contest, or will the Tigers give Jim Calhoun & Co. hell and send a No. 1 seed home for the first time in this year's Big Dance? UConn and Missouri meet on the hardwood for the first time ever Saturday with a ticket to the Final Four going to the victor. The Huskies' A.J. Price and Tigers guard J.T. Tiller present the game's most crucial matchup.
There will be no Memphis-UConn matchup at the Elite Eight.
The Huskies will be there, after dusting off Purdue 72-60 as 7-point favorites in Thursday’s Sweet 16 action. But Memphis will not play in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005 after dropping a 102-91 decision to the Missouri Tigers (+4). This sets up an outstanding battle between the Big 12 champions and one of the true beasts of the Big East.
The Tigers and Huskies have each been paid three times through three rounds of March Madness. Things were a lot different before the Tournament; UConn ended the regular season on a 1-5 ATS slide and fell to Syracuse (+5½) in the Big East tourney. Missouri, on the other hand, rolled into the postseason at 7-3 ATS and tacked on another three paydays en route to the Big 12 title.
One of the big stories of the Tournament so far is how dominant Connecticut has been, even in the face of adversity. Coach Jim Calhoun missed the first-round game when he was taken to hospital, and he now reportedly finds his program under NCAA investigation for possible recruitment violations. Adversity aside, the Huskies’ winning margins of late speak to the quality of their opposition: Chattanooga (+20) and Texas A&M (+10½) preceded Purdue. The Big East presented much tougher competition than that.
The difficulty level rises even higher for UConn this Saturday. The Tigers are ranked No. 6 in overall team efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy’s stats; Purdue is No. 18. UConn is No. 2 on the charts behind fallen Memphis. These rankings are based on the full season’s worth of numbers, all the way up through Thursday’s action, so Missouri’s hot streak has to be acknowledged before comparing the numbers.
Both these teams are relatively weak at shooting the 3-pointer: 35.5 percent for Missouri (No. 107 overall in Division I) and 34.5 percent for UConn (No. 135). The Huskies play to their strength by shooting very rarely from outside; Mizzou also likes to funnel the offense to Leo Lyons at center, where he’s one of the best in the nation at drawing contact.
Size and speed are the two most notable differences between the two clubs. The Tigers run a version of the “40 Minutes of Hell” offense that coach Mike Anderson picked up during his days assisting Nolan Richardson at Arkansas. Missouri has the No. 21-ranked pace in Division I at 71.2 possessions per game; UConn is no slowpoke at 67.9 possessions (No. 101), but slow enough to be a problem against the Tigers.
Connecticut’s advantage is in sheer height. We talk a lot about 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet, but the Huskies surround Thabeet with some serious frontcourt beef, especially Jeff Adrien (6-foot-7, 243 pounds) at small forward. Adrien adds 10.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game to his 13.9 points and is very good himself at drawing fouls – although his 60.1-percent success rate on free throws doesn’t help the Huskies capitalize. Neither team is very good from the stripe, but UConn enjoys the slimmest of advantages here at 67.5 percent to 67.4 for Missouri.
We certainly know both the Huskies and Tigers will come out with outstanding defense. This is where the larger Huskies present an obvious clash of styles with the Missouri press led by shooting guard J.T. Tiller. He’s one of the best in creating turnovers at 1.8 steals per game; however, the Huskies feature the sure-handed A.J. Price at point guard, and if Tiller can’t force Price to cough up the ball, Missouri will be up against it. This is one of the reasons the Tigers are ranked No. 309 out of 344 teams in consistency. UConn is a reliable No. 198 in comparison.
This is the first meeting between Missouri and Connecticut, so make sure to check out the betting odds quickly, while they’re vulnerable. Tipoff is at 4:40 p.m. Eastern on CBS.
Will the Price be right for the Huskies in tomorrow's Elite Eight contest, or will the Tigers give Jim Calhoun & Co. hell and send a No. 1 seed home for the first time in this year's Big Dance? UConn and Missouri meet on the hardwood for the first time ever Saturday with a ticket to the Final Four going to the victor. The Huskies' A.J. Price and Tigers guard J.T. Tiller present the game's most crucial matchup.
There will be no Memphis-UConn matchup at the Elite Eight.
The Huskies will be there, after dusting off Purdue 72-60 as 7-point favorites in Thursday’s Sweet 16 action. But Memphis will not play in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005 after dropping a 102-91 decision to the Missouri Tigers (+4). This sets up an outstanding battle between the Big 12 champions and one of the true beasts of the Big East.
The Tigers and Huskies have each been paid three times through three rounds of March Madness. Things were a lot different before the Tournament; UConn ended the regular season on a 1-5 ATS slide and fell to Syracuse (+5½) in the Big East tourney. Missouri, on the other hand, rolled into the postseason at 7-3 ATS and tacked on another three paydays en route to the Big 12 title.
One of the big stories of the Tournament so far is how dominant Connecticut has been, even in the face of adversity. Coach Jim Calhoun missed the first-round game when he was taken to hospital, and he now reportedly finds his program under NCAA investigation for possible recruitment violations. Adversity aside, the Huskies’ winning margins of late speak to the quality of their opposition: Chattanooga (+20) and Texas A&M (+10½) preceded Purdue. The Big East presented much tougher competition than that.
The difficulty level rises even higher for UConn this Saturday. The Tigers are ranked No. 6 in overall team efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy’s stats; Purdue is No. 18. UConn is No. 2 on the charts behind fallen Memphis. These rankings are based on the full season’s worth of numbers, all the way up through Thursday’s action, so Missouri’s hot streak has to be acknowledged before comparing the numbers.
Both these teams are relatively weak at shooting the 3-pointer: 35.5 percent for Missouri (No. 107 overall in Division I) and 34.5 percent for UConn (No. 135). The Huskies play to their strength by shooting very rarely from outside; Mizzou also likes to funnel the offense to Leo Lyons at center, where he’s one of the best in the nation at drawing contact.
Size and speed are the two most notable differences between the two clubs. The Tigers run a version of the “40 Minutes of Hell” offense that coach Mike Anderson picked up during his days assisting Nolan Richardson at Arkansas. Missouri has the No. 21-ranked pace in Division I at 71.2 possessions per game; UConn is no slowpoke at 67.9 possessions (No. 101), but slow enough to be a problem against the Tigers.
Connecticut’s advantage is in sheer height. We talk a lot about 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet, but the Huskies surround Thabeet with some serious frontcourt beef, especially Jeff Adrien (6-foot-7, 243 pounds) at small forward. Adrien adds 10.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game to his 13.9 points and is very good himself at drawing fouls – although his 60.1-percent success rate on free throws doesn’t help the Huskies capitalize. Neither team is very good from the stripe, but UConn enjoys the slimmest of advantages here at 67.5 percent to 67.4 for Missouri.
We certainly know both the Huskies and Tigers will come out with outstanding defense. This is where the larger Huskies present an obvious clash of styles with the Missouri press led by shooting guard J.T. Tiller. He’s one of the best in creating turnovers at 1.8 steals per game; however, the Huskies feature the sure-handed A.J. Price at point guard, and if Tiller can’t force Price to cough up the ball, Missouri will be up against it. This is one of the reasons the Tigers are ranked No. 309 out of 344 teams in consistency. UConn is a reliable No. 198 in comparison.
This is the first meeting between Missouri and Connecticut, so make sure to check out the betting odds quickly, while they’re vulnerable. Tipoff is at 4:40 p.m. Eastern on CBS.
