Takeaways from the Missouri Tigers’ NCAA Tournament loss to Miami in St. Louis
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Miami outrebounded MU 46-30, 16-7 on offensive end, with 19-2 edge in 2nd-chance points.
- Mizzou shot 35% overall, 36% from 3-point range; Miami shot 43%, 46% from 3-point range
- Key Tigers struggled: Mitchell struggled early, Barrett was scoreless, Crews went 0-fer.
It was a physical, intense men’s basketball game between two evenly matched teams, but the Missouri Tigers could not get over the hump against Miami in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional on Friday night at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
The No. 10-seeded Tigers fell to the seventh-seeded Hurricanes 80-66, marking the second straight year that head coach Dennis Gates’ team has lost in the first round.
Mizzou was making its third NCAA appearance in four years.
Missouri hasn’t been to the Sweet 16 since the program’s 2009 Elite Eight run. The Hurricanes, who won just seven games last season, will play No. 2 seed Purdue on Sunday for a spot in this year’s Sweet 16.
Gates’ 2025-26 roster was one of the tallest in the country, but second-chance points and offensive rebounds eluded the Tigers on Friday. Miami outrebounded Mizzou 46-30, doubling up MU on the offensive end (16-7) and riding that dominance to a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points.
The heavily partisan Missouri crowd was boisterous and passionate throughout, making the setting feel almost like Mizzou Arena at times. But Miami was firmly in the driver’s seat all evening and MU rarely led.
The Tigers’ stars also had some of their worst performances of the season. All-SEC forward and Kansas City, Kansas native Mark Mitchell didn’t score for the first 15 minutes. He made no shots from the floor in the first half, eventually finishing with 19 points, three rebounds, five assists and five turnovers.
Miami bigs Malik Reneau (24 points, six rebounds) and Ernest Udeh (three points, 10 rebounds) — the latter a former Kansas Jayhawk — gave Mitchell fits in the paint, surrounding him each time he touched the ball. Tre Donaldson (17 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Shelton Henderson (15 points, six rebounds) led the athletic Hurricanes on both ends of the floor.
Mitchell gave Miami credit for clogging up the paint and giving him a difficult night. Miami’s rookie head coach Jai Lucas was an assistant at Duke when Mitchell played there.
“They have some big bodies. Jai knows my game pretty well,” Mitchell said. “Udeh is a really good defender along with him also throwing bodies at me. I was trying to get some passes out of the doubles early and things like that.
“But they built a wall that made it hard for me most of the games. Kudos to them. But it was a really good game. I couldn’t really get going there until late.”
Mitchell’s first bucket came nearly halfway through the second half and got him rolling. He hit a 3-pointer to give Missouri a 54-52 lead with 7:45 remaining.
That was Mizzou’s second lead of the night; the first was 2-0. Momentum seemed to have shifted, but only momentarily. Miami went on an 11-0 run that effectively sealed the Tigers’ fate.
The game shifted back to Miami during that run, Gates said, while the Hurricanes ended the second half shooting nearly 60% from the field.
“It wasn’t the second chance in the second half. It was the shooting percentage,” Gates said. “So it was the tale of two different halves.”
Mizzou shot 35% from the field and 36% from 3-point range; Miami was 43% from the field and 46% from deep.
“We responded. We took the lead in the middle end of the second, but the most important part: We (weren’t) able to capitalize and get their shooting percentages down,” Gates said. “They made a concerted effort to get to the paint, and we (weren’t) able to build our wall accordingly.”
Mizzou guard T.O. Barrett was scoreless and benched in favor of junior Anthony Robinson II. The latter scored 11 points off the bench, hitting three 3-pointers. Jacob Crews went scoreless in six shots off the bench.
Gates made this decision because Miami continually switched defensive coverages.
“They went from zone to man, 3-2 to 2-3, and ultimately that’s why I went with Ant Robinson, more so because Ant could recognize those plays,” he said. “I thought their length obviously defensively helped them. But more importantly our bodies got to moving in the second half more so than in the first.”
Graduate guard Jayden Stone, one of Mizzou’s most experienced players, led the way with 21 points and six rebounds. Seven-footer Shaun Phillips Jr. had impactful moments, but only recorded six points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Gates is proud of the way he handled this season’s injuries, but still considers anything less than a national championship a failure. Stone returning to the lineup from a hand injury pushed them to be a contender, he said.
“In December, everyone wrote us off, like, ‘Oh, they’re not a tournament team and this and that,’” Mitchell said. “Obviously we lost and things like that, but to get to this point, a lot of people said it wasn’t possible. But we did, we looked each other in the mirror, didn’t worry about any outside noise. I think you can just take that into life, keep who is in your circle, who’s rocking with you, who is loving on you, and love them back and give energy back to them and good things will happen for you.”
Gates and his players are proud of their growth this season.
“Our season kind of had a major turnaround at the start of this year and just the bounce back,” Gates said. “It was kind of up in the air every game through the season ... not knowing what to expect, and I’m sure we kept the fans guessing of what was going to happen. But we knew collectively (to) just take one game at a time.”
Gates made a powerful declaration with his final postgame news conference of the season.
“My guys did not fail,” Gates said. “If you want to say something about failing, say Dennis Gates failed. I’ll take it any day of the week, with no hesitation, with my head high, and protect our locker room like I’ve always done from a mental standpoint, emotional standpoint.
“That’s why they are likely to be successful, likely to run through a wall for us, and they’ll always be welcome back to the city of CoMo and obviously welcome back as alumni of Missouri. ... Coaches come and go. But these players will always have a piece of Missouri in their hearts forever, and ultimately I’m proud of them.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2026 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Takeaways from the Missouri Tigers’ NCAA Tournament loss to Miami in St. Louis."
