NCAA men's basketball will turn its focus once again to the No. 4 Missouri Tigers on Saturday, as they host the No. 6 Baylor Bears in a monster Big-12 matchup. The first time these two teams met back on January 21 in Waco, TX, the Tigers pulled out an amazing 89-88 victory fueled by a career-high 27 points and 8 rebounds from Ricardo Ratliffe. This time around, Missouri seniors Marcus Denmon, Kim English and Steve Moore will look to tie a school record for victories by a class (100), and head coach Frank Haith believes the senior leadership has been a key to the Tigers' success this season:
"There's no way I thought we'd be 22-2 right now, to be honest with you," he said while speaking with reporters before practice on Thursday. "I think these guys have been amazing, and they've played great."
"I think that's what gives teams like Missouri a chance to be successful because we do have seniors because there are some programs obviously, they have those guys that are in and out," he said. "That's the great thing about college basketball is when you have a team that's very experienced, you have a chance to have a successful year because they stick around. But there's some teams that have done pretty good with those one-and-dones, too."
quotes via Steve Walentik of the Columbia Daily Tribune.
While Missouri tries to reach the top of the NCAA rankings, the St. Louis Billikens are focused on getting to the top of the A-10 Conference standings. They have an opportunity to create some separation from the La Salle Explorers and move up the standings if they can win on Saturday.
Here is some information to help you find the games this weekend.
The No. 4 Missouri Tigers (22-2, 9-2) host the No. 6 Baylor Bears (21-3, 8-3) in a huge Big 12 matchup on Saturday.
Game date, time: 12:30 p.m. CT, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012
Location: Mizzou Arena, Columbia, MO
TV: ESPN3, Big 12 Network
The St. Louis Billikens (19-5, 7-3) hit the road to take on the La Salle Explorers (17-8, 6-4) as they try to continue their climb in the A-10 conference standings:
Game date, time: 1:00 p.m. CT, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012
Location: Tom Gola Arena, Philadelphia, PA
TV: None
Visit SB Nation's NCAA Basketball Hub for more. For more on Missouri check out Rock M Nation.