Takeaways from Missouri Tigers' NCAA Tournament loss to Miami in St. Louis

PJ Green, Kansas City Star on Mar 21, 2026

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ST. LOUIS — 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 Sixteen 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 round of 16.

Gates’ 2025-26 roster was one of the tallest in the country, but second-chance points and offensive rebounds eluded the Tigers Friday. Miami out-rebounded 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 throughout the game; 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’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 a bit, but only momentarily. Miami went on an 11-0 run that effectively sealed the Tigers’ fate. Mizzou point 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. Graduate guard Jayden Stone, one of Mizzou’s most experienced players, led the way with 21 points and six rebounds. Mizzou shot 35% from the field and 3-point range; Miami was 43% from the field and 46% from deep.