On the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, it was a Super Saturday for the University of Missouri men’s basketball team.
Led by Marcus Denmon’s 29 points, the fourth-ranked Tigers scored the final 11 points of the game for a 74-71 victory in Columbia over the eighth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Missouri was the higher-ranked team, but many considered a win over a perennial power like KU an upset. It was a win that would not have happened had it not been for Denmon, who hit a trio of treys in the final two minutes.
While the game wasn’t without controversy, with Mizzou getting a call or two late, that doesn’t diminish the magnitude of Missouri’s win. Saturday’s victory put the Tigers among the elite in college basketball. As a program, Mizzou isn’t yet ready to join the ranks of Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, or Syracuse, but—this season—Mizzou has joined the conversation as a legitimate national title contender.
The Tigers were clutch down the stretch on Saturday, and Kansas wasn’t. KU’s Tyshawn Taylor missed two free throws late and then got called for a charge as Michael Dixon stood his ground. Dixon sunk both of his free throws to give Mizzou its final margin of victory with 10 seconds remaining. Great defense at the other end prevented a good look for a potential tying three-pointer.
The fans at Mizzou Arena didn’t go crazy after the game. They already believed that the Tigers are among the elite. There was no storming of the court, but instead a simple, joyous celebration of another win.
Yet there was also sadness: Saturday's game might have marked the last time that the Jayhawks play at Mizzou Arena. Next season, the Tigers are bound for the Southeastern Conference—a move that ESPN’s Dick Vitale criticized during the game. (Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis was also disappointed in Missouri’s football money grab.)
If Saturday was Columbia’s last chance to host a Border War basketball game, however, then Missouri fans left Mizzou Arena in a euphoric state.
It was indeed a Super Saturday.
