Live Blog of Mizzou's Round 1 March Madness Matchup against Miami

ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Tigers had all the ingredients they needed for a potential first-round upset against No. 7 seed Miami.

Playing only two hours from home. A near home-court advantage. An All-SEC forward who had scored 64 points in his last two outings.

Not all of those ingredients came into play, however, and Missouri went on to lose 80-66 to the Hurricanes.

Mark Mitchell scored only four points in the first half and 19 in total, making for an untimely low-scoring evening. Miami was also able to take the fans from Columbia out of the equation early on after jumping out to a 10-point lead. When the Hurricanes hit that mark with 3:07 left in the first half, the Enterprise Center, once full of raucous Missouri fans, fell silent.

Junior guard Anthony Robinson II was the man to weather that storm, willing the Tigers to a 9-0 run in the final three minutes of the half to trail only 27-26 heading into the break. This run led to a back-and-forth game for the remaining 20 minutes.

The biggest challenge Dennis Gates and his squad had to deal with was rebounding the ball. Miami racked up 16 offensive rebounds by the game’s end, thanks to the efforts of Ernest Udeh Jr. and Malik Reneau. Udeh finished with 10 in total and Reneau six.

Miami once again jumped out to a quick start at the beginning of the second half, forcing three turnovers and allowing only six points in the first four minutes. It wasn’t until a four-point Jayden Stone play to decrease the deficit to one.

The Tigers went on to take a lead, last held at the 7:23 mark. It quickly slipped away after that, as Miami responded with a 12-0 run to go up by nine. The same exact pattern of events felt eerily similar to Missouri’s SEC Tournament loss to Kentucky

Stone, in what ended up being his final game in a Missouri jersey, did everything he could to will the Tigers to victory. He finished with 21 points on 6-for-10 shooting. 14 of those came in the second half and all of those were in moments where the game was tight. He was the most important player on the offensive end for the Tigers and was a primary reason the game was remotely close.

Reneau was the man to step up to the challenge for the Hurricanes, finishing with 24 points on 7-for-16 shooting. He also made two three-point shots on four attempts, which is more than he makes on average per-game.

Senior guard Tre Donaldson may have been the most clutch for Miami, though. He finished with 17, including numerous big-time triples in the second half to thwart any sort of momentum the Tigers may have had. The former high school teammate of Robinson was the one who put the nail in the coffin that was Missouri’s season.

Live Updates

Second Half

FINAL: Missouri 66, Miami 80

2:17 - Missouri 62, Miami 71

An and-one from Malik Reneau just created a potentially insurmountable deficit for Missouri. It’ll likely need a barrage of three-point makes to find a way to win.

5:04 - Missouri 54, Miami 61

The Hurricanes have gone on a 9-0 run, leaving Missouri scoreless for just under three minutes. It’s starting to slip away for the Tigers and they need answers on both sides of the ball quickly.

7:39 - Missouri 54, Miami 52

For the first time since the 18:37 mark of the first half, Missouri has taken a lead. It comes after a pair of free throws from Trent Pierce and a hard foul from Shelton Henderson. After a few more traded buckets, a triple from Mitchell regained the two-point lead for the Tigers.

11:36 - Missouri 43, Miami 46

Stone is willing the Tigers into this game. He’s up to 18 points on the night, with nine of those coming from the perimeter. He’s the clear threat on offense for the Tigers and he will likely need to stay hot for Missouri to pull ahead.

15:50 - Missouri 32, Miami 37

The start of the second half has been fast-paced and again, a little bit sloppy. The Tigers have turned the ball over three times in the opening four minutes and they’ve only been able to score six points.

First Half

HALF: Missouri 26, Miami 27

4:32 - Missouri 17, Miami 24

A three-minute scoring drought has struck Missouri and a large part of it is because of Miami’s zone look on defense. It’s forcing the Tigers into more three-point looks than they likely wanted and they aren’t falling. Allowing offensive rebounds is also a massive issue right now.

Miami head coach Jai Lucas issued the first challenge of the day on an out-of-bounds call, as well. It was successful, allowing the Hurricanes to retain their challenge and gain possession.

7:35 - Missouri 17, Miami 21

Still not a ton of luck for the Tigers on offense, but the effort is there. T.O. Barrett went diving into the media seating to secure a loose ball heading into a timeout. That doesn’t change the fact that rebounding has been an issue for Missouri, having allowed nine offensive rebounds already.

11:38 - Missouri 10, Miami 12

Shots are still struggling to fall for Missouri outside of graduate guard Jayden Stone. He has seven early ones on 3-for-5 shooting. Outside of that, Miami has been able to get to the rim and use its duo of big men to get up early.

15:38 - Missouri 2, Miami 5

The Tigers have started slow, shooting 1-for-6 from the field and committing three turnovers. Both teams seem out of rhythm on offense, but Miami has managed to get two early field goals to fall.

Pregame

Missouri head football coach Eli Drinkwitz is in the house for the Tigers' first-round NCAA Tournament matchup against Miami.

Almost TIME!! #MIZ
⁦@MizzouHoops⁩ pic.twitter.com/Lk4ZdTypCH
— Eliah Drinkwitz (@CoachDrinkwitz) March 21, 2026

If Missouri wins on Friday night, it'll take on the No. 2 seed Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday in St. Louis in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Starting Lineups

No. 10 seed Missouri	No. 7 seed Miami
G T.O. Barrett	G Tre Donaldson
G Jayden Stone	G Dante Allen
F Trent Pierce	F Shelton Henderson
F Mark Mitchell	F Malik Reneau
C Shawn Phillips Jr.	C Ernest Udeh Jr.

Availability Reports

Missouri

F Annor Boateng - OUT (leg, season)
F Jevon Porter - OUT (leg)

Miami

F Treyvon Maddox - OUT

How to Watch: Mizzou in the NCAA Tournament against Miami

Missouri Tigers center Trent Burns. — Mar 19, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers center Trent Burns (7) dunks during a practice session ahead of the first round of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Who: Missouri (20-12, 10-8 SEC) vs. Miami (25-8, 13-5 ACC)

When: March 20, 9:10 p.m.

Where: Enterprise Arena in St. Louis, Missouri

TV: TruTv

Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Play by Play: Mike Kelly, Color: Chris Gervino)

Sirius XM: Missouri - 201 Miami - 201

All-time series: Missouri leads 1-0

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