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Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA South Region - 2nd Round

Streaming: TNT

Missouri -6½ over Princeton

4:10 PM EST. The champions of the Ivy League, Princeton, made headlines on opening day after knocking off the #2 seed Arizona, 59-55. Perhaps most impressively, the Tigers were able to defeat the Wildcats despite shooting just 4-of-25 from beyond the arc. Luckily for Princeton, Arizona was also struggling with their shooting, posting their lowest scoring total of the season. The media is hyping up Princeton due to their coach, Mitch Henderson, who was on the 1996 Tigers team that knocked off defending national champion UCLA in the first round of those NCAA’s. Henderson is humbly filling the shoes of legendary Princeton coach Pete Carril, who passed away last summer. Like Carril’s team in ‘96, Henderson’s 2023 team is now enshrined in Tigers' history. The question is, can Princeton do it again?

The Tigers of Missouri are not a team that you want to face when you are not shooting the ball well. Mizzou’s highly touted defense was tough as nails against Utah State, limiting the Aggies to just four three-pointers in 24 attempts. Mizzou is one of those teams that will make you pay for your mistakes, as the Tigers' defense generates turnovers 15% of the time. Mizzou was fourth in the SEC this season, but as we are seeing, the SEC has become much more than just a football powerhouse. The conference sent eight teams to March Madness, with all but Mississippi State (First Four) and Texas A&M failing to make it here to the Round of 32.

Missouri was a 1½-point underdog to Utah State, while Princeton was a 15-point underdog to Arizona. Now the Ivy League Tigers are just a 6½-point underdog to the SEC’s Tigers. The drop-off in quality from Arizona to Mizzou does not warrant such a deflation of points.

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