Big 12 Tourney – Longhorns vs #5 Tigers CBB Handicapping Prediction
Texas (20-12) may have kept their streak alive of playing in the NCAA tournament, as they have gone to the Big Dance in 13 straight seasons, with a HUGE win over Iowa State last night.
Venue/ Stadium: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
Time/Date: 10 PM EST Friday, March 9, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: OFF
Spread (ATS): Mizzou -5.5
Over/Under: 145.5
Texas Longhorns vs. No. 5 Missouri Tigers Preview
Missouri (28-4) is going to the Big Dance, but if they can capture this Big 12 tourney they may snag a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
In yesterdays quarterfinals games Texas beat Iowa State 71-65 and Missouri had no problem beating Oklahoma State 88-70.
This season Texas is 10-17 ATS with an O/U record of 14-13 and Missouri is 17-9 ATS with an O/U record of 16-10.
Missouri won both of their match ups facing Texas this season.
Mizzou has one of the best backcourts in the nation with 4 guys that can light it up and the team’s 2 leading scorers of guards Marcus Denmon (18.2 ppg) and Kim English (14.5 ppg) combined for 51 points in the easy win over Oklahoma State.
The Longhorns won against Iowa State even though they only shot 36.8% from the floor and only hit on 3 of their 15 3-pointers. If that happens again the Longhorns will lose their 3rd game against the Tigers this season. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Big 12 leading scorer J’Covan Brown went for 23 points in the win over Iowa State, but he was only 7/19 from the field. The match up of the great backcourt from Mizzou facing Brown and Sheldon McClellan (11.4 ppg) is key in this match up and Texas will really have their hands full.
Texas will have to try to slow the pace of this game against a Mizzou team that ranks 7th in the nation in scoring and 3rd in team FG%.
Texas has a much better rebounding team, but it is key that their defense plays well and does not allow Mizzou to have easy shots in the paint. If they can force the guards to take jumpers they hit the boards hard they have a legit chance to win this game.
In some betting trends for this Big 12 semifinals game Texas is 1-2 ATS in their last 3 neutral site games, 9-10 ATS in their last 19 games facing a team with a winning record, and they have an Under record of 10-9 in their last 19 games facing a team with a winning record.
Missouri is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games, 8-0 ATS in their last 8 games after scoring 80 or more points in their previous game, and they have an Over record of 5-0 in their last 5 neutral site games.
Jason’s Pick: Mizzou’s backcourt is simply too good for the Longhorns to handle and the Tigers will win this game and cover the spread.
