Missouri men’s basketball won its first March Madness game since 2010 against Utah State, 76-65. This made Dennis Gates the first head coach in Missouri men’s basketball history to win an NCAA Tournament game in their first season. 

After an emotional victory for Gates, he said: “We weren’t supposed to be here. They said we were supposed to lose.” Missouri was not favored in the game even though it had a higher seed, which rubbed off on the Tigers. 

Missouri started out the game with high-intensity defense, causing four turnovers in the first five minutes. Senior guard D’Moi Hodge and senior forward Noah Carter each knocked down a 3-pointer, and the Tigers held a 12-6 lead at Utah State’s first timeout. 

Missouri applied early pressure, but it led to senior forward Kobe Brown getting in foul trouble early. Both Brown and freshman forward Aidan Shaw had two fouls in the first nine minutes of action.

Utah State is the fifth best shooting team in the entire country, but started out 0-10 from 3-point range. Missouri could not take full advantage of the cold start for the Aggies, as the game remained close throughout the first half.  Missouri held a 35-31 lead at halftime.

Brown was barely involved in the Missouri offense for most of the game, but in the final 10 minutes of the second half he began to take control. Brown slammed a reverse dunk on the baseline, and splashed two 3-pointers quickly in isolation, giving the Tigers a 55-51 lead. The SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year finished with 19 points on 7-8 shooting. Brown’s incredible second half reenergized the Missouri offense, and the Tigers never looked back.

Hodge also came up huge for the Tigers in the second half, scoring 21 points on 8-14 shooting total. Missouri needed his defense against a dominant 3-point shooting team, and he provided it with four steals and intensity on the perimeter. 

Carter and Gholston scored 10 and 11 points respectively, and senior guard Nick Honor hit a huge fadeaway 3-pointer to put Utah State away. 

The outcome of the game really came down to 3-point success, which was expected given the brilliance of both offenses. Utah State only converted 16.7% of its threes, while Missouri converted 40%. 

The Tigers now have their eyes set on the second round, where they will play No. 15 seed Princeton. This is the most success the Missouri program has seen in over a decade, so there will be a ton of momentum for the Tigers heading into the second round. The game will take place Saturday, March 18, and the time is to be determined.

This story has been updated to reflect Princeton’s win over Arizona.

Edited by Davis Wilson, dwilson@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Grace Knight