After tumbling to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, Missouri coach Denis Gates had no idea what the NCAA Tournament Committee thought of his team.
Mizzou learned Sunday it entered the tournament as a No. 10 seed, avoiding a play-in game.
With Easter near, it is a season of miracles. The Tigers somehow landed an opening-round game in St. Louis against No. 7 seed Miami.
The Hurricanes probably aren’t happy with the deal, and neither is Purdue. The No. 2 seed Boilermakers are heavily favored to beat Queens and would take on the Missouri-Miami winner.
Gates, who contends with a fickle Mizzou fan base that refuses to acknowledge his outstanding work, has his team in the NCAA Tournament for a third time in four years.
He acknowledged his detractors with serenity on Sunday after learning his team is headed to St. Louis.
“There’s a lot of doubt in the fabric of our institution when it comes to those moments that we’ve been on the other side of being unlucky,” Gates said.
“But that also helps the fandom that we do have, the support that we do have. I will never push away the criticism I receive as the head coach. It comes with the territory.”
Does Gates being Black add to the unfair appraisal he receives from some Mizzou fans? Yes, but that too “comes with the territory.”
Miami’s Black coach, Jai Lucas, is hailed as a conquering hero. The former Duke assistant coach inherited a team that lost 24 games last year and turned them into a 25-game winner.
“I wanted to win (in rebounding), win the free-throw line and control the paint, which isn’t just posting up but also having guards that can get downhill,” Lucas said during last week’s SEC Tournament.
“What we do travels. We’re not going into games banking on making 12 or 13 3s. What we do is what leads to winning.”
Regardless of the favorable crowd, the Tigers could lose to Miami, which was an outstanding 8-2 in road games during the season.
Hurricanes forward Malik Reneau, an Indiana transfer, averages 18.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and was named to the All-ACC team.
Tre Donaldson, Miami’s second-leading scorer with 16.5 points per game, was a teammate of Missouri’s Anthony Robinson II at Florida State High School. The senior forward also dishes out about six assists per game.
While Gates knows he found a four-leaf clover on Sunday, he is playing down the location of the game.
“At this point in the season, everybody has had road games, everyone has had neutral site games, everyone has traveled. It’s going to be a game that both teams show up,” he said.
The “get rid of Gates” crew will be obnoxiously loud should Miami top Missouri. It won’t happen.
In fact, Missouri is Sweet 16 bound following a resounding win over Purdue. The Boilermakers were No. 1 when the season began. I doubted them then, I doubt them now.
The Reid Roundup
Lots of basketball…After its heartbreaking loss to Dayton in an A-10 semifinal last Saturday, No. 9 seed SLU will take on No. 8 Georgia on Friday in Buffalo. I’ve got the Billikens winning that game before bowing to top-seed Michigan…Jaden Bradley, Big 12 Player of the Year, and his Arizona Wildcats will be cutting down the nets in Indianapolis as national champions — at least on my bracket…I’ve got St. John’s reaching the title game, led by KU transfer and Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor…Also reaching the Final Four will be Houston and Iowa State…The Darryn Peterson saga at KU will come to an end against St. John’s in a Round of 32 game. Peterson, who battled cramps, injury, and illness (so he says), could be a great NBA player but his lone season at KU is a massive disappointment…The Missouri Valley Conference placed a conference-record four teams in the National Invitation Tournament, led by No. 4 seed Illinois State who takes on Dayton. Also in the NIT are Bradley, University of Illinois-Chicago and Murray State…