SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dennis Gates and the Missouri basketball team are sticking around California.
The Tigers came here in pursuit of their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2010 and they accomplished that mission Thursday with a 76-65 victory over Utah State at Golden 1 Center, securing the program’s first March Madness win in 4,745 days.
Kobe Brown (19 points) and D’Moi Hodge (23) took turns shooting the seventh-seeded Tigers to victory in the second half, clinching a Saturday matchup with the winner of Thursday’s Arizona-Princeton game. Game time will be announced once Thursday’s games are complete.
Nick Honor connected on the kill shot for the Tigers, a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left on the shot clock after a replay review reversed an out of bounds call, giving the Tigers possession with 1:39 left.
An underdog at tipoff despite being the higher seed, Mizzou (25-8) won its first NCAA Tournament game since beating Clemson on March 19, 2010 under former coach Mike Anderson. Utah State finished its season 26-9.
After missing its first 13 3-pointers, Utah State finally broke through two minutes into the second half with a steal and 3-pinter by Steven Ashworth for a 36-35 lead, USU’s first lead since the opening minutes.
But Gates was quick to call a timeout to cut short any Utah State momentum, and the Tigers promptly regained the lead, scoring on five of their next six possessions.
A back and forth game ensued until Brown followed a missed 3-pointer with a steal and reverse dunk, then two 3-pointers for a 55-51 lead. Brown followed with a free throw for a personal 9-2 run to secure all momentum for the Tigers.
With 6:33 left, Utah State’s bench was hit with a technical foul for arguing a non-call under the basket, but Honor missed both free throws. No problem for the Tigers. Brown splashed a 3 from the top of the key on the next possession, followed by a Hodge 3 from the same spot for a 62-53 left, the biggest lead of the game.
Mizzou led for nearly 18 minutes of the first half, taking advantage of a string of Utah State turnovers early despite a foul disparity that favored the Aggies. Utah State turned the ball over six times in the first six minutes and finished the half 0 of 11 from 3-point range.
Brown and Sean East were both whistled for two fouls in the first half, forcing Gates to be careful with his rotations through the final 10 minutes.
The Tigers went more than four minutes without a field goal late in the half, getting their only scoring at the foul line from DeAndre Gholston and Noah Carter during the hapless stretch.
