2008–09 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team

2008–09 Missouri Tigers men's basketball
2008–09 Missouri Tigers men's basketball
Big 12 Tournament Champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big 12
	North
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 9
Record	31–7 (12–4 Big 12)
Head coach	Mike Anderson;
Assistant coaches	Melvin Watkins; Matt Zimmerman; T.J. Cleveland;
Home arena	Mizzou Arena
	Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 14 Kansas	14	–	2	.875	27	–	8	.771
No. 7 Oklahoma	13	–	3	.813	30	–	6	.833
No. 9 Missouri †	12	–	4	.750	31	–	7	.816
Kansas State	9	–	7	.563	22	–	12	.647
Texas	9	–	7	.563	23	–	12	.657
Texas A&M	9	–	7	.563	24	–	10	.706
Oklahoma State	9	–	7	.563	23	–	12	.657
Nebraska	8	–	8	.500	18	–	13	.581
Baylor	5	–	11	.313	24	–	15	.615
Iowa State	4	–	12	.250	15	–	17	.469
Texas Tech	3	–	13	.188	14	–	19	.424
Colorado	1	–	15	.063	9	–	22	.290

† 2009 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll ^[1]

The 2008–09 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team finished 31–7 and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. Led by head coach Mike Anderson, Mizzou finished third in the Big 12 with a conference record of 12–4 and also won the Big 12 men's basketball tournament for the first time in school history.

Pre-Season

Following a .500 season in 2007–08 season, the Tigers revamped their offense with five freshmen and two transfers. The Tigers basketball team was not heralded with much in the way of high hopes coming into the 2008–09 season. Most preseason polls had Missouri finishing in the bottom-half of the Big 12 Conference, including Athlon Sports^[2] and the Big 12 coaches.^[3]

As a way to get in some much needed extra practice, coach Mike Anderson accepted an invitation to play three exhibition games in Canada in late August.^[4] In the first game of the tour, Missouri defeated the Niagara All-Stars by a score of 120–80 on August 30, 2008. The game was played at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.^[5] On August 31, 2008, in the same venue, the Tigers defeated Brock University 117–68.^[6] This game gave the Missouri coaching staff and fans a nice look at the fresh faces, as Mizzou's seven newcomers combined for 66 of the Tigers' 117 points on the afternoon. The next morning, the Tigers closed out the Canadian trip by beating the Southern Ontario All-Stars by a final score of 109–92.^[7]

The Tigers played two pre-season games in 2008. The first was against Lincoln (MO), winning the game 97–54. The second of their two pre-season games was against Missouri Southern, resulting in an 87–58 Tigers victory.

Recruiting

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Summer Canadian Exhibition
2008/8/30* 4:30 pm		Ontario All-Stars	W 120–80		Bob Davis Gymnasium St. Catharines, Ontario
2008/8/31* 1:00 pm		Brock University	W 117–68		Bob Davis Gymnasium St. Catharines, Ontario
2008/9/1* 9:00 am		Southern Ontario All-Stars	W 109–92		Notre Dame College School Welland, Ontario
Exhibition
2008/11/6* 7:00 pm		Lincoln (MO)	W 97–54		Mizzou Arena Columbia, MO
2008/11/11* 7:00 pm		Missouri Southern	W 87–58		Mizzou Arena Columbia, MO
Non-conference regular season
2008/11/15* 3:30 pm		Prairie View A&M	W 86–65	1–0	Mizzou Arena (5,463) Columbia, MO
2008/11/17* 7:00 pm		Chattanooga	W 103–75	2–0	Mizzou Arena (5,275) Columbia, MO
2008/11/20* 12:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Xavier	L 71–75	2–1	Coliseo de Puerto Rico (3,217) San Juan, PR
2008/11/21* 10:00 am		vs. Fairfield	W 87–59	3–1	Coliseo de Puerto Rico San Juan, PR
2008/11/23* 11:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. No. 19 USC	W 83–72	4–1	Coliseo de Puerto Rico San Juan, PR
2008/11/30* 3:00 pm		Oral Roberts	W 92–83	5–1	Mizzou Arena (5,229) Columbia, MO
2008/12/2* 7:00 pm		Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 95–41	6–1	Mizzou Arena (5,502) Columbia, MO
2008/12/7* 2:00 pm, ESPNU		California	W 93–66	7–1	Mizzou Arena (8,310) Columbia, MO
2008/12/13* 6:00 pm		Murray State	W 75–64	8–1	Mizzou Arena (8,517) Columbia, MO
2008/12/20* 6:00 pm		Stetson	W 78–44	9–1	Mizzou Arena (7,409) Columbia, MO
2008/12/23* 6:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 25	vs. Illinois Braggin' Rights	L 59–75	9–2	Scottrade Center (19,586) St. Louis, MO
2008/12/27* 3:00 pm		SIU Edwardsville	W 107–57	10–2	Mizzou Arena (6,793) Columbia, MO
2008/12/27* 3:00 pm		Centenary	W 80–52	11–2	Mizzou Arena (6,755) Columbia, MO
2009/1/3* 12:00 pm		at Georgia	W 83–76	12–2	Stegeman Coliseum (8,060) Athens, GA
2009/1/6* 8:00 pm		Coppin State	W 88–55	13–2	Mizzou Arena (7,244) Columbia, MO
Big 12 Regular Season
2009/1/10 2:00 pm, ESPN2		at Nebraska	L 51-56	13–3 (0–1)	Bob Devaney Sports Center (11,570) Lincoln, NE
2009/1/14 8:00 pm		Colorado	W 107–62	14–3 (1–1)	Mizzou Arena (9,171) Columbia, MO
2009/1/17 12:30 pm		Iowa State	W 77–46	15–3 (2–1)	Mizzou Arena (12,403) Columbia, MO
2009/1/21 8:00 pm		at Oklahoma State	W 97–95	16–3 (3–1)	Gallagher-Iba Arena (10,810) Stillwater, OK
2009/1/24 12:30 pm		Texas Tech	W 97–86	17–3 (4–1)	Mizzou Arena (13,357) Columbia, MO
2009/1/28 8:00 pm, FSN		at Kansas State	L 72–88	17–4 (4–2)	Bramlage Coliseum (9,665) Manhattan, KS
2009/1/31 5:00 pm		Baylor	W 89–72	18–4 (5–2)	Mizzou Arena (15,061) Columbia, MO
2009/2/4 8:30 pm, ESPN2		at No. 16 Texas	W 69–65	19–4 (6–2)	Frank Erwin Center (13,095) Austin, TX
2009/2/7 5:00 pm		at Iowa State	W 82–68	20–4 (7–2)	Hilton Coliseum (11,919) Ames, IA
2009/2/9 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 17	No. 16 Kansas Border War	W 62–60	21–4 (8–2)	Mizzou Arena (15,061) Columbia, MO
2009/2/14 12:30 pm	No. 17	Nebraska	W 70–47	22–4 (9–2)	Mizzou Arena (15,061) Columbia, MO
2009/2/21 12:30 pm	No. 11	at Colorado	W 66–53	23–4 (10–2)	Coors Events Center (6,271) Boulder, CO
2009/2/25 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 11	Kansas State	W 94–74	24–4 (11–2)	Mizzou Arena (14,825) Columbia, MO
2009/3/1 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 11	at No. 15 Kansas Border War	L 65–90	24–5 (11–3)	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
2009/3/4 8:00 pm, Big 12 Network	No. 15	No. 4 Oklahoma	W 73–64	25–5 (12–3)	Mizzou Arena (15,061) Columbia, MO
2009/3/7 1:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 15	at Texas A&M	L 86–96	25–6 (12–4)	Reed Arena (13,007) College Station, TX
Big 12 Tournament
2009/03/11 8:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 14	vs. Texas Tech Quarterfinals	W 81–60	26–6 (12–4)	Ford Center (16,786) Oklahoma City, OK
2009/03/12 8:30 pm	No. 14	vs. Oklahoma State Semifinals	W 67–59	27–6 (12–4)	Ford Center (15,009) Oklahoma City, OK
2009/03/13 5:00 pm, ESPN	No. 14	vs. Baylor Championship	W 73–60^[8]^[9]	28–6 (12–4)	Ford Center (15,321) Oklahoma City, OK
NCAA Tournament
2009/03/20* 2:10 pm, CBS	No. 9 (3)	vs. (14) Cornell First Round	W 78–59	29–6	Taco Bell Arena (11,997) Boise, Idaho
2009/03/22* 3:50 pm, CBS	No. 9 (3)	vs. No. 23 (6) Marquette Second Round	W 83–79	30–6	Taco Bell Arena (12,184) Boise, Idaho
2009/03/27* 8:37 pm, CBS	No. 9 (3)	vs. No. 3 (2) Memphis Sweet Sixteen	W 102–91	31–6	University of Phoenix Stadium (20,201) Glendale, AZ
2009/03/29 3:40 pm, CBS	No. 9 (3)	vs. No. 5 (1) Connecticut Elite Eight	L 75–82	31–7	University of Phoenix Stadium (18,886) Glendale, AZ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

Roster

Name	#	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Home Town
DeMarre Carroll	1	Forward	6–8	225	SR	Birmingham, Alabama
Miguel Paul	3	Guard	6–1	172	FR	Lakeland, Florida
J. T. Tiller	4	Guard	6–3	200	JR	Marietta, Georgia
Leo Lyons	5	Forward	6–9	244	SR	Kansas City, Kansas
Zaire Taylor	11	Guard	6–4	189	RS JR	Staten Island, N.Y.
Marcus Denmon	12	Guard	6–3	185	FR	Kansas City, Missouri
Michael Anderson Jr.	13	Guard	6–0	183	RS SR	Birmingham, Alabama
Keith Ramsey	15	Forward	6–9	210	JR	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Laurence Bowers	21	Forward	6–8	205	FR	Memphis, Tennessee
Justin Safford	23	Forward	6–8	230	SO	Bloomington, Illinois
Kim English	24	Guard	6–6	200	FR	Baltimore, Maryland
Jarrett Sutton	25	Guard	6–3	190	SO	Kansas City, Missouri
Steve Moore	32	Center	6–9	264	FR	Kansas City, Missouri
Matt Lawrence	33	Guard	6–7	203	SR	Wildwood, Missouri

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	—						25	—						17	11	11	15	14	9	Not released
Coaches	—													19	10	8	12	15	9	8

References

^ "2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
^ Athlon Sports 2008 Big 12 Preview
^ Oklahoma Selected First In Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
^ Kansas, Missouri Men's Basketball Experience Canada
^ Mizzou Basketball Rolls 120–80 In Canadian Opener
^ Freshmen Denmon, Paul lead Missouri to 117–68 Win Against Brock
^ Mizzou Basketball Builds Huge Advantage, Cruises To 109–92 Victory
^ "Tigers Take the Title!: Mizzou wins first conference tournament in 16 years". Archived from the original on March 20, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2009.
^ "Box score". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2009.

[Standings-1] "2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.

[2] Athlon Sports 2008 Big 12 Preview

[3] Oklahoma Selected First In Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

[4] Kansas, Missouri Men's Basketball Experience Canada

[5] Mizzou Basketball Rolls 120–80 In Canadian Opener

[6] Freshmen Denmon, Paul lead Missouri to 117–68 Win Against Brock

[7] Mizzou Basketball Builds Huge Advantage, Cruises To 109–92 Victory

[8] "Tigers Take the Title!: Mizzou wins first conference tournament in 16 years". Archived from the original on March 20, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2009.

[9] "Box score". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2009.

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