Wildcats roll on; Tigers steady tournament case

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🇦🇺 Arizona 87, Baylor 80 (Final)

Arizona: 26–2 (1st in Big 12)

Arizona secured its third straight win to move back to No. 2 nationally after slipping to No. 4, scoring 87 points on the road and closing out the final stretch against Baylor, while senior guard Anthony Dell’Orso recorded eight points on 3-from-7 shooting with two made threes and one steal in 30 minutes without committing a turnover.

Anthony Dell’Orso – Senior, Guard, Arizona Wildcats
From Melbourne, VIC │ Height: 1.98 m

• Points: 8 (9.0) │ Rebounds: 2 (2.1) │ Assists: 0 (2.1) │ Steals: 1 │ Blocks: 0 │ Turnovers: 0 │ FG: 3-from-7 │ 3PT: 2-from-5 │ FT: 0-of-0 │ Minutes: 30

🇦🇺 Missouri 73, Tennessee 69 (Final)

Missouri: 19–9 (6th in SEC)

Missouri won by four points at home to stabilise its NCAA tournament position, improving to 19–9 overall with five Quadrant 1 wins and strengthening its at-large case, while senior guard Jayden Stone was held scoreless on 0-from-5 shooting, adding two rebounds and one block in 18 minutes.

Jayden Stone – Senior, Guard, Missouri Tigers
From Perth, WA │ Height: 1.93 m

• Points: 0 (14.1) │ Rebounds: 2 (4.8) │ Assists: 0 (2.0) │ Steals: 0 │ Blocks: 1 │ Turnovers: 1 │ FG: 0-from-5 │ 3PT: 0-from-3 │ FT: 0-of-0 │ Minutes: 18

Missouri sit firmly in the “should be in / work to do” range of the bracket conversation – and their path to March Madness is highly controllable over the next two weeks.

The Tigers are trending toward a 9–10 seed if they win 1–2 more regular season games and go at least 1–1 in the SEC Tournament.

If Missouri finish the regular season 21–10 or 22–9, they are very likely in the field without needing help.

Why:

• They already own five Quadrant 1 wins
• 19–9 overall in the SEC carries weight
• Selection models currently project them around 75–80% at-large probability
• A winning conference record in a projected 10–11 bid SEC is a strong résumé anchor

A 21-win Missouri team with five Q1 wins is almost always in.

Bottom line: Two more wins = minimal sweating on Selection Sunday.

Split Remaining Games (20–11)

This is where tension begins.

At 20–11:

• Résumé average remains borderline (mid-40s nationally)
• NET position becomes critical
• Committee comparison vs other SEC bubble teams (Auburn, Arkansas, etc.) tightens

In this case, Missouri would likely need:

• At least one SEC Tournament win
  OR
• Strong bracket modelling support (no major bid thieves)

Bottom line: Still more likely in than out, but now you’re scoreboard watching.