Defending Big 12 Champs Missouri Defeated by Nebraska

Wednesday's game between the Missouri Tigers (22-10, 10-6) and Nebraska Cornhuskers (15-17, 2-14) ended up being a lopsided game, just not the one that most people expected. In a surprise turn of events, Nebraska, the twelfth seed in the Big 12 tournament, dominated the entire game against Missouri , the fifth seed, on the way to a 75-60 win.

Nebraska took the lead 50 seconds into the game with a three point jumper by Brian Richardson and never trailed after that point. Nebraska dominated Missouri in almost every facet of play, including rebounds (33 to 21), field goal percentage (55.8% to 33.9%), three point shooting percentage (57.1% to 33.3%), and assists (17 to 9). The final score was kept as close as it was because Missouri held a strong advantage in turnovers, committing only four to Nebraska's thirteen.

In two previous meetings this season against Missouri, Nebraska lost both games by an average of 16 points. This was Nebraska's first win away from home since they beat Tulsa in a neutral site game on December 22 and only their third win against a Big 12 opponent on the season. Nebraska was led in scoring by Richardson, who finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds, and saw four of five starters score at least 10 points.

Missouri, who won the Big 12 tournament last year and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, has now lost three of its last four games, all of them by double digits. Their lone win in that span came in an overtime win against Iowa State. Missing Forward Justin Safford for the fourth straight game, Missouri could not find a rhythm on offense or defense against Nebraska, trailing by double digits for all but 22 seconds in the second half. Only one Missouri player reached double digits in scoring, with Laurence Bowers scoring 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Missouri, who was predicted to be a seven-seed in the NCAA tournament by ESPN's Joe Lunardi before Wednesday's loss to Nebraska, has possibly played itself onto the tournament bubble with its poor play over the last two weeks. The NCAA tournament field will be announced on Sunday, March 14.

This is only the second time that the twelfth seed in the Big 12 tournament has won, the other time being a double overtime win by Colorado over Baylor in 2008. Nebraska will play fourth seed Texas A&M on Thursday.

Sources:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300690142

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology