The month of March in college basketball has seen some legendary upsets, and the Conference USA tournament has had some upsets for the ages. The Missouri Tigers, the tournament’s No. 9 seed, shockingly upset the No. 1 Liberty Flames 77-69. This effectively ends the bid for March Madness.
Game Summary
Liberty entered the tournament with a 25-7 record and a 17-3 conference record, four games better than the tournament’s second-place team (Sam Houston State). Meanwhile, Missouri State finished just 16-17 with an 8-12 record in the conference. To make matters worse, they finished the regular season 1-9, including 0-7 in February.
The Bears had a win against the FIU Panthers, but it was an uphill battle against the Flames. The Flames led 37-33 at halftime and were up 50-42 with 15:16 left in the second half.
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Then the Bears caught fire. At 9:55 in the second half, they scored 15 unanswered points to take a 57-50 lead. While the Flames attempted to keep it close, Missouri State pulled within one (58-57 at 7:46) and pulled away. Liberty couldn’t get within two points and they lost 77-69.
takeout
For the Bears, senior forward Micahel Osei-Bonsu had the game of his career, scoring 31 points on 14 of 16 shooting. Missouri State shot 56% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
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Meanwhile, the Flames are just 9 of 31 from the 3-point line, which equates to a brutal 29.0% 3-point shooting percentage. Senior guard Colin Porter, who came into this game shooting 37.4% from beyond the arc, didn’t make any of his six 3-pointers. Senior forward Jack Cleveland led the way with 20 points but did not attempt a single shot from behind the arc.
With their most recent loss, Sam Houston is expected to take the Flames’ spot in the tournament with a win in the conference. The Bearkats are projected to be a No. 13 seed east of the bracket heading to Kansas.
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