The Wildcats will try to keep their momentum today when they face off with the No. 3 Missouri Tigers in Columbia, Mo., after a season-changing win against the No. 10 Baylor Bears on Saturday.
Today's matchup is the last scheduled meeting between the two schools, as Missouri departs for the Southeastern Conference in 2012-13.
A win today would nearly guarantee an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the Wildcats and move their conference record to above .500. The Tigers (25-2, 12-2), however, are trying to keep pace with the University of Kansas at the top of the Big 12 standings and build their credentials for a top-seed in the NCAA tournament as well.
One of the two losses on the Tigers' record came in Manhattan in early January when the then-No. 22 Wildcats beat Missouri 75-59.
It was the first loss of the year for the Tigers and it came at the hands of the Wildcats' suffocating defense, which forced Missouri into 14 turnovers and 32.7 percent shooting from the field.
The 59-point performance the Tigers put up against the Wildcats is still a season-low, but they rebounded quickly with four straight wins, including a road win against the Baylor Bears.
After a slight hiccup against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater, Okla., the Tigers have rattled off seven consecutive victories that included wins over Texas, Kansas and Baylor.
Junior guard Rodney McGruder and sophomore guard Will Spradling provided the necessary firepower for the Wildcats in their first meeting with the Tigers as the two guards respectively scored 20 and 14 points each.
Junior guard Jordan Henriquez anchored the Wildcats' frontcourt against the guard-heavy Tigers with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks.
Senior guards Marcus Denmon and Kim English led the prestigious backcourt of the Tigers, accounting for 17.8 and 14.2 points per game, respectively.
Sophomore guard Phil Pressey also adds 10 points per game but acts as the main distributor for the Tigers with his nearly six assists per game. He also poses a defensive threat, averaging more than two steals per game.
Ricardo Ratliffe, 6-foot-8-inch sophomore forward, is the Tigers' main big man and leads the team with seven rebounds per game in addition to the 13.7 points per game he contributes.
The Wildcats will need to be clicking on all cylinders to come home with a win, as they have lost four straight at Mizzou Arena and Missouri is yet to lose at home this season.
The game will finish the Wildcats' brutal three-game stretch that included the top three teams in the Big 12 standings before finishing the regular season with Iowa State at home, Texas A&M on the road and Oklahoma State at home.
The game is set to tip off at 6 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
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