Missouri Basketball: 4 Things We Learned from Loss to Norfolk State

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The No. 2 seeded Missouri Tigers fell to the No. 15 seeded Norfolk State Spartans in the West region's opening round action of the NCAA tournament on Friday afternoon.

The loss came as a shock to many college basketball fans around the nation, considering a 15-seed hadn't defeated a 2-seed since 2001.

Here are four things that we learned from the Tiger's loss to NSU.

Missouri's Lack of Height Finally Caught Up to Them

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In nearly every game they played this season, Missouri was usually the smaller team.

This was no different against Norfolk State, except the Tigers weren't able to overcome their lack of size against a tough Spartan team.

In the end, NSU out-rebounded MU 35-23, as their star center Kyle O'Quinn led the way with 14 boards in the game.

Norfolk State did an excellent job of using their size and length to overpower Mizzou in this one.

Kim English Had a Bad Game at the Worst Time

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Senior Kim English had been one of the key players to this Missouri team for the past few seasons.

Before this game, he was averaging over 14 points a game for the season and had just come off a great Big 12 tournament last weekend.

Unfortunately for English and Missouri, he came up short in this contest.

The Baltimore native went one for seven from the floor and scored just two points all game in one of the worst performances of his Tiger career.

Missouri's Defense Was Non-Existent

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Even though Missouri had one of the most explosive offensive attacks in the nation, their defense wasn't ever on the same level.

It really showed in this loss against Norfolk State.

They let the Spartans shoot over 54 percent from the field, and gave up 86 points to a team that was over-matched.

You can't expect to win many games in the NCAA tournament if your defense gives up those kind of numbers on any given night.

Missouri Had No Answer for Kyle O'Quinn

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Coming into this game, it was clear that Norfolk State's best player was center Kyle O'Quinn.

The senior was averaging a double-double and was the MEAC player of the year this season.

Missouri tried several different matchups against him on defense, but nothing seemed to work.

He finished the game by dominating the Tigers defense with 26 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in his team's win.