Memphis-Missouri: 2009 Men's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Picks ATS, March 26

No. 2 Memphis Tigers vs. No. 3 Missouri Tigers

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16—West Region
Thursday, March 26—9:37 PM ET on CBS

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Preview

Cat Fight! OK that's out of my system now, let's get onto the Sweet 16.

Memphis is on a roll—they are on a 27-game win streak and just quieted anyone who doubted their ability with an 89-70 victory over Maryland. They have reached the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season, and in the previous three seasons they have moved on to the Elite Eight. They are also a 30-win team for the fourth time in four seasons.

Missouri finished the regular season in third in the Big 12, and they landed an automatic bid to the Big Dance after winning the conference tournament. This is the first time the Tigers have been in the Sweet 16 since the 2002 tournament.

Mizzou is coming off of a tough game against Marquette, where free throws at the end of the game wound up being the difference (that and a toe over the inbounds line). The Tigers have had a number of other nail-biters this season (62-60 W Kansas, 69-65 W Texas, 97-95 W Oklahoma State, 56-51 L Nebraska, 75-71 L Xavier), though they have been on the right side most of the time.

Despite the outcome of any of their nail-biters, Mizzou has followed it up with a double-digit win over their next opponent. With the way Memphis is playing, will they be able to continue the trend, or will this one come down to the wire as well?

Memphis is focused on one thing and one this only right now—proving that they deserved to be a one-seed with big wins. After struggling in their opening game, the Tigers pounced on Maryland. Perhaps it was Vasquez's comments that if Memphis played in the ACC they would have a losing record that fueled them, but they showed no sign of slowing down during the game.

This should be a great game between two very good teams. Only one question remains—if Memphis were in the Big 12, would they have a losing record?

By The Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
No. 3 Missouri	30-6	12-4	16-9-1	10	38	81.0	66.3
No. 2 Memphis	33-3	16-0	21-10-1	7	49	74.7	57.6

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG	BPG
No. 3 Missouri	47.2	41.4	35.5	30.7	67.4	39.5	10.4	18.5	12.1	3.8
No. 2 Memphis	44.8	36.7	32.9	29.7	69.5	42.4	8.9	14.2	12.5	6.0

Stats Leaders

	No. 3 Missouri	No. 2 Memphis
PPG	D. Carroll - 16.7	T. Evans - 16.6
	L. Lyons - 14.5	R. Dozier - 12.7
	M. Lawrence - 8.8	S. Taggart - 10.5
RPG	D. Carroll - 7.3	S. Taggart - 7.6
APG	J. Tiller - 3.6	A. Anderson - 4.5
SPG	J. Tiller - 1.7	T. Evans - 2.1
BPG	K. Ramsey - 0.8	R. Dozier - 1.7

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Prediction

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