BOISE, Idaho — Three years ago, Missouri was merely hoping Mike Anderson would lift its basketball program back to respectability. You know. Simple things like staying off NCAA probation and not losing to Colorado.
Turns out, the Tigers are seeing respectability in their rearview mirror and find themselves in Boise sitting atop history.
The third-seeded Tigers were expected to handle 14th-seeded Cornell in Friday’s first round of the NCAA Tournament, which they did, 78-59. What was never expected when Anderson’s coaching tenure began was that Missouri would tie for the most victories in school history.
The win improved Missouri to 29-6, equaling Norm Stewart’s 29-8 edition that lost to Syracuse in the Sweet 16 in 1989. A win Sunday over sixth-seeded Marquette (25-9) and the winningest team in Missouri’s 103-year history will go to Glendale, Ariz., for the West Regional’s Sweet 16.
“These guys have done an unbelievable job,” Anderson said. “They believe in one another. They trust in one another. If you look out on the floor, they’re having fun.”
Anderson’s coaching job has been noticed outside the Big 12. He’s a Birmingham, Ala., native, and Alabama coach Mike Gottfried resigned under pressure Jan. 26. Alabama has been in no apparent hurry to replace him. The Tide may be waiting, like when — or if — Missouri loses in this tournament.
Neither Anderson nor Alabama will address it, but Anderson is in line for a major raise that could jump his salary from $825,000 to $1.3 million. Alabama could pay up to $2 million, but the allure of his home state may not be that great.
He left the Alabama-Birmingham job for Missouri, and his wife, Marcheita, is from Oklahoma.
Anderson certainly earned his pay Friday. His “40 Minutes of Hell” full-court press turned out to be only about four minutes of heck. Cornell, behind a heady freshman point guard named Chris Wroblewski, had no problems breaking the press, and Cornell finished with only nine turnovers, a season-low for a Missouri opponent.
In fact, Cornell hit four 3-pointers in the first half and trailed at halftime only 29-25.
However, Anderson gave a halftime speech that was remarkably calm, and Missouri went inside repeatedly to start the second half for a 42-31 lead that was never really threatened.
“I thought coming in they thought I was going to go off,” Anderson said. “But I thought we had to settle down more than anything else, and I always say there’s two halves to a game. But I thought our guys came out with tenaciousness on defense that we played with all year long.”
Even though Cornell played with its usual smarts, it shot with usual Ivy League effectiveness. It hit only .359 (23-of-64), while Mizzou shot 57 percent in the decisive second half and had a season-low four turnovers.
“They only had three turnovers at halftime,” Anderson said of Cornell (21-10). “So to me that played into our hands, because they’re more concerned about taking care of the ball than they are maybe trying to score.”
Hayward helps lift Marquette by Utah State
BOISE, Idaho — Lazar Hayward scored 26 points to lead Marquette to a 58-57 win over Utah State in a first-round game Friday.
Hayward, who was averaging 16 points, scored Marquette’s first 10 points and was almost perfect from the free-throw line as the Golden Eagles (25-9) held off the Aggies (30-5).
The Golden Eagles stumbled early in the second half and ended up trailing by six, then regrouped at the end. Once Marquette got the Aggies in foul trouble, the Golden Eagles sealed it at the free-throw line.
“We battled back in the second half and really gave ourselves a chance to win,” Utah State coach Stew Morrill said.
