The No. 7 Miami Hurricanes defeated the No. 10 Missouri Tigers 80-66 in a hard-fought Round of 64 March Madness battle Friday night.
A major storyline in this matchup was Miami having to navigate what felt like a true road environment, with the game taking place in St. Louis, just a short distance from Mizzou’s campus. Despite the heavy presence of opposing fans, the Canes remained composed. When asked about the atmosphere and its impact, Tre Donaldson emphasized the team’s mindset:
“We had a good idea coming into the game what we were going to see in the stands. Coach’s biggest thing is just to treat it like a normal road game. Don’t try to overcomplicate it; do nothing different. We’ve won some of these, and that’s what we gotta go do tonight. I felt like we did a good job of staying poised, staying together, understanding what the task was at hand, and handling it well.”
The first half was pretty quiet for both teams, as they went through long stretches without scoring. Even Missouri star guard Mark Mitchell, who scored 32 points in each of his last two games, didn’t make any of his three-point shots in the first half. This slow start could have been because of first-game March Madness nerves, the long break of over a week, or even the late 9:10 tipoff in St. Louis. Whatever the reason was, it clearly affected both teams and their top scorers.
The tip-off went to Missouri, and they struck first with a backdoor layup. But Miami’s First-Team All-ACC forward Malik Reneau responded immediately with a post move inside for two of his own. That initial two-point lead would be the only lead for the Tigers in the first half.
Ernest Udeh Jr. showed why he was placed on the ACC All-Defensive team with a steal on a Missouri alley-oop attempt, which sparked the fastbreak where Tre Donaldson converted with the game’s first three.
The first half and truly the entire game was all hustle and heart. Miami’s pair of freshmen, Shelton Henderson and Dante Allen, brought all the energy, leading the Canes in scoring in the first period. Henderson made a tough and-one layup and gave the Missouri defender an intense stare as he went to the free-throw line, one that could scare just about anyone. Allen also made a big impact, quieting the loud Missouri crowd with a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Canes up by six.
Once again, Henderson drove with absolute force to the rim and put down a slam-dunk to earn Miami its largest lead of the game, up nine, 26-17. After that point, though, Miami’s only point the rest of the half came on a made free throw from Allen. Despite the Hurricanes recording 12 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds, the Tigers had just three offensive rebounds and zero second-chance points. Still, Missouri went into halftime down by only one after finishing the half on a 9-0 run, with Miami leading 27-26.
In the second half, it was truly incredible to see just how impressive Udeh Jr.’s defense was on Mitchell. Also, after scoring just five points in the first half, Reneau returned to his high-scoring ways, ultimately leading the team in scoring by ending with 24 points.
On the other side of the floor, Missouri Center Shawn Phillips Jr. started to take over defensively, protecting the rim against anything and everything that entered the paint.
For the victorious Hurricanes, it was the Tre Donaldson show. After Missouri grabbed its first lead since the opening basket, edging ahead 51-49 with just over nine minutes remaining, Donaldson took over and never looked back. He caught fire at the perfect moment, drilling four clutch three-pointers in the second half to swing the momentum decisively in Miami’s favor. Down the stretch, the Hurricanes slammed the door with an 11-0 run, pulling away and putting the Tigers away for good.
The sheer disparity in offensive rebounds and second chance points, as well as the defensive game plan in slowing down Mitchell, helped the Canes pull away. In total, Miami had nine more offensive rebounds and 17 more second-chance points than Missouri.
“I mean we’ve been emphasizing offensive rebounding since we got here,” Reneau said. “Since the summertime, that’s all we’ve been doing, just every day, we offensive rebound. We do box-out drills, rebounding drills. So it’s just drilled in us to constantly keep pushing the rebounds on both sides of the end.”
The win for Miami not only advances them to the Round of 32 to face No. 2 Purdue on Sunday, but it also marks history for the Hurricanes. Under first-year head coach Jai Lucas, the Canes have completely flipped the script, tying a Division I record with a +19 win total difference from the previous year after going 7-24 in 2024-25.
As Miami’s rapid rise has turned heads, much of the credit has gone to Lucas and the culture he’s built in such a short time.
“Just how relatable he is,” Donaldson said about what makes Lucas so effective in bringing the group together. “He’s very open. He says that we have a very collaborative program. That’s the word he likes to use. He’s just relatable. And I feel like that gives us as a team able to be that close to our coach, it’s easy for us as a team and players to come together and just understanding that why we’re all here. He preaches that to us all the time to keep the chip on our shoulder and that’s what continues to push us and understand everybody else’s story, and understanding that we have to do this together.”