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Texas Vs. Missouri: Game Preview, TV Info And More

After a 1-4 stretch against the top of the Big 12, the Longhorns desperately need a home win over the Tigers on Big Monday to put themselves back onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.

In the last two weeks, Texas has lost by four at No. 24 Kansas State, by three over No. 7 Kansas and by by five at No. 5 Baylor.

Now the 13-8 Longhorns have one more chance to crack their glass ceiling and get the type of signature conference victory that would catapult them back into the national spotlight and onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.

They play No. 4 Missouri on Monday night in Austin, two weeks after they lost 84-73 to the Tigers in Columbia.

Rick Barnes tried to fool Frank Haith's squad by going into a zone to open that game, but the move backfired when Missouri began raining 3's from the perimeter and ended up being the difference in the contest due to Texas' ability to play to tough perimeter defense on the Tigers stars.

Phil Pressey, at only 5'10 175, is an excellent match-up for the talented but inconsistent freshmen PG Myck Kabongo, a long-armed athlete at 6'1 170.

J'Covan Brown, meanwhile, has been on a tear as the level of competition has increased for the Longhorns, averaging nearly 20 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds on 42% shooting this season.

The 8:00 PM game will be televised nationally on ESPN as a part of Big Monday.

For the latest scoop on Texas basketball, head over to Burnt Orange Nation while Rock M Nation has all the pre-game analysis from Columbia covered.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.