1988–89 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team

The 1988–89 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Missouri as a member of the Big Eight Conference during the 1988–89 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by head coach Norm Stewart, the Tigers finished second in the Big Eight regular season standings, won the Big Eight conference tournament, and were the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. The Tigers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and finished with an overall record of 29–8 (10–4 Big Eight).

1988–89 Missouri Tigers men's basketball
Big Eight tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 6
Record	29–8 (10–4 Big 8)
Head coach	Norm Stewart (22nd season)
Assistant coaches	Bob Sundvold Rich Daly Sam Moore
Captains	Mike Sandbothe Greg Church
Home arena	Hearnes Center
Seasons ← 1987–88 1989–90 →

1988–89 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Oklahoma	12	–	2		.857			30	–	6		.833
No. 6 Missouri †	10	–	4		.714			29	–	8		.784
Kansas State	8	–	6		.571			19	–	11		.633
Oklahoma State	7	–	7		.500			17	–	13		.567
Iowa State	7	–	7		.500			17	–	12		.586
Kansas	6	–	8		.429			19	–	12		.613
Nebraska	4	–	10		.286			17	–	16		.515
Colorado	2	–	12		.143			7	–	21		.250
† 1989 Big Eight tournament winner As of March 3, 2012 Rankings from AP poll

Roster

1988–89 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 4 Lee Coward 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Jr Detroit, MI G 21 Byron Irvin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Chicago, Illinois F 33 Greg Church 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 221 lb (100 kg) Sr F 34 Doug Smith 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Detroit, Michigan F 42 Mike Sandbothe 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Sr G 44 Anthony Peeler 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Kansas City, Missouri C 52 Gary Leonard 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 264 lb (120 kg) Sr Belleville, Illinois	Head coach Norm Stewart (Missouri) Assistant coach(es) Bob Sundvold Rich Daly Sam Moore Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 18, 1988*  ESPN	No. 14	SW Missouri State Preseason NIT	W 73–54	1–0	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Nov 19, 1988*  ESPN	No. 14	Xavier Preseason NIT	W 83–71	2–0	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Nov 20, 1988*  ESPN	No. 14	vs. No. 6 North Carolina Preseason NIT	W 91–81	3–0	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Nov 21, 1988*  ESPN	No. 14	vs. No. 8 Syracuse Preseason NIT Championship	L 84–86 ^OT[1]	3–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Nov 28, 1988*	No. 13	Tennessee-Martin	W 97–55	4–1	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Dec 2, 1988*	No. 8	vs. No. 17 Temple Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions	W 91–74	5–1	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 3, 1988*	No. 8	vs. No. 10 North Carolina Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions	L 60–76	5–2	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 7, 1988*	No. 11	at Tulsa	W 73–61	6–2	Tulsa Convention Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 10, 1988*	No. 11	Memphis State	W 86–74	7–2	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Dec 16, 1988*	No. 10	Eastern Washington	W 81–68	8–2	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Dec 17, 1988*	No. 10	Ohio	W 113–85	9–2	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Dec 19, 1988*	No. 10	vs. No. 6 Illinois Braggin' Rights	L 84–87	9–3	St. Louis Arena (18,561) St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 21, 1988*	No. 10	Southern	W 114–96	9–3	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Dec 29, 1988*	No. 11	Arkansas	W 83–78	11–3	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Jan 3, 1989*	No. 11	Morgan State	W 96–66	12–3	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Jan 7, 1989	No. 11	at Colorado	W 84–75	13–3 (1–0)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 14, 1989	No. 10	Iowa State	W 96–71	14–3 (2–0)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Jan 16, 1989*	No. 10	at Virginia Tech	W 104–99	15–3	Cassell Coliseum  Blacksburg, Virginia
Jan 21, 1989	No. 8	Oklahoma State	W 105–83	16–3 (3–0)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Jan 24, 1989*	No. 5	at Maryland	W 87–73	17–3	Cole Fieldhouse  College Park, Maryland
Jan 28, 1989	No. 5	at Nebraska	W 89–72	18–3 (4–0)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Feb 1, 1989  ESPN	No. 5	at Kansas	W 91–66	19–3 (5–0)	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 4, 1989	No. 5	Kansas State	W 73–68	20–3 (6–0)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Feb 9, 1989  ESPN	No. 3	at No. 5 Oklahoma	L 105–112^[2]	20–4 (6–1)	Lloyd Noble Center (11,734) Norman, Oklahoma
Feb 11, 1989  NBC	No. 3	Kansas	W 93–80	21–4 (7–1)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Feb 14, 1989	No. 3	at Iowa State	L 75–82	21–5 (7–2)	Hilton Coliseum  Ames, Iowa
Feb 19, 1989	No. 3	Nebraska	W 79–63	22–5 (8–2)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Feb 22, 1989	No. 7	at Oklahoma State	L 71–82	22–6 (8–3)	Gallagher-Iba Arena  Stillwater, Oklahoma
Feb 25, 1989	No. 7	No. 1 Oklahoma	W 97–84^[3]	23–6 (9–3)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Mar 1, 1989	No. 7	at Kansas State	L 75–76	23–7 (9–4)	Bramlage Coliseum  Manhattan, Kansas
Mar 4, 1989	No. 7	Colorado	W 66–65	24–7 (10–4)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Big Eight Conference tournament
Mar 10, 1989*	No. 10	vs. Nebraska Big Eight tournament quarterfinal	W 98–70	25–7	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 11, 1989*	No. 10	vs. Kansas State Big Eight tournament semifinal	W 88–83	26–7	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 12, 1989*  ABC	No. 10	vs. No. 2 Oklahoma Big Eight tournament championship	W 98–86^[4]	27–7	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1989*  CBS	(3 MW) No. 6	vs. (14 MW) Creighton First round	W 85–69	28–7	Reunion Arena  Dallas, Texas
Mar 19, 1989*  CBS	(3 MW) No. 6	vs. (11 MW) Texas Second Round	W 108–89^[5]	29–7	Reunion Arena  Dallas, Texas
Mar 24, 1989*  CBS	(3 MW) No. 6	vs. (2 MW) No. 7 Syracuse Midwest Regional semifinal	L 80–83^[6]	29–8	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome  Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central.

^[7]

Rankings

Main article: 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	14	13	8	11	10	10	11	11	10	8	5	5	3	3	7	7	10	6
Coaches	13	—	11	11	10	10	11	13	12	8	8	6	3	3	7	7	10	8

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

1. "Syracuse Wins N.I.T. in Overtime". The New York Times. November 26, 1988. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
2. "King's 32 Lift Oklahoma; Missouri Coach in Hospital". The New York Times. February 10, 1989. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
3. "MISSOURI SHOWS OKLAHOMA NO RESPECT, 97-84". The Washington Post. February 26, 1989. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
4. "College Basketball; Oklahoma Upset By Missouri, 98-86". The New York Times. March 13, 1989. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
5. "MISSOURI'S WOES IN NCAA WANING". Sun-Sentinel. March 20, 1989. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
6. "Syracuse 83, Missouri 80". United Press International. March 25, 1989. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
7. 2017-18 Missouri Tigers men's basketball media guide. Retrieved Mar 22, 2020.