# 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).

## 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 | 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 | 10–3 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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. ||||||

## Rankings

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