UPDATED, 11 p.m.
TUCSON, ARIZ. • A mechanical failure grounded the Missouri basketball team’s plane in Lubbock, Texas for nine hours on Saturday, delaying the Tigers’ arrival here for Sunday’s showdown with No. 13 Arizona. After holding an impromptu practice in the airport hangar, Mizzou’s contingent finally hitched a ride on another flight and landed in Tucson around midnight.
Whether Kim Anderson’s club walked to the Arizona desert or traveled here through hyperspace, the Tigers weren’t going to match the home team’s firepower. Arizona’s student band had barely finished the last notes of the national anthem before the Wildcats pounced on another hapless visitor.