1977–78 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team

1977–78 Missouri Tigers men's basketball
1977–78 Missouri Tigers men's basketball
Big Eight tournament champions
NCAA Tournament
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	14–16 (4–10 Big 8)
Head coach	Norm Stewart (11th season);
Assistant coach	Gary Garner (1st season)
Home arena	Hearnes Center

1977–78 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 10 Kansas	13	–	1	.929	24	–	5	.828
Iowa State	9	–	5	.643	14	–	13	.519
Nebraska	9	–	5	.643	22	–	8	.733
Kansas State	7	–	7	.500	18	–	11	.621
Oklahoma	7	–	7	.500	14	–	13	.519
Oklahoma State	4	–	10	.286	10	–	16	.385
†	4	–	10	.286	14	–	16	.467
Colorado	3	–	11	.214	9	–	18	.333

† 1978 Big Eight tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1977–78 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Missouri during the 1977–78 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by legendary coach Norm Stewart, the Tigers finished seventh in the Big 8 regular season standings, but won the Big 8 Tournament to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Missouri was eliminated by Utah in double overtime^[2] to finish with a 14–16 record (4–10 Big 8).

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	22	Larry Drew	—	—	So

Head coach

Norm Stewart

Assistant coach(es)

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 city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1977*		Midwestern State	W 81–73	1–0	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Dec 2, 1977*		Butler Show-Me Classic	W 87–66	2–0	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Dec 3, 1977*		UTEP Show-Me Classic	W 74–63	3–0	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Dec 6, 1977*		at Illinois Show-Me Classic	L 85–96	3–1	Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois
Dec 10, 1977*		at Alabama	L 71–75	3–2	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Dec 13, 1977*		Valparaiso	W 91–75	4–2	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Dec 16, 1977*		Cal Poly Pomona	W 70–60	5–2	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Dec 23, 1977*		vs. Florida State	L 64–97	5–3	Harold & Ted Alfond Sports Center (2,000) Orlando, Florida
Dec 28, 1977*		vs. No. 17 Kansas Border War · Big Eight Preseason Tournament	L 49–96	5–4	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 29, 1977* 3:05 p.m.		vs. Iowa State Big Eight Preseason Tournament Consolation Semifinals	W 66–62	6–4	Kemper Arena (7,252) Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 30, 1977*		vs. Oklahoma State Big Eight Preseason Tournament	W 87–75	7–4	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Jan 7, 1978		No. 14 Kansas Border War	L 67–71	7–5 (0–1)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Jan 9, 1978*		No. 4 Marquette	L 52–70	7–6	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Jan 11, 1978		at Oklahoma	L 70–73 ^OT	7–7 (0–2)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
Jan 14, 1978		Oklahoma State	W 85–70	8–7 (1–2)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Jan 18, 1978		Colorado	W 70–68 ^OT	9–7 (2–2)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Jan 21, 1978		at Nebraska	L 55–56	9–8 (2–3)	Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 25, 1978		Kansas State	W 65–60	10–8 (3–3)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Jan 28, 1978 7:35 p.m.		at Iowa State	L 59–68	10–9 (3–4)	Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa
Feb 1, 1978		Oklahoma	L 64–65	10–10 (3–5)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Feb 4, 1978		at Oklahoma State	L 52–62	10–11 (3–6)	Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma
Feb 8, 1978		at No. 8 Kansas Border War	L 52–72	10–12 (3–7)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 11, 1978		No. 19 Nebraska	W 74–52	11–12 (4–7)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Feb 15, 1978		at Colorado	L 63–69	11–13 (4–8)	Balch Fieldhouse Boulder, Colorado
Feb 18, 1978		at Kansas State	L 54–67	11–14 (4–9)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 25, 1978 7:35 p.m.		Iowa State	L 63–67	11–15 (4–10)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Big 8 Tournament
Feb 28, 1978* 7:35 p.m.	(7)	at (2) Iowa State Quarterfinals	W 65–63	12–15	Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa
Mar 3, 1978*	(7)	(3) Nebraska Semifinals	W 61–58	13–15	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 4, 1978*	(7)	(4) Kansas State Championship game	W 71–68 ^2OT	14–15	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1978*	(MW 1Q)	vs. (MW 3L) No. 15 Utah First round	L 79–86 ^2OT	14–16	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

^[3]

Rankings

^[4]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1977-78 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
^ "DePaul, Utah Win". The New York Times. March 13, 1978. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
^ "1977-78 Men's Basketball Schedule". mutigers.com. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 844–845. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] sports-reference.com 1977-78 Big Eight Conference Season Summary

[2] "DePaul, Utah Win". The New York Times. March 13, 1978. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[3] "1977-78 Men's Basketball Schedule". mutigers.com. Retrieved April 5, 2025.

[ESPN-4] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 844–845. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Missouri Tigers men's basketball
Venues	Rothwell Gymnasium (1906–1929) Brewer Fieldhouse (1929–1972) Hearnes Center (1972–2004) Mizzou Arena (2004–present)
Rivalries	Illinois Kansas
Culture & lore	The Antlers Truman the Tiger
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
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Premo-Porretta national championships in bold