Mizzou basketball releases schedule

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's basketball schedule released Wednesday features non-conference games against national champion Syracuse along with Gonzaga, Indiana and Illinois.

It'll be the final season at the Hearnes Center for the Tigers, led by seniors Arthur Johnson and Rickey Paulding. Missouri was 14-1 at home last season.

"This is a terrific opportunity for us to play against some of the top competition in the country," coach Quin Snyder said. "We have a great group of young men assembled here at Mizzou and we are looking forward to the challenges that are ahead of us this year."

The Tigers will face three of the teams that participated in the Final Four last spring, including conference opponents Texas and Kansas. In all, they'll play 10 teams that made it to the NCAA tournament.

Syracuse comes to Missouri on Jan. 12. The Tigers play at Indiana Dec. 6 and face Gonzaga in Seattle, Wash., on Dec. 13. The annual Braggin' Rights game against Illinois in St. Louis is Dec. 23.

Missouri's opener is Nov. 29 at Oakland in Detroit, their first opener on the road since 1999. The home opener is Dec. 2 against Coppin State and the Big 12 opener is Jan. 7 at Iowa State, with the first home conference game on Jan. 10 against Texas A&M.

Missouri's complete schedule can be found in Scoreboard.