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Kyle O'Quinn has an NBA body and NBA talent.
 
He's a 6-10, 240-pound senior for the Norfolk State Spartans, and he averaged 15.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and three blocks a game this season.
 
He will be a mismatch for the Missouri Tigers.
 
But so was KU's Thomas Robinson.
 
And Iowa State's Royce White.
 
And, basically, Baylor's entire roster.
 
So this is nothing new --- the Tigers have been there, done that, in almost every game this season.
 
That's the long and the short of it, again, as the No. 3 Tigers (30-4) get ready to open the NCAA Tournament against the Spartans (25-9) at 3:40 p.m. Friday in Omaha, Neb.
 
"(O'Quinn's) a double-double guy," Missouri coach Frank Haith said. "He's very long and athletic, he's big and he's an NBA-type of guy."
 
Ricardo Ratliffe will once again draw the assignment.
 
"I just know he's a really good big man," the Missouri senior said. "I'm looking forward to it."
 
The other top threats for the Spartans are 6-6 senior Chris McEachin (12.8 ppg.) and 6-6 sophomore Pendarvis Williams (11.8).

Once again, the Tigers' opponent will be taller at almost every position.
 
"They have 25 wins and they've beaten some good basketball teams," Haith said. "They're a very athletic team and their size and length is as good as anybody we've played all year.
 
"It's going to be a challenge for us."
 
The boys in Vegas are not impressed --- MU, the No. 2 seed in the West, is a 21 1/2 point favorite.
 
Norfolk State --- which is making its first NCAA Tourney appearance (this is No. 25 for MU) --- won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tournament title with a 73-70 win over Bethune-Cookman. That earned the No. 15 Spartans the automatic bid.
 
But Norfolk State has lost to the likes of Elizabeth City State (which begs the question, is Elizabeth a city or a state?) and Delaware State. And in a scheduling quirk, the Spartans lost twice early in the season to Marquette --- once by two points, once by 31.
 
"Missouri is a guard-oriented team with a quality big man in the middle, and they like to run," O'Quinn said. "We are a guard-oriented team with big guards who can defend the perimeter.
 
"If it’s not their night, this match-up plays to our favor. If we go in there and play hard and the ball drops our way, I think we can come out with a win."
 
With a win, Missouri --- which is leaving for Omaha on Wednesday afternoon --- would face either Florida or Virginia on Sunday. ESPN's Doug Gottlieb, one the top college basketball gurus in the country, has picked Florida to advance to the Final Four.
 
That would obviously mean Missouri losing to Florida.
 
We'll see.
 
"The way our guys have competed and the season we've had," Haith said, "it's been unbelievable. I'm proud to be a part of it.
 
"Hopefully, we've got six more wins in us. But first things first, and that's Norfolk State."