Fifth-Seeded @MizzouHoops Begins Postseason at SEC Tournament in St. Louis

Thursday, March 8

St. Louis, Mo.

2:30 PM

Missouri

Georgia

Fifth-Seeded @MizzouHoops Begins Postseason at SEC Tournament in St. Louis

3/6/2018 6:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Tigers to face No. 12 Georgia or No. 13 Vanderbilt on Thursday on SEC Network (2:30 p.m. CT)

Mizzou Men's Basketball (20-11, 10-8) finished off its remarkable run through the 2017-18 regular season in a tie for fourth-place in the Southeastern Conference standings, setting the Tigers up as the No. 5 seed for the 2018 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at St. Louis' Scottrade Center from Wednesday, March 7 - Sunday, March 11.

Mizzou vs. TBD
Thursday, March 8, 2:30 p.m. CT
SECN

Game Notes

STORY LINES

Mizzou has a first-round bye and will face No. 12 Georgia (16-14, 7-11) or No. 13 Vanderbilt (12-19, 6-12) in second round action on Thursday, March 8, at approximately 2:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
Head coach Cuonzo Martin's squad handed defeats to both the Bulldogs and Commodores during the 2018 SEC schedule. Mizzou won at home over Georgia (Jan. 10) by a score of 68-56, with the 12-point margin of victory being the Black & Gold's biggest win in league action. The Tigers were victorious in Nashville more recently, winning 74-66 at Vanderbilt (Feb. 27).
Mizzou got to 20 wins with its Senior Night win over Arkansas (March 3). Senior forward Jordan Barnett recorded his fifth double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) of the season and sixth of his career.
Mizzou's 74-66 win at Vanderbilt (Feb. 27) was the Tigers' fifth true road win of the season -- the program's most since winning seven away games during the 2011-12 campaign.
An All-SEC First-Team selection, graduate senior guard Kassius Robertson began his career at the only school to offer him a D-I scholarship, Canisius, of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Canisius has an enrollment of 3,171, while Mizzou's enrollment is nearly 10 times larger (30,870).
Robertson is the nation's highest scoring (16.5) graduate transfer at the high major level (as of March 3). Overall, Robertson ranks fourth in the country (Div. I) in scoring among all graduate transfers.
Mizzou (20-11) is the third-most improved team in the country, record-wise. North Carolina A&T is at 19-13 after going 3-29 last season, while UC Santa Barbara is 22-8 after a 6-22 mark in 2016-17.

SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Mizzou holds a 3-4 all-time record in the SEC Tournament, going 1-1 in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
Last season, Mizzou won its opening game of the 2017 SEC Tournament, defeating Auburn (March 8, 2017) in OT, 86-83, thanks to a game-winning three-pointer by then-sophomore Kevin Puryear.

SEC TOURNAMENT IN ST. LOUIS

For the first time ever, the Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament will be played west of the Mississippi River. St. Louis, Missouri, plays host to the 2018 edition of the event, at the Scottrade Center from March 7-11, 2018.
The home of the NHL's St. Louis Blues, the Scottrade Center also features a full range of arena programming, including concerts, ice shows, family shows and other sporting events. The Scottrade Center hosts approximately 175 events per year.
The SEC Tournament will be carried on SEC Network and ESPN, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game on the main network.

KASH MONEY

Graduate senior guard Kassius Robertson was honored as an All-SEC First-Team selection on Tuesday, March 6 -- Mizzou's third-ever First-Team pick since joining the SEC prior to the 2012-13 season. Robertson joins former guards Jabari Brown (2013-14) and Phil Pressey (2012-13) as Mizzou players to earn the honor.
Robertson has been one of the biggest surprises in the Southeastern Conference, and a welcomed one for Mizzou. The graduate transfer from Canisius finished the regular season ranking fifth in SEC games in points per game (17.5), second in three-point percentage (.444) and second in three-pointers per game (3.3).
His shooting proficiency all comes while playing the most minutes in the conference, averaging 38.2 minutes per game. That mark is two minutes more per game, on average, than the next closest SEC player (Kentucky's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 36.1).
Robertson racked up eight 20-point games out of Mizzou's 18 conference games played.
Robertson has led Mizzou in scoring 16 times. In his previous three seasons at Canisius, Robertson led the Golden Griffins in scoring 20 times, combined.

JAMS WITH JONTAY

Freshman forward Jontay Porter was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team, and also tabbed as Co-Sixth Man of the Year, by the league's coaches.
Porter joins current junior Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.) as Tigers to have earned SEC All-Freshman Team recognition.
Historically, the Tigers have now had three players earn Sixth Man of the Year honors, although Porter's nod is the first-ever in the SEC. Michael Dixon and Matt Lawrence received the award from the Big 12 Conference for the 2011-12 and 2008-09 seasons, respectively.
Porter has built an impressive 10-game run, averaging 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 blocks in that stretch of games.
Porter's 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the win at Vanderbilt (Feb. 27) were significant, in that a Mizzou freshman had not accomplished a 20-5-5 stat line since the 1998-99 season.

MORE STORY LINES

Mizzou was initially forecast to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference in the preseason media poll, a projection that took into account plenty that has since changed for the Tigers.
Head coach Cuonzo Martin led the Tigers to a 7-4 record over Mizzou's final 11 games with eight available scholarship players, securing a tie for fourth-place in the league's standings (10-8) and a No. 5 seed for the SEC Tournament.
Martin leads Mizzou into the postseason with seven available scholarship players and eight total.
Mizzou and Tennessee were the only two teams in the SEC to complete the regular season ranking in the conference's Top 5 for both three-point field goal shooting percentage (2nd, .387) and three-point field goal defense (5th, .326).
Mizzou ranks fifth in the SEC in rebounding defense, holding its opponents to just 32.3 boards per game.
Mizzou has outrebounded its opponents in 21-of-31 games this season.
Graduate senior guard Kassius Robertson played 94.2 percent of Mizzou's SEC slate, appearing in 688 of a possible 730 minutes.
Freshman forward Jeremiah Tilmon posted an outstanding effort in Mizzou's win vs. Arkansas (March 3), scoring a season-high 17 points thanks in part to a 7-for-9 game from the free throw line. The freshman from East St. Louis, Illinois, also pulled down eight rebounds.
Eleven instances of a player hitting at least six three-pointers in a game occurred during SEC play. Senior forward Jordan Barnett (2) and Robertson (2) combined for four such games.
Martin has installed his patented defensive approach, while also shaping a sharp-shooting squad. Mizzou ranks in the nation's Top 50 in both offensive (55.0, 30th) and defensive (46.7, 16th) effective field goal percentage.