@MizzouHoops vs. North Carolina Central Up Next at Mizzou Arena on Monday

Monday, November 28

Columbia, Mo.

7 p.m. CT

University of Missouri

North Carolina Central

Tickets

@MizzouHoops vs. North Carolina Central Up Next at Mizzou Arena on Monday

11/27/2016 2:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Full Game Notes (GM 6)

Tigers vs. NCCU set to tip off at 7 p.m. CT, Monday on SEC Network +

MIZZOU GAME DAY - Monday, Nov. 28
North Carolina Central (Full game notes)	Mizzou Arena	Monday	7 p.m.	Live Stats Listen Watch Tickets

MIZZOU GAME DAY - Monday, Nov. 28

OPPONENT

LOCATION

DAY

TIME

MEDIA

North Carolina Central

(Full game notes)

Mizzou Arena

Monday

7 p.m.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Men's Basketball (3-2) continues at home on Monday, Nov. 28, against North Carolina Central, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network +). The Tigers' games on SEC Network + are available on WatchESPN to SEC Network subscribers such as AT&T U-Verse, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV and Dish.

Mizzou enters its contest vs. NCCU coming off a 24-point win over Northwestern State (84-60) on Saturday, Nov. 26. The Tigers were led in scoring for the second consecutive game by sophomore guard K.J. Walton, who put up 19 points.
The Tigers-Eagles matchup is the first in the history of both programs. Mizzou is 17-2 all-time against schools from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Tigers defeated MEAC members twice last season, Maryland-Eastern Shore (73-55) and Savannah State (81-50), winning by an average margin of 24.5 points.
Mizzou has scored with increased efficiency through its first five games in comparison to a season ago, averaging 77.4 points per game as opposed to 65.2 points per game in the first five games of the 2015-16 season.

OPPONENT - NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL

North Carolina Central (3-2) arrives at Mizzou Arena on a three-game winning streak, taking book-end road games at Western Carolina (67-59) on Nov. 16, and Northern Kentucky (82-74) on Nov. 26, with a home win over Jackson State (84-75) on Nov. 18, sandwiched in between.
The Eagles, led by head coach LeVelle Moton, opened the season on a two-game skid, losing on the road to Marshall (81-67) on Nov. 12 and Ohio State (69-63) on Nov. 14. NCCU allowed Marshall to shoot 47.5 percent from the field (28-of-59) in the season-opening defeat.
North Carolina Central has two players averaging double-figures in scoring, led by a scorching 22.0 points-per-game from senior guard Patrick Cole. Cole is coming off a 32-point performance against Northern Kentucky (Nov. 26). Additionally, senior guard Dajuan Graf is averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 assists per game.
On the boards, Cole leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game, while senior Kyle Benton is close behind, averaging 7.7 rebounds per game. Cole leads the team in offensive rebounds, with eight through five games.
North Carolina Central has averaged 73.0 points and 34.8 rebounds per game through five contests, allowing 71.6 and 36.0 rebounds per game to its opponents. Foes of the Eagles have shot 44.4 percent from the floor.

WALTON BRINGS THE ENERGY

Sophomore guard K.J. Walton (Indianapolis, Ind.) has been a dynamo off the bench for the Tigers in recent games vs. Tulane (Nov. 20) and Northwestern State (Nov. 26), scoring a career-high 20 points vs. the Green Wave and following that up with 19 points against the Demons.
Part of his scoring success, Walton has increased his reliability at the free throw line after shooting 69.2 percent (54-of-78) last season to hitting on 90.0 percent in 2016-17 (18-of-20).
According to College Basketball Reference, Walton is one of just 13 underclassmen nationally averaging at least 10.5 points per game (10.8) while playing less than 20 minutes per game (16.4).
Walton has improved his defense as well, recording a team-leading 10 steals while playing just 16.4 minutes per game. Diving deeper into the numbers, Walton ranks sixth nationally in steal percentage (6.7), according to Ken Pomeroy. The metric is the percentage of possessions that a player records a steal while he is on the court. It is computed by steals / (%-minutes X team possessions).
Using the statistical adjustment of "per 40 minutes", Walton would currently be averaging a team-best 26.3 points, along with 4.9 steals and 9.8 free throw attempts per game.

PURYEAR STAYING CONSISTENT

Sophomore forward Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.) scored 11 points (5-of-8 FG, 1-of-1 3PT) against Northwestern State (Nov. 26), to go along with six rebounds.
His effort against Northwestern State marked the fourth time this season Puryear has scored in double-figures. Puryear has scored 10 points or more in 25-of-36 career games for the Black & Gold.
Puryear has recorded at least 10 points and five rebounds in half of his career contests (18-of-36).

MULTIPLE TIGERS INVOLVED VS. NORTHWESTERN STATE

Mizzou used a 45-point second half for the second-straight game to put away its most recent opponent, Northwestern State (Nov. 26), en route to its 84-60 victory. The Tigers scored 45 after the break to secure the win over Tulane (Nov. 20), 67-62, in the final game of the Tire Pros Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
Five different Tigers scored in double figures for Mizzou vs. Northwestern State, an accomplishment head coach Kim Anderson's squad had not reached since last season (vs. South Carolina, Feb. 16, 2016).
As a team, Mizzou had 19 assists in the win, a season-high and the most since Mizzou had 19 assists against Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Dec. 29, 2015.

BACK ON TRACK WITH WIN VS. TULANE TO CLOSE ORLANDO TRIP

Sophomore guard K.J. Walton (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 20 points off the bench in the 67-62 Tulane win (Nov. 20), setting a career-high and easily surpassing his previous career-best of 11 points, which he had accomplished three previous times.
Mizzou had to work to do at the halftime break vs. Tulane, staring down a 10-point deficit (22-32). A second half surge of 45 points powered the Tigers to a comeback win to finish the Tire Pros Invitational.
Head coach Kim Anderson's group more than doubled its first half scoring output, also shooting 53.6 percent from the field (15-of-28 FG). The Tigers' shooting efficiency ramped up considerably from their first half performance of 33.3 percent (10-of-30 FG).