Men's Basketball 2/22/2016 1:49:00 PM

Road Trip to Ole Miss Up Next for @MizzouHoops

Tigers at Rebels to tip off at 8 p.m., Tuesday in Oxford, Miss.

Opponent	Location	Day/Time	Media
at Ole Miss	The Pavilion at Ole Miss	Tuesday, Feb. 23 8 p.m. CT	TV: SEC Network Radio: Tiger Network Online: WatchESPN \| Live Audio \| Live Stats Game Notes

#ZOUNotes

Mizzou Men's Basketball (10-17, 3-11) continues on the road at Ole Miss (17-10, 7-7) on Tuesday, Feb. 23, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
The Tigers won back-to-back Southeastern Conference games for the first time in the Kim Anderson era with wins over Tennessee (75-64, Feb. 13) and South Carolina (72-67, Feb. 16).
The first-ever #RallyForRhyan Game (Feb. 13, vs. Tennessee) raised more than $50,000 dollars for pediatric cancer research in honor of assistant coach Brad Loos' 5-year old daughter, Rhyan, who continues her fight against neuroblastoma.
Freshman forward Kevin Puryear scored a season-high 23 points at Arkansas (Feb. 20), the 3rd 20-point game of his debut season. He became the 8th freshman in program history to eclipse 300 points.
Senior forward Ryan Rosburg has put together the greatest five-game stretch of his career, averaging 18.2 points per game and scoring the first two 20-point games of his career.

Last Time Out

Mizzou (10-17, 3-11) dropped an 84-72 result at Arkansas (13-14, 6-8) on Saturday, Feb. 20, at Bud Walton Arena.
Freshman forward Kevin Puryear became the eighth freshman in Mizzou Men's Basketball history to eclipse the 300-point mark with his season-best 23-point effort. It was his third game with 20+ points in his debut Tiger campaign.
Sophomore guard Namon Wright earned his first career double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds). The 12 boards were a career-high and also his first game rebounding in double figures.
Senior forward Ryan Rosburg scored 11 points in limited minutes due to foul trouble. It was the fifth-straight game of 10+ points for Rosburg, who is now averaging 18.2 points in his last five games.
Freshman guard Terrence Phillips led the Tigers in assists with seven - his highest total in SEC play. The mark tied the career-high he set against Arkansas State (Dec. 1, 2015).

Puryear Joins Freshman 300-Point Club

Freshman forward Kevin Puryear used his third 20-point game of his first season in the Black & Gold to reach a significant mile marker. With a season-high 23 points (6-of-14 FG, 1-of-3 3PT, 10-of-11 FT) at Arkansas (Feb. 20), Puryear became the eighth freshman in program history to reach the 300-point mark in a season.
Puryear's scoring ability has seen an uptick in recent games due to his ability to stretch the floor. In Mizzou's first 15 games of the season, he made 4-of-21 (.190) from three-point range. In the Tigers' last five games, Puryear has sank 5-of-11 (.455) from deep.
Finding scoring chances for Puryear has also become a focus for Mizzou. In four of the last six games, Puryear has attempted 10 or more field goals. Prior to that stretch, he had yet to attempt more than nine field goals in a Southeastern Conference game.

Wright Went to Boarding School

No Tiger has improved on the glass like sophomore guard Namon Wright, who pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds at Arkansas (Feb. 20) to help power his way to his first career double-double. Wright scored 12 points against the Razorbacks for his fourth-straight game reaching double figures.
Wright's 12 rebounds at Arkansas are a season individual high for the Tigers, with three prior instances of 11 rebounds recorded by sophomore forward Jakeenan Gant (Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Dec. 29), freshman forward Kevin Puryear (Auburn, Jan. 9) and senior forward Ryan Rosburg (at Vanderbilt, Feb. 10).
Wright narrowly missed his first career double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds against Mississippi State (Jan. 30). The nine boards were then a career-high.
Wright, averaging 5.1 rebounds per game this season, has more than doubled his rebounds-per-game average from his freshman campaign (2.3). The Tiger has 137 rebounds through 27 games after securing 69 in 30 games last season.
Wright is one rebound away from completely doubling his rebound total from his freshman campaign.

Rosburg Not Going Quietly Into the Night

Mizzou became just the fourth team to outrebound South Carolina with its 46-39 advantage on the boards in the 72-67 win on Tuesday, Feb. 16. The Gamecocks entered the contest as the SEC's No. 2 team in rebounding margin (+5.8) in conference games, also ranking third in total rebounds (40.0).
The Tigers punched above their weight class with a tenacious rebounding effort against South Carolina, pulling down a total of 46. Mizzou entered the game averaging 34.2 per game in league play.
The 46 rebounds were the second-highest total of the season for Mizzou, only falling short of the Tigers' 56-board effort vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 29, 2015).
Mizzou's double-digit rebounding margin against Tennessee (41-26, +15) was its first in conference play since the 2013-14 season when the Tigers posted a 39-24 advantage against Texas A&M (March 5, 2014). Mizzou additionally posted a +20 margin (48-28) against the Aggies in the SEC Tournament on March 13, 2014.
Head coach Kim Anderson's squad has outrebounded its opponent in consecutive conference games for the first time since the close of the 2014-15 season. Mizzou recorded advantages on the boards vs. Auburn (34-25; March 3, 2015), at Mississippi State (37-32; March 7, 2015) and vs. South Carolina in the SEC Tournament (35-26, March 11, 2015).

Last Time Against Ole Miss

Mizzou dropped a hard-fought game to Ole Miss on Feb. 3, falling by a score of 76-73 at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers led by four points with 1:05 left, but ultimately fell.
The Tigers connected on a season-high 10 three-pointers in the game, led by three from both freshman guard Terrence Phillips and sophomore guard Namon Wright.
Wright led the Tigers in rebounding for the second-straight game with eight boards, while Phillips recorded a season-high five steals. Freshman guard Cullen VanLeer also chipped in 10 points off the bench, hitting on 2-of-6 three-pointers.
As a team, Mizzou snagged 12 steals in the game, matching a season-high which was previously set on Dec. 29, 2015, against Arkansas Pine-Bluff. Individually, Phillips had a season-high five steals in the game.

More About Ole Miss

Ole Miss (17-10, 7-7) has split its last four games, three of which were road contests for the Rebels. Head coach Andy Kennedy's group rebounded from a 71-56 setback at Texas A&M (Feb. 16) to win at Auburn (Feb. 20), 69-59.
Senior guard Stefan Moody continues to top the SEC in scoring, averaging 22.9 points per conference game. Moody scored 23 points (6-of-18 FG, 5-of-12 3PT, 6-of-7 FT) in Ole Miss' 76-73 escape in Columbia, Mo., on Feb. 3.