@MizzouHoops' Last November Home Game Brings In Emporia State

Monday, November 20

Columbia, Mo.

7 PM CT

Missouri

Emporia State

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@MizzouHoops' Last November Home Game Brings In Emporia State

11/19/2017 6:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Tigers and Hornets tip off at 7 p.m. CT on Monday from Mizzou Arena

Mizzou Men's Basketball (2-1) hosts its final home game of November with Emporia State coming to Mizzou Arena on Monday, Nov. 20, for a 7 p.m. matchup. Live coverage of the game can be found on SEC Network + (online and app-based) and the Tiger Radio Network.

Mizzou vs. Emporia State
Nov. 20, 7:00 p.m.
SEC Network +

Game Notes

Story Lines

Mizzou Men's Basketball (2-1) hosts its final home game of November with Emporia State coming to Mizzou Arena on Monday, Nov. 20, for a 7 p.m. matchup. Live coverage of the game can be found on SEC Network + (online and app-based) and the Tiger Radio Network.
Head coach Cuonzo Martin urges his teams to focus on three things: rebounding, defending and playing hard. The Tigers rank fifth in the SEC with both a +9.3 rebounding margin and 63.7-points-allowed average through three games.
Junior forward Kevin Puryear has six-straight games of 10+ points dating back to last season.
Iron Man! Senior transfer guard Kassius Robertson has played at least 20 minutes in 79-straight games dating back to midway through his freshman season (2014-15) at Canisius.
Additionally, Robertson has sank at least one three-pointer in 68 of his last 70 games.
Sophomore forward Reed Nikko has more than doubled his rebounding average from his freshman campaign (2.3) through the first three games of the season (5.7).
Freshman forward Jontay Porter ranks second on the team in assists (2.7 per game).
Tall! Mizzou has five Tigers who stand 6-10 or taller on its roster for just the second time in program history. Legendary head coach Norm Stewart's 1995-96 squad also had five at 6-10 or taller.
Mizzou's 2017-18 season began with a win, defeating old conference foe Iowa State, 74-59 (Nov. 10).
Mizzou Arena is sold out for the 2017-18 season, with the public season ticket sales total of 9,572 setting a school record. Last year's public season ticket total was 5,802.
Martin's squad features last season's Top 3 scorers (Barnett, 12.2; Puryear, 11.8; Phillips, 10.4).

Mizzou vs. Emporia State

The Mizzou-Emporia State series has been dormant for many, many years, considering the Tigers and Hornets have matched up just twice, with both meetings taking place in the first (1906-07) and fourth (1909-10) seasons of Mizzou Basketball.
In the first-ever Mizzou season on the hardwood (or potentially dirt), the H.A. Henley-led Tigers placed the roundball through the peach basket more often than Emporia State to the tune of a 40-26 road victory on Feb. 5, 1907. For a historical reference point, the President of the United States of America was Theodore Roosevelt.
The Hornets took a trip to Columbia three years later on Feb. 5, 1910, with Emporia State struggling to find the scoring column against Guy Lowman's Tigers. Mizzou claimed a strong 32-8 victory that day (William Taft claimed residence in the Oval Office at that time).

They Call Him KP

In his last six games, junior forward Kevin Puryear has averaged 17.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Through three games of the 2017-18 campaign, Puryear is averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
The strong stretch of double-digit scoring efforts for the Tiger upperclassman is boosted by his outstanding performance vs. Auburn in the 2017 SEC Tournament (March 8, 2017), where Puryear dropped a career-high 30 points (8-19 FG, 5-9 3PT, 9-12 FT).
Puryear began his junior campaign coming off the bench for the very first time and responded by leading the Tigers in both points (17) and rebounds (8) in the season-opening 74-59 win vs. Iowa State (Nov. 10).

Notes from the Utah Game

Senior guard Kassius Robertson led Mizzou in scoring with his 12 points (3-10 FG, 1-7 3PT, 5-5 FT). Robertson's effort from the charity stripe was the sixth time in his career shooting perfectly while making at least five free throw attempts.
Junior forward Kevin Puryear ran his streak of double-digit scoring games to six , dating back to last season, with his 11 points (4-9 FG, 1-4 3PT, 2-2 FT).
Sophomore forward Reed Nikko led Mizzou in rebounds for the second-straight game with his eight boards at Utah (Nov. 16). Nikko tied freshman Jontay Porter for the team-lead in rebounds with eight in the 99-55 win vs. Wagner (Nov. 13). Additionally against the Utes, Nikko scored eight points for the second-straight game.

Up Next

Mizzou will travel to Orlando, Florida, to play in the AdvoCare Invitational, beginning with a Thanksgiving Day matchup with Long Beach State on Thursday, Nov. 23, at 10:30 a.m. CT on ESPN2. The meeting will be the first-ever game played between the Tigers and the 49ers.
Mizzou will then play either St. John's or Oregon State on Friday, Nov. 24, depending on the outcome of both games. The Tigers hold a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series against Oregon State, but the two teams have not played since 1984. Mizzou and St. John's has never played each other.
The Tigers' third game of the tournament will occur on Sunday, Nov. 26, and will be against Central Florida, Nebraska, West Virginia or Marist. West Virginia is currently ranked No. 24 in the AP Top 25.
If Mizzou and Nebraska were to match up, it would be the first game between the two old Big 12 rivals since 2011, prior to Nebraska departing the conference for the Big 10. Mizzou leads the all-time series, 126-93.
The Mizzou-WVU all-time series is tied 1-1. Mizzou defeated the Mountaineers, 80-71, on Dec. 5, 2013, but the win was later vacated. Mizzou defeat Marist, 69-56, on Jan. 30, 1992 in the only meeting between the two schools. The Tigers have never faced UCF, but following the three games in four days, Mizzou will then play at UCF on Thursday, Nov. 30 in Orlando, in an additional AdvoCare Invitational non-bracketed game.