Story Lines

• Martin has made a strong case for SEC Coach of the Year recognition with his remarkable turnaround of the Mizzou program in his first season at the helm, taking a program that posted an 8-24 record last season and guiding it to an 18-8 overall mark this season.
• The Tigers are the third-most improved team in the country, record-wise. North Carolina A&T is at 15-11 after going 3-29 last season, while UC Santa Barbara is 19-5 after a 6-22 mark in 2016-17.
• Martin is 3-0 all-time coaching against LSU, including two wins in Baton Rouge during the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons.
• Graduate senior guard Kassius Robertson became the first player during the 2017-18 season to earn back-to-back SEC Player of the Week honors, earning the award for the second consecutive week after scoring a season-high 27 points at Ole Miss (Feb. 6) and 22 points vs. Mississippi State (Feb. 10).
• Robertson has averaged 16.6 points per game overall, a total that sets him apart as the nation's highest-scoring graduate transfer at the high major level (as of Feb. 15).
• Overall, Robertson ranks fourth in the country (Div. I) in scoring among all graduate transfers.
• During Mizzou's five-game winning streak, freshman forward Jontay Porter has averaged 13.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.

 

Streaking

• Mizzou extended its league-best conference winning streak to five games with its win over Texas A&M (Feb. 13), its longest such streak since 2011-12 when the Tigers reeled off seven-straight wins during the program's days in the Big 12 Conference.
• The five-game winning streak is additionally significant in that it is Mizzou's longest overall string of success since the Tigers began the 2013-14 season 10-0 during nonconference play.

A Small Tweak

• Since head coach Cuonzo Martin made a lineup change at Alabama (Jan. 31), opting to start junior guard Cullen VanLeer and junior forward Kevin Puryear, the Tigers are a perfect 5-0.
• Overall, the starting lineup of Barnett-Puryear-Robertson-Tilmon-VanLeer is 6-1 this season.

Kash Money

• Graduate senior guard Kassius Robertson has played his way into any conversations being had about postseason accolades, especially around the Southeastern Conference.
• Robertson led Mizzou in scoring for the 15th time this season with his 16 points in the win over No. 21 Texas A&M (Feb. 13). In his previous three seasons combined at Canisius, Robertson led the Golden Griffins in scoring 20 times.
• In SEC games, Robertson ranks third in scoring (18.2), second in free throw percentage (.902), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.441), second in three-pointers made per game (3.2) and first in minutes played (38.4).
• Robertson became the first SEC player this season to claim back-to-back league player of the week honors (Feb. 12) with his efforts at Ole Miss (Feb. 6) and against Mississippi State (Feb. 10), averaging 24.5 points between the two wins.
• Robertson scored a season-best 27 points in the win in Oxford, which he followed up with 22 points in the overtime win over the Bulldogs. The graduate transfer sank five three-pointers in both victories.
• Robertson earned his first SEC weekly award for his leading role in Mizzou's wins at Alabama (Jan. 31, 69-60) and vs. No. 21 Kentucky (Feb. 3, 69-60), as he averaged 19.0 points across the two victories.
• Robertson's first weekly SEC honor was significant in that it was Mizzou's first in four seasons. The previous time a Tiger earned SEC Player of the Week before Robertson's recognition was during the 2013-14 season when former guard Jordan Clarkson earned the award on Dec. 30, 2013.
• The graduate transfer from Canisius is averaging a solid 16.6 points per game, a total that ranks No. 1 among graduate transfers playing at the high major level. That total stands as fourth-best overall among all grad. transfers across NCAA Division I.
• Robertson has seven 20-point games out of Mizzou's 13 conference games played, thus far.
• Robertson is one of just two players in the SEC averaging 15.0 points per game while shooting at least 40.0 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from three-point range and 80.0 from the free throw line, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
• Robertson's 79 three-pointers on the season rank tied for fourth all-time on the program's single-season three-pointers by a senior chart.

Scouting LSU

• LSU, led by first-year head coach Will Wade, has posted a 14-11 record and 5-8 mark in SEC play. LSU has gone 10-4 at home, overall, with a 3-3 record at the Maravich Center during league action.
• LSU has split its last four games, alternating between wins and losses. Both victories, vs. Arkansas (Feb. 3, 94-86) and vs. Ole Miss (Feb. 10, 82-66) came at home.
• Leading the way for LSU in the scoring department in SEC games has been senior forward Duop Reath, who has posted 15.6 points per game. Following Reath up has been freshman guard Tremont Waters at 12.1 points per game.
• Reath also leads LSU on the boards, hauling in 6.0 rebounds per game.

Notes From The Latest Win

• Mizzou's overtime victory over Mississippi State (Feb. 10) was Mizzou's first regular season OT win since beating LSU, 74-67, on January 8, 2015, at Mizzou Arena.
• Mizzou's last OT win was in the 2017 SEC Tournament when the Tigers defeated Auburn, 86-83, (March 8, 2017) thanks to a game-winning three-pointer from then-sophomore Kevin Puryear.
• Mizzou improved to 8-0 on the season when leading at halftime at Mizzou Arena after the Tigers took a 44-33 lead at the break.

Minute Men

• Head coach Cuonzo Martin has often remarked on his inability to wear down graduate senior guard Kassius Robertson or senior forward Jordan Barnett. That shows in their minutes played.
• Robertson leads the league in overall minutes played and in conference games-only, averaging 35.5 and 38.4 minutes, respectively.
• Barnett ranks tied for third in the SEC in minutes played overall and fourth in conference games (33.5; 35.5).
• Of the 12 games of 38-minutes-or-more logged by Tigers this season, all 12 have either been Robertson or Barnett.

Barnett Has Some Bounce

• Senior forward Jordan Barnett put together an impressive 10-game stretch, averaging 19.7 points per game from Mizzou's win over St. John's (Nov. 24) to the Florida game (Jan. 6).
• As conference play kept rolling, Barnett cooled off to below double-digit scoring, averaging 9.9 points per game over the next seven contests.
• Barnett has bounced back, as he always does, averaging 12.0 points per game across Mizzou's last four games. He has scored in double-figures in three of the last four matchups for the Tigers.
• Barnett's 39.0-percent mark from three-point land in SEC games ranks sixth-best in the league. His 2.3 three-pointers made per SEC game ranks fifth.