@MizzouHoops Opens Paradise Jam vs. Kennesaw State on Friday

Friday, November 16

U.S. Virgin Islands

2 PM

University of Missouri

Kennesaw State

11/15/2018 4:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Tip off is set for 2 p.m. in the Virgin Islands

Mizzou Opens Paradise Jam Friday vs. Kennesaw State
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	LISTEN	STATS	Game Notes
Kennesaw State	St. Thomas, Virgin Islands	Friday, Nov. 16	2 p.m.	FloHoops	KTGR	Stats	Notes

Mizzou and Kennesaw State square off at 2 p.m. CT and 4 p.m. local time in the Virgin Islands on Friday. The winner faces either Oregon State or Old Dominion in the second round.
Fans can watch online via subscription at FloHoops.com. The direct link can be found here.
All games at the Paradise Jam will be aired on the radio on KTGR and online here.

Mizzou and Kennesaw State meet for the second time in program history and the first time since Dec. 15, 2011. The Tigers beat the Owls 104-67 at Mizzou Arena.
Coach Martin is 2-0 all-time against Kennesaw State, including a 93-57 victory in 2014 at Cal and a 76-67 win in 2012 at Tennessee.
Mizzou Men's Basketball has begun its 113th season after reaching its first NCAA Tournament since 2012-13 a season ago. The trip to the Big Dance was the program's 27th all-time. Head coach Cuonzo Martin became the 59th head coach in NCAA history to lead three different programs to the NCAA Tournament (Cal, Tennessee).
Last season, Martin led Mizzou to 20 wins and a tie for fourth place in the SEC, Mizzou's best finish in league play since placing second in the Big 12 in 2011-12. Martin has seven 20-win seasons in 10 years as a head coach.
Mizzou's trip to the Paradise Jam is the Tigers' first outside the continental U.S. since going 2-1 at the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis. This is Mizzou's first-ever Paradise Jam and first trip to the Virgin Islands.
Mizzou is 8-1 all-time against teams in its half of the Paradise Jam bracket (2-1 vs. Oregon State, 1-0 vs. Kennesaw State and 5-0 vs. Old Dominion) and Coach Martin is 8-1 (6-1 vs. Oregon State, 2-0 vs. Kennesaw State and 0-0 vs. Old Dominion).
Mizzou (20-13) was the nation's third-most improved team record-wise in 2017-18.

In his first game at Mizzou, sophomore transfer guard Mark Smith poured in 19 points behind a career-high five 3-pointers.
Smith grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds vs. Central Arkansas. His previous career-best was just three rebounds before the 10-board performance on Nov. 6.
Smith became the first Mizzou newcomer to record a double-double in his debut since Linas Kleiza posted a double-double in the 2003-04 season opener vs. Oakland.
He followed with 15 points and seven rebounds on Friday at Iowa State, again leading the Tigers in both categories.
Smith had just 42 rebounds in 31 games at Illinois and now has 17 in just two at Mizzou.
Before this season, Smith hadn't reached double figures since scoring 11 points against Mizzou on Dec. 23, 2017. His back-to-back double-digit scoring performances against Central Arkansas and Iowa State were his first since scoring 13 vs. both Marshall and Augustana on Nov. 22 and Nov. 24, 2017.
He is one of just eight players in the SEC averaging at least 17.0 points per contest over two games thus far.
Smith is one of five SEC players ranking in the top 10 in the league in both rebounding and scoring through two games. He ranks sixth in the SEC in defensive rebounds per game with 7.5

Mizzou, which returns Tilmon and Puryear in the frontcourt, was a strong team on the glass a season ago. The Tigers ranked second in the SEC in rebounding defense, holding foes to just 32.6 boards per game. Martin's squad has outrebounded its opponents in 24-of-35 games during his tenure.
The Tigers rank fifth in rebounding defense in the league thus far in 2018-19 through two games, limiting opponents to 32.0 boards per game.
Mizzou imrpoved to 8-0 at home in nonconference play during the Cuonzo Martin era with its 68-55 victory over Central Arkansas on Nov. 6.
Mizzou leads the SEC in defensive rebound percentage (.840).
Martin has never lost a home opener in 11 seasons as a head coach.
The victory over UCA was Mizzou's fifth consecutive in a season opener. With the win, the Tigers improved to 91-22 in season openers and have won 24 of their last 27 such games.
Redshirt sophomore forward Mitchell Smith has returned to the court for the first time since Jan. 4, 2017, making five of his first eight field goals en route to 12 points through two games.
Freshmen Xavier Pinson, Javon Pickett and Torrence Watson are all averaging more than 15 minutes per game through two games.
Watson chipped in eight points in Mizzou's loss at Iowa State.
Senior Jordan Geist returns for a third season handling point guard duties. Geist ranked eighth in the SEC during league play in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9).