@MizzouHoops Travels to Iowa State for 235th Meeting with Cyclones

Friday, November 9

Ames, Iowa

6 PM

University of Missouri

Iowa State

Central Arkansas Bears vs. Mizzou Tigers at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. Christina Long/Mizzou Athletics

@MizzouHoops Travels to Iowa State for 235th Meeting with Cyclones

11/8/2018 5:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT in Ames

Mizzou Travels to Iowa State for 235th Meeting with Cyclones
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	LISTEN	STATS	Game Notes
Iowa State	Ames, Iowa	Friday, Nov. 9	6 p.m.	Cyclones.TV	KTGR	Stats	Notes

Storylines

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 and Iowa State square off for the 235th time, with the first meeting coming back in 1909. Historically, Mizzou has only played two schools more: Kansas, 267; Kansas State, 236.
Mizzou has won the last 10 games in the head-to-head series with Iowa State, including Martin's debut game at the helm a season ago - a 74-59 victory at Mizzou Arena.
The Tigers have beaten the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum four consecutive times. Mizzou is looking for the program's 49th all-time victory in Ames on Friday. The last three Mizzou-Iowa State matchups in Ames have been decided by seven points or less.
Mizzou's core returning trio from the 2017-18 campaign - Jeremiah Tilmon, Kevin Puryear and Jordan Geist - combined for 36 of the Tigers' 74 points in Mizzou's win over Iowa State a season ago. Puryear led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
In Martin's first campaign, Mizzou won five true road games, including victories at UCF, South Carolina, Alabama, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Before Martin's arrival, the Tigers hadn't won a true road game since Jan. 28, 2014.
Mizzou (20-13) was the nation's third-most improved team record-wise in 2017-18.

Smith Shines in Debut

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 Tuesday's performance.
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.

Tidbits

Mizzou improved to 8-0 at home in nonconference play during the Cuonzo Martin era with its 68-55 victory over Central Arkansas.
Martin has never lost a home opener in 11 seasons as a head coach.
Tuesday's victory 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 returned to the court for the first time since Jan. 4, 2017, on Tuesday and scored six points in a career-high 22 minutes.
Freshmen Xavier Pinson, Javon Pickett and Torrence Watson all played at least 15 minutes in Mizzou's season opener. All three scored their first career baskets with Pickett earning his first career start.

Anchor in the Paint

In Mizzou's season-opening win over Central Arkansas, standout sophomore forward Jeremiah Tilmon scored 16 points, the second-highest scoring output of his career.
Tilmon is coming off an efficient freshman campaign in which he averaged 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Tilmon led Mizzou in field goal percentage, shooting at a 56.4 percent clip from the field. The 56.4 field goal percentage was the second-highest single-season FG pct. for a freshman in program history.
He is one of only two Tiger freshmen in program history to shoot above 55 percent and make at least 115 shots, alongside Steve Stipanovich.
Per 40 minutes, Tilmon posted 16.9 points and 8.6 rebounds. Per 100 possessions, he notched 25.1 points a season ago.