Saturday, February 29
Columbia, Mo.
2:30 PM
University of Missouri
vs
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Mississippi State
Mizzou Returns Home for Matchup with Mississippi State Saturday
2/28/2020 12:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Tip off is set for 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network
| Mizzou Men's Hoops Returns Home to Take On Mississippi State on Saturday | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | WATCH | TICKETS |
| Mississippi State | Columbia, Mo. | Saturday, Feb. 29 | 2:30 PM | SEC Network | Tickets |
Mizzou Basketball Game Notes
STORYLINES
- Mizzou returns home winners of four of its last six games after securing its first road SEC victory of the season Wednesday at Vanderbilt, 61-52. A victory on Saturday would give the Tigers five wins in their last seven games - the best stretch since Jan. 27-Feb. 13, 2018.
- Mizzou has won four consecutive home games in league play for the first time in the Cuonzo Martin era. A fifth win on Saturday would be the Tigers' longest home SEC winning streak since 2014.
- The win over Vanderbilt marked Martin's 400th game as a head coach. He is one shy of reaching 50 wins at Mizzou, 23 more than the previous coaching regime had in three full seasons.
- Mizzou's stifling defense made its mark again, as the Tigers limited Vandy to just six second-half field goals and 52 points - the third SEC opponent to manage 52 or fewer against Mizzou since 2016. Vanderbilt made only four threes, the sixth Mizzou opponent to make five or fewer triples in a game since Feb. 4. All six of those teams shot worse than 25 percent from long range. Mizzou ranks 16th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 29.0 percent shooting from deep, which is a school-record pace since the 3-point line was introduced in 1986.
- Mizzou ranks 12th nationally in free throw percentage, shooting a school-record 77.5 percent this season. Mizzou shot 86.7 percent from the free throw line against Vandy. The Tigers have shot above 75 percent at the charity stripe 11 times in the last 12 games.
- Dru Smith is two steals shy of 60 on the season, making him the first Mizzou player to do so since Phil Pressey in 2012-13 and just the eighth since 1998. He leads the SEC in steals.
- Mizzou dominated the boards at Vanderbilt, outpacing the Commodores, 42-27, on the glass. Mitchell Smith led the effort with 12 boards, the most by a bench player since Jontay Porter on Feb. 6, 2018. Only Smith, Porter, Jordan Barnett and Ricardo Ratliffe have grabbed 12 rebounds off the bench since 2010. The Tigers are now +41 on the glass over the last six games.
- Mizzou's offense has been clicking during this 4-2 stretch. The Tigers are scoring 74.3 points per game in that span while shooting 44.6 percent from the field. In those six games, Xavier Pinson and Dru Smith have elevated their play to a different level offensively. Pinson is scoring 20.8 points per game, and shooting 51.3 percent from the field. Before this stretch, he was putting up just 7.9 points per game. Dru Smith is adding 16.7 points and nabbing 2.0 steals per game.
DEEP ROTATION
- Mizzou's deep bench has helped the Tigers battle through injuries to two key players in Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon. Mizzou's bench is +202 against opponents in bench production this season. The Tigers' bench has outscored or matched 22 of their 28 opponents in bench production this season after edging Vandy, 13-4.
- Mizzou has had a bench player chip in at least nine points in 10 of the last 15 games.
- With the return of Tilmon and Mark Smith vs. Vandy, Mizzou had its first game with a fully healthy roster since nonconference play. Eight different Tigers scored and 10 played at least nine minutes as Martin deployed a constant platoon to wear down Vanderbilt. Mizzou outscored the Commodores by 16 in the final 23 minutes.
- Mitchell Smith ranks 16th in the SEC during league play with 6.0 rebounds per game. He grabbed a career-high 12 off the bench at Vandy. He's leading the Tigers in rebounding this season with 5.0 per game despite making just 13 starts. He's helped Mizzou rank third in the SEC in rebounding defense, allowing 33.9 per game.
- Freshman Kobe Brown has made 23 starts, but has played the seventh-most minutes on the team. He had his first career double-double with a career-high 17 points and a career-high 10 rebounds at Arkansas. He is the third Tiger with a double-double this season and the first freshman to do so since Michael Porter, Jr., who tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament vs. Florida State. Brown is just the second Tiger freshman to post at least 17 points and 10 boards in the same game since 2010 - alongside Jontay Porter.
- Brown has 29 steals this season, the fourth-most among SEC freshmen. He is averaging 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds over the Tigers' last four games.
- Freshman Tray Jackson provided the spark vs. Arkansas, scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Jackson threw down three monster jams, including the game-sealing alley-oop in overtime. He followed with nine points again at No. 25 LSU, including a pair of smooth triples in the opening half.
- Redshirt freshman Parker Braun chipped in seven rebounds, six points and four blocks vs. Ole Miss, all career-highs. He is the third freshman at Mizzou since 2010 with four blocks in a game vs. a league opponent joining Jontay Porter and Jonathan Williams III.
NIKKO GOING OUT STRONG
- Mizzou's lone senior, Reed Nikko, has stepped up in Jeremiah Tilmon's absence. In his first three seasons at Mizzou, Nikko scored 6+ points 15 times and reached double figures twice. In conference play this season alone (15 games), Nikko has scored 6+ points 12 times, including in six straight games, and reached double figures four times. Mizzou is 3-1 this season when Nikko scores 10+ points.
- Nikko is coming off a career-high 14 points at Vanderbilt. He went a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. He became just the eighth Tiger since 2010 to not miss a shot when taking at least five attempts in a game. Among that group, only Nikko, Alex Oriakhi and Ricardo Ratliffe also drained all their free throws. Nikko also scored 13 points in a win over Georgia and 13 points in the Tigers' contest at No. 25 LSU. In the last nine games, he's averaging 8.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 65.2 percent from the field.
- Nikko's current 63.0 percent clip from the field ranks ninth all-time in a single-season in program history.
- Nikko leads Mizzou in offensive boards with 46. He's four shy of becoming the sixth different Tiger to grab 50 offensive boards since 2016-17.
- Nikko appeared in his 120th career game at Vanderbilt. He became just the second Mizzou player since 2010 to appear in 120 games alongside Kevin Puryear. Nikko became just the 22nd Tiger since 1992 to reach the 120-game mark. Barring injury, Nikko is on pace to play in at least 124 career games. He has appeared in 113 of Mizzou's last 114 games dating back to his freshman campaign.
- Nikko is putting together his best season as a Tiger. He has 94 rebounds, which is already the most in a season during his career. He surpassed the 100-point mark in a season for the first time. Nikko also entered his final campaign as a 53.6 percent free throw shooter through three seasons. He's shooting 73.3 percent from the charity stripe as a senior.
- Nikko has elevated his play during SEC action, averaging 7.5 points and 4.7 rebounds after putting up 1.8 points and 2.0 boards in non-conference play.
- Nikko secured his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the Arkansas win.
- Mizzou's Jan. 28 victory over Georgia was perhaps the best game of his career, as he ripped off a career-high 13 points. Nikko added two blocks, including a monster game-winning swat on lottery pick Anthony Edwards' game-tying attempt in the final seconds.
- Nikko has started Mizzou's last 17 contests while Tilmon has nursed a foot injury, scoring 120 of his 135 points (88.9 percent) in that stretch.
- Nikko is uniquely a fisheries and wildlife major who plans to be a fisheries biologist after college. His passion is helping nature preserves. His love for the outdoors was influenced by his late father, who also pushed for Nikko to pursue college basketball at Mizzou.
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