Wednesday, March 4
Oxford, Miss
8 PM
Missouri
at
Ole Miss
Mizzou Hoops Heads to Ole Miss for Regular Season Road Finale
3/3/2020 9:50:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Tip off is set for 8 p.m. on SEC Network
| Mizzou Travels to Ole Miss for Regular Season Road Finale | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | WATCH | STATS |
| Ole Miss | Oxford, Miss. | Wednesday, March 4 | 8 PM | SEC Network | Stats |
Mizzou Basketball Game Notes
STORYLINES
- Mizzou heads to Ole Miss for its regular season road finale. The Tigers are looking for their first season sweep of the Rebels in program history and just their fourth win overall vs. Ole Miss in 16 meetings. Mizzou won its first-ever game in Oxford during head coach Cuonzo Martin's first season at the helm - a 75-69 victory on Feb. 6, 2018.
- Ole Miss and Mizzou squared off just two weeks ago as the Tigers nabbed a thrilling 71-68 win over the Rebels at Mizzou Arena on Feb. 18. Sophomore Xavier Pinson exploded for a career-high 32 points, the most by a Mizzou player since Jabari Brown in 2014. Pinson shot 9-of 13 from the field.
- Coach Martin is victory one shy of reaching 50 wins at Mizzou, which would be 23 more than the previous coaching regime had in three full seasons.
- Ole Miss made a season-low three 3-pointers when it faced Mizzou on Feb. 18. Mizzou held Mississippi State and Vanderbilt to only four made threes each in the Tigers' last two outings. Mizzou has now held seven opponents to five or fewer triples in a game since Feb. 4. All seven of those teams shot worse than 34 percent from long range. Mizzou ranks 15th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 29.1 percent shooting from deep, which is a school-record pace since the 3-point line was introduced in 1986.
- In 29 games, Mizzou has only missed 125 free throws. Six SEC teams have missed at least 100 in league play alone. The Tigers lead the SEC in conference play in free throw percentage, shooting 79.6 percent. Mizzou also ranks 11th nationally, shooting a school-record 77.8 percent for the season. Mizzou shot 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the free throw line against both Vandy & Mississippi State. The Tigers have shot above 75 percent at the charity stripe 12 times in the last 13 games.
- Dru Smith has an SEC-best 61 steals this season, the first Mizzou player to do so since Phil Pressey in 2012-13. He is four shy of becoming just the fifth player in program history to reach 65 steals. He has multiple steals in 17 different games this season and is collecting a steal on 3.85 percent of defensive possessions while he's on the floor per KenPom (the best percentage in the SEC).
- Xavier Pinson has scored 145 points during this torrid seven-game stretch, averaging 20.7 points per game. He is the third Tiger since 2010 to pour in at least 145 points during any seven-game stretch alongside Jabari Brown (150 in 2014) and Marcus Denmon (twice - 160 & 145 in 2012).
DUO
- Xavier Pinson and Dru Smith have become an electric 1-2 punch in the backcourt down the stretch of the season. The pair have combined for 264 points (37.7 PPG) over the last seven games; accounting for 51.9 percent of Mizzou's points. They're the first Mizzou duo to score that many points over a seven-game stretch since current Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson and Jabari Brown scored 265 points (40.6 PPG) from Feb. 1-Feb. 22, 2014. Smith & Pinson are also shooting a combined 85.9 percent from the free throw line since Feb. 8 (73-of-85) and dishing 43 of the Tigers' 73 assists in that span.
- Pinson and Smith both rank in the league's Top 20 in fouls drawn per 40 minutes. Pinson averages 5.6 fouls drawn per 40. The pair both rank in the Top 6 in league play in free throw percentage.
- Mizzou is 7-3 in 2019-20 when at least one player hits the 20-point mark. Mizzou has had a player score 20+ 11 times this season, with Pinson and Smith accounting for eight of those 11.
X!
- Since Feb. 8, Xavier Pinson is averaging 20.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 47.4 percent from the field, 34.2 percent from 3-point range and 85.1 percent from the free throw line.
- He's scored 145 points, including four 20+ point outings in the last seven games and at least 15 points in five consecutive games. Pinson's 145 points are the most in a 7-game stretch by a Tiger since 2014.
- After scoring 28 points vs. No. 11 Auburn, his encore featured a career-high 32-point outburst vs. Ole Miss. The 32 points were the most by a Mizzou player since Jabari Brown in 2014. Only Brown and Pinson have reached that mark since 2010 and Pinson is the first under head coach Cuonzo Martin.
- Pinson followed with 15 points, a career-high seven assists and six rebounds at Arkansas. He is just the fifth Tiger in the last decade to hit those marks in the same game. Then he scored 17 points at Vanderbilt, and followed with 20 vs. Mississippi State. He's been in double figures six times in the last seven games.
- Since 2014-15, only Pinson, Kassius Robertson & Jordan Geist have posted three 24+ point scoring games in the same season. Pinson accomplished that in just four games vs. Arkansas, Auburn & Ole Miss.
- Pinson tallied nine points, a career-high seven assists and six boards at No. 25 LSU. He is just the seventh Tiger since 2010 to hit at least all those marks in a game. After posting a negative assist-to-turnover ratio in 2018-19, Pinson is now boasting a +1.2 ratio this season.
- Pinson has led Mizzou in scoring in seven of the last nine games. Mizzou is 7-4 in Pinson's career when he scores at least 14 points, including 6-2 this season.
Players Mentioned
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Coach Gates Joins SportsCenter
Thursday, March 19
Highlights at Mississippi State
Saturday, February 28
Highlights vs. Tennessee
Tuesday, February 24
Highlights vs. Vanderbilt
Thursday, February 19
