Senior Day

• Mizzou will honor senior Reed Nikko with a pregame ceremony beginning at 1:15 p.m.

Mizzou Basketball Game Notes

• Game Notes

STORYLINES

• Mizzou faces Alabama in its regular season finale on Saturday. The Tigers are looking for the fourth win all-time vs. the Crimson Tide and their first win over Alabama at home since Jan. 18, 2014. Mizzou's last win over Alabama came on the road in Cuonzo Martin's first year at the helm in 2018.
• In the Tigers' loss to Alabama on Jan. 18, Mizzou made 31-of-31 attempts at the free throw line, setting a new program record for free throws without a miss in a game. It marked the fifth-most free throws without a miss in a game in NCAA history. Dating back to 2019, Mizzou has made 32 consecutive free throws vs. Alabama. The Tigers went on to set an NCAA record with 54 consecutive free throw makes, draining 23 more in its next game vs. Texas A&M.
• 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. 
• Mizzou held Mississippi State and Vanderbilt to only four made threes each in the Tigers before allowing just six at Ole Miss. 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 19th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 29.3 percent shooting from deep, which is a school-record pace since the 3-point line was introduced in 1986. 
• In 30 games, Mizzou has only missed 129 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 79.8 percent. Mizzou also ranks ninth nationally, shooting a school-record 77.9 percent for the season. Mizzou shot 82.3 percent (19-of-23) from the free throw line against Ole Miss. The Tigers have shot above 75 percent at the charity stripe 13 times in the last 14 games. 
• Dru Smith has an SEC-best 62 steals this season, the first Mizzou player to do so since Phil Pressey in 2012-13. He is three 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 3.78 percent of defensive possessions while he's on the floor per KenPom (the best percentage in the SEC).
• Xavier Pinson has scored 161 points during this torrid eight-game stretch, averaging 20.1 points per game. He is the third Tiger since 2010 to pour in at least 161 points during any eight-game stretch alongside Jabari Brown (174 in 2014) and Marcus Denmon (twice - 177 & 162 in 2012). 

THE LONE SENIOR GOING OUT STRONG

• Mizzou's lone senior, Reed Nikko, has stepped up and put together the best campaign of his career. 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 13 times, including in seven of the last eight games, and reached double figures four times. Mizzou is 3-1 this season when Nikko scores 10+ points.
• Nikko scored 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 of 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 10 games, he's averaging 8.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 65.3 percent from the field.  
• Nikko's current 62.8 percent clip from the field ranks ninth all-time in a single-season in program history.
• Nikko leads Mizzou in offensive boards with 47. He's three shy of becoming the sixth different Tiger to grab 50 offensive boards since 2016-17.
• Nikko appeared in his 122nd career game at Ole Miss. 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 115 of Mizzou's last 116 games dating back to his freshman campaign. 
• Nikko is putting together his best season as a Tiger. He has 100 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 75.5 percent from the charity stripe as a senior.
• Nikko has elevated his play during SEC action, averaging 7.2 points and 4.5 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 19 contests while Tilmon has nursed a foot injury, scoring 130 of his 145 points (89.6 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.  

TOUGH D

• Under Cuonzo Martin, Mizzou has established an elite, physical defensive mentality. During Martin's coaching career, all 11 of his teams at four different schools held opponents to a scoring average under 70 points per game. The 2019-20 team is on pace to be the eighth Martin-coached team to hold opponents to fewer than 66 points per game for a season, currently allowing 65.7 points per game. That ranks third in the SEC this season. Mizzou improved to 24-0 under Coach Martin when allowing fewer than 60 points in a game after limiting Vandy to 52.
• Excluding Arkansas' 12 triples on Feb. 22, seven of the last eight Mizzou opponents have made a combined 24 triples. Only Ole Miss among those seven teams made more than four 3-pointers. Auburn went 1-of-17, its worst performance since 2013, despite ranking third in the league in 3-pointers made per game. Mizzou has given up double-digit 3-pointers in a game twice since the last meeting with Alabama on Jan. 18. 
• Mizzou ranks 19th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 29.3 percent shooting from deep. That 3-point defense would be the best single-season performance by a Mizzou team in program history since the 3-point line was introduced in 1986-87. The current school record is held by the 2008-09 squad, which limited opponents to 30.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. 
• Vandy made just six second-half field goals and only 16 total on Feb. 26. Only seven SEC opponents have made 16 or fewer field goals against Mizzou since 2010. Vandy became just the third to do since 2015. Mizzou ranks 12th nationally in field goal makes allowed per game, surrendering just 21.1 per contest. That ranks fifth among power conference programs behind Virginia, Baylor, South Carolina and West Virginia. 
• Since Dec. 7, Mizzou has forced 307 turnovers (14.0 per game). Alabama committed 14 turnovers in the Jan. 18 matchup. 
• Mizzou has forced 10+ turnovers in 27 of 30 games. Arkansas committed 14 turnovers on Feb. 8 despite ranking ninth nationally in turnover margin.