Saturday, January 30
Columbia, Mo.
1 PM
University of Missouri
vs
TCU
No. 12 Launches Homestand with TCU in SEC/Big 12 Challenge Saturday
1/29/2021 12:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Tip off is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPNU
| No. 12 Mizzou Launches Homestand Saturday in SEC/Big 12 Challenge vs. TCU | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | WATCH | SAFETY GUIDELINES |
| TCU | Columbia, Mo. | Saturday, Jan. 30 | 1 PM | ESPNU | Safety Central |
Mizzou Basketball Game Notes
STORYLINES
- After playing just one home game total in the month of January, No. 12 Mizzou finally returns home for a three-game homestand starting Saturday vs. TCU. Mizzou is 5-1 at home this season and 39-15 overall during the Cuonzo Martin era. Despite being on the road most of the month, a win on Saturday would improve Mizzou to 5-2 in January, its best record in the month since the 2011-12 squad.
- Mizzou is competing in its fourth SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Tigers are 1-2 all-time in the Challenge with the victory coming at home against West Virginia on Dec. 5, 2013, as Jordan Clarkson erupted for 25 points to lead the win. Saturday's clash with TCU marks just the second time Mizzou will host the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
- Mizzou has 586 all-time wins over Big 12 teams and has more Big 12 conference tournament championships this decade than eight of the league's 10 teams.
- Mizzou and TCU will meet for the first time since Dec. 18, 1952, and the sixth time overall. Mizzou leads the all-time series 4-1 with all five matchups taking place in a six-year span from 1946-1952. It will be the fifth meeting between the two programs in Columbia, with the previous four contests all taking place at Brewer Fieldhouse.
- Mizzou's loss to Auburn on Jan. 26 snapped a 19-game streak for Martin's squad holding opponents to fewer than 80 points. Mizzou leads the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage defense and 3-pointers allowed per game (5.4) and ranks second in field goal percentage defense. Since Dec. 6, just one opponent has made more than six threes.
- Mizzou polished off a statement win last weekend over No. 6 Tennessee, 73-64, on the road. It was the Tigers' first win in Knoxville since 1972 and the first road win over a No. 6 team since beating No. 3 Baylor in 2011-12. Mizzou now has four true road wins, three wins over Top 25 teams and six wins over teams in the NET's Top 77.
- The last time Mizzou had a pair of wins over Top 6 teams in the same campaign was 2011-12 (Baylor twice).
- Mizzou is one of four teams nationally with four true road wins & three ranked wins (Gonzaga, Baylor & Ohio State)
- Mizzou checked in at No. 12 in the Jan. 25 AP Top 25 poll. That marks seven consecutive weeks for the Tigers in the poll, their longest streak since 2012-13. It's the 15th-longest streak among all Division I teams and the second-longest streak among all SEC teams. All seven weeks have included Mizzou in the Top 20. No. 12 matches the Tigers' highest ranking this season and the highest since Jan. 7, 2014.
- Mizzou is No. 26 in the latest NET rankings. Twelve of Mizzou's 13 opponents are in the NET's Top 135. Thanks to the tough schedule and Mizzou taking advantage of those opportunities, ESPN's Basketball Power Index ranks Mizzou's strength of record eighth nationally and the Tigers clock in at No. 5 nationally in the RPI.
- Redshirt senior Dru Smith racked up his second SEC Player of the Week honor on Monday. He is the only player in the SEC with two outright Player of the Week honors this season. Dru surpassed 1,000 points for his career at Auburn with a season-high 21 points and has scored in double figures in five consecutive games.
- Mizzou is 6-1 in its last seven "bounce-back" games coming off a loss. The Tigers haven't suffered back-to-back losses since Feb. 29 and March 4, 2020.
DRU & X: DYNAMIC DUO IN THE BACKCOURT
- Dru Smith, a Preseason second-team All-SEC selection by both the league's coaches and the media, is one of the nation's best defenders. He's swiping 1.9 steals per game this season and his 2.1 steals per game over his time as a Tiger ranks second all-time at Mizzou. He is a two-time SEC Player of the Week, the only player in the league with two outright POTW awards this season.
- He surpassed the 1,000-career point plateau with a season-best 21 points at Auburn. He's reached double figures in five consecutive gamesm averaging 16.2 points in that span.
- Since Feb. 8, 2020, Dru has scored in double figures in 17 of the last 22 games. Mizzou is 15-7 in that stretch that includes just four games against non-Power Conference teams.
- Dru has scored in double digits in 10 of 13 games this season. He tallied 16 points, six boards, six assists and four steals in one of the best all-around performances of his Tiger career at Texas A&M. He is the only Tiger in the last decade to hit all those marks in the same game. Dru followed with 16 on just six shots vs. South Carolina on Tuesday. Only Dru, Jordan Geist, Keith Shamburger, Alex Oriakhi and Kim English have done that in a Mizzou uniform in the last decade. He chipped in 18 points and had zero turnovers at No. 6 Tennessee.
- Dru ranks 20th in the SEC in scoring (13.2), second in free throw percentage (.881), second in steals (1.9) and seventh in minutes played (32.2).
- He opened the campaign by stuffing the stat sheet vs. ORU with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals, shooting 5-of-9 from the field, then followed with three steals, 11 points, four boards and four assists in a team-high 31 minutes vs. No. 21 Oregon. Dru posted 14 points, four assists and two dimes at Wichita State and a team-high 18 points vs. Illinois.
- The redshirt senior point guard finished his first season as a Tiger in 2019-20 with 393 points, 131 boards, 121 assists and 64 steals. The last two SEC players to reach those marks in each category in the same campaign: Ben Simmons and John Wall. He became just the second SEC player since 1992 to average 12.7 points, 3.9 assists, 2.1 steals and 4.2 rebounds alongside Georgia's Katu Davis in 1995-96.
- In his 94-game career, Dru has only gone two games without recording an assist (Dec. 3, 2016), giving him a dime in 85 of the last 86 games. He's posted 84 multi-assist outings in his last 88 games. Dru has started 65-straight games including all 43 of his Mizzou career. Dru's 87.7 percent clip from the free throw line ranks 19th nationally among all active players.
- An electric playmaker, Xavier Pinson has averaged 15.9 points over his last 18 games while producing 15 double-figure scoring games in that span, six of which have been 20-point or better efforts, after a 22-point outburst vs. No. 21 Oregon, 23 points at Arkansas and season-high 27 points at No. 6 Tennessee. The 27 points on Saturday marked the most by a Tiger this season and the most scored by an individual player against Tennessee all season. Pinson erupted for 19 second-half points against Oregon and finished with four rebounds and three dimes. He scored his 23 points at Arkansas on just 11 field goal attempts, just the 10th different Tiger to do so in a game since 2010.
- At Tennessee, Pinson scored 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts and all four of his free throw attempts. The Chicago native has reached double figures 15 times in Mizzou's last 20 games, including nine of 13 this season. Mizzou is 14-6 in those 20 contests.
- Pinson's ability to attack the rim, get fouled and convert at the foul line has been a weapon for Mizzou. Pinson has made 66 trips to the foul line, 22 more than any other Tiger guard. He's made 80.3 percent of his attempts this season. Pinson made 12-of-15 free throws at Arkansas, the most in a game by a Tiger this season. When Pinson has earned 10+ trips to the free throw line in a game in his career, Mizzou is 6-0. Pinson's 200 career assists ranks sixth among all active SEC players.
- Pinson enters his third season on campus after withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft pool at the end of the summer. The athletic guard averaged 11.1 points, 2.8 assists and 2.8 boards in 24 minutes as a sophomore. He launched the season with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting vs. Oral Roberts, to go along with four assists. He's reached the 17-point mark nine times in his last 16 games, with Mizzou going 8-1 in those contests.
- To close the season in 2019-20, he scored 170 points in nine outings, including four 20+ point efforts, and at least 15 points in six of his final seven games. Mizzou closed the season 6-3 when Pinson was its leading scorer.
Players Mentioned
G
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