University of Missouri men's basketball is right back in action, playing its second game in three days when it hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. on SEC Network+.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri owns a 4-1 record during the 2024-25 campaign, having won four-straight contests, including two straight by 35-plus points.
• Graduate student Caleb Grill tallied 25 points in Friday's win and now leads the team with 15.8 points per game.
• Overall, four Tigers are scoring in double figures with Tamar Bates (13.0), Mark Mitchell (10.8) and Anthony Robinson II (10.2) following Grill's lead.
• Robinson also leads Mizzou with 3.2 assists per game, while Josh Gray collects a team-best 5.0 rebounds per game.
• The Tigers rank 28th nationally with a scoring offense of 87.6 points per game, 45th with scoring defense of 63.4 and 20th with a scoring margin of +24.2.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN LIONS
• Arkansas-Pine Bluff enters Mizzou Arena with a 1-5 record, having dropped four straight.
• The Golden Lions fell in their most recent game to Texas Tech, 98-64, on Monday.
• Three Lions are scoring in double figures with Christian Moore leading the team with 14.2 points and 3.8 assists per game.
• Robert Lewis has a team-best 6.3 rebounds.
• UAPB is scoring 71.7 points per game through six contests, while allowing 90.7.
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools have met on six previous occasions – all in Columbia – with MU winning each one.
• In fact, all six wins have come by at least 18 points with an average margin of victory of 38.3.
• Last season, the teams met in the season opener with the Tigers earning a 101-79 victory – their first time eclipsing 100 in an opener since 2006.
MIZZOU VERSUS SWAC
• MU has won 25 of 26 meetings versus the SWAC with 24-of-26 games decided by double digits.
• The Tigers already own one win versus a SWAC school this season, defeating Mississippi Valley State, 111-39.
TIGERS ON FIRE
• Missouri has dominated its last two opponents, cruising to a pair of big victories.
• It started with a 72-point win over Mississippi Valley State, 111-39 – Mizzou's largest in school history. The Tigers then followed with a 35-point victory over Pacific on Friday, 91-56.
• It marks just the sixth time in school history the Tigers have won back-to-back games by at least 35 points – they have never done it three-straight contests.
LET. CALEB. GRILL.
• The man behind Mizzou's strong start, especially as of late, is Caleb Grill.
• In the last three games, Grill is averaging 24.3 points – shooting 71.9 percent from the field (23-32) and 73.9 percent from three (17-23) – to go with 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals.
• Grill is the first Tiger in the last 20 seasons to make 17 made triples in a three-game span.
• Overall, Grill leads Mizzou with 15.8 points per game this season, shooting 59.5 percent from the field and 56.7 percent from 3-point range.
GETTING HOT FROM THREE
• Overall, the Tigers have been hot as a team from 3-point range their last two games.
• Missouri is connected on 49.4 percent of its attempts (39-79) since Nov. 11.
• The strong stretch comes on the heels of starting the season by making 21.7 percent (10-46) the first two games of the season.
• MU now ranks 40th nationally with a 3-point clip of 39.2 with two Tigers make at least 40 percent – Caleb Grill (56.7) and Tamar Bates (45.8).
• In Friday's victory, eight different Tigers made a 3-pointer – a first for MU since Nov. 13, 2017.
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Tigers are currently in the midst of a 10-game homestand – the longest in MU history.
• The team's previous-long homestand was nine games to start the 2006-07 campaign.
• The Tigers will not play another game outside of Mizzou Arena until Dec. 22 against Illinois.
• MU is 4-0 so far during the homestand, leading for 143:44 of a possible 160 minutes and not trailing for a single second after halftime.
GETTING TO THE LINE
• One notable difference for MU early in the season is its ability to get to the free-throw line.
• Mizzou ranks 13th nationally with 29.0 attempts from the free throw line per game and 17th in the country with 20.6 made per game.
• The Tigers have increased their attempts by 10.8 per game from a season ago when they ranked last in the SEC – making more this year (20.6) then they attempted last season (18.2).
• Mizzou is also 12th nationally with a free-throw rate (FTA/FGA) of 51.4 percent.
