The Mizzou men's basketball team returns home, welcome SIU Edwardsville to Mizzou Arena on Monday night. The Tigers and Cougars are set for a 7 p.m. tipoff on SEC Network+.
 
PROMOTIONS
• Monday's contest is Military Appreciation night, sponsored by EquipmentShare.
• The first 1,000 fans will receive a military hat as a giveaway.
 
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 1-1 to open the 2026-27 season.
• Sophomore Bryson Tiller leads the team with 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game through the season's first two contests. He scored a career-best 26 points Friday versus Saint Louis.
• Fifth year Mark Mitchell is second on MU with 16.0 points to go with a team-best 6.0 assists.
• Overall, five Tigers are scoring in double figures with Jason Crowe Jr. (15.5), Kennard Davis Jr. (14.0) and Jamier Jones (13.0) each adding 10-plus points.
• The Tigers are averaging 97.5 points per game, while allowing 70.0.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS
• SIUE is 2-1 to start the season, earning victories over Eureka and Concordia Chicago before falling at Lipscomb on Saturday, 78-77.
• Jordan Pickett leads the Cougars with 13.7 points, while Gianni Cobb is right behind with 13.3.
• Cobb also has a team-best 3.3 assists with Brennan Miller leading the team with 7.7 boards.
• The Cougars are averaging 84.3 points through three contests, while allowing 59.3.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools are meeting for the fifth time with Missouri winning all four previous contests (all at Mizzou Arena).
• The closest of the four games was a 14-point Tigers win in 2012 with the average margin of victory being 26.8.
• The schools last met in 2023 with the Tigers earning a 68-50 victory over the Cougars.
 
MIZZOU VERSUS OVC
• Missouri is 43-1 all-time against schools in the Ohio Valley Conference, including a 42-1 mark in Columbia.
• In the first three seasons under Coach Gates, the Tigers are a perfect 7-0 versus the OVC, winning their seven contests by an average of 15.7 points.
 
CAREER HIGH FROM TILLER
• Sophomore Bryson Tiller has started the season with an improved look on the offensive end.
• Tiller recorded career highs with 26 points and five triples Friday versus Saint Louis, topping his previous bests of 21 points and four triples.
• Overall, Tiller leads Mizzou with 18.0 points this season after averaging 7.9 as a rookie.
 
WHAT CAN'T MITCHELL DO?
• Fifth year Mark Mitchell has showcased his all-around skills in the season's first two games.
• In the opener, Mitchell collected his first double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-best 10 assists.
• He is the first Tiger with a points-assists double-double since Terrence Phillips in 2016-17.
• Mitchell then followed up by scoring 21 points on Friday versus Saint Louis.
• The fifth-year player is the first Tiger to record a 20-point game and 10-assist game in back-to-back contests in 15 years – Phil Pressey was the last to do so in 2011-12.
• Mitchell is averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds through two games.
 
JAMIER JONES DOUBLES UP
• Mark Mitchell isn't the only Tiger with a double-double this season as sophomore Jamier Jones added one versus Saint Louis.
• The guard recorded his third career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds Friday.
• Jones is the ninth Tiger in the last 10 seasons to post a double-double without starting.
• In his first two games, Jones is tallying 13.0 points and 7.5 boards in 17.8 minutes off the bench.
 
HIGH ASSISTS, LOW TURNOVERS
• The Tigers have kept it clean in the passing game to start the season.
• Through two contests, Mizzou has racked up 39 assists against just 14 turnovers.
• Missouri ranks 52nd nationally in assists (19.5), sixth in turnovers (7.0) and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.79).
• Mark Mitchell leads MU with 6.0 assists per game, while Jason Crowe Jr. is second with 4.5.
 
BLOCK PARTY
• Another area where the Tigers have excelled early is blocks.
• Through the first week of the season, Mizzou is fourth in the country with 8.5 blocks per game.
• The Tigers rejected seven-plus blocks in back-to-back games for the first time in three seasons, last doing so during a four-game run in 2023-24.
• Freshman Toni Bryant leads Mizzou with 3.0 blocks, while Bryson Tiller is second with 2.5.
 
SECOND-CHANCE POINTS
• Mizzou also flexed its advantage down low in second-chance points.
• Through two games, the Tigers are outscoring their opponents by 29 points in second-chance opportunities, 39-10.
• Overall, Mizzou is outrebounding foes by 12.0 in 2026-27, 44.0 to 32.0.