The Missouri basketball team returns home for a SEC contest against South Carolina on Tuesday night. The two schools are set to meet for an 8 p.m. tipoff at Mizzou Arena on SEC Network.
PROMOTIONS
• Tuesday’s game is Military Appreciation Night. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free Veterans United Military t-shirt.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 17-6 and 5-5 in SEC action – receiving votes in both national polls.
• The Tigers own a 13-2 record at Mizzou Arena this season, including a 4-1 mark in SEC play.
• Kobe Brown leads the Tigers with a team-best 16.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
• Three Tigers are scoring in double figures as D’Moi Hodge (14.2) and DeAndre Gholston (10.4) follow Brown.
• Sean East II and Nick Honor lead Mizzou with 3.0 assists per game.
• Mizzou ranks 14th in the country with a scoring offense of 81.9, while allowing 74.8 points.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS
• South Carolina is 8-15 on the year with a 1-9 mark in SEC play.
• The Gamecocks have lost their last seven games since a 71-68 win at Kentucky.
• Freshman Gregory “GG” Jackson leads USC with 15.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
• Meechie Johnson is second on the team with 12.3 points to go with a team-leading 3.3 assists.
• The Gamecocks are averaging 63.7 points, while allowing 72.7.
SERIES HISTORY
• In 15 all-time meetings between the two schools, Missouri holds a slight 8-7 edge in the series.
• The Tigers have also won five of six meetings at Mizzou Arena, including the last two contests.
• The Gamecocks earned a 73-69 victory over the Tigers last season in South Carolina, ending MU’s two-game winning streak in the series.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE THREE
• Missouri’s performance beyond the 3-point arc has largely been a key to success.
• The Tigers are shooting nearly 17 percent better from beyond the arc in wins (5.5 more makes per game) and more than 24 percent better in SEC contests.
• MU is 14-0 with eight triples in a game (3-6 with fewer), 13-0 when making at least 33.3 percent (4-6 when lower) and 11-1 when making more than its foe (2-1 with the same, 4-4 with fewer).
TOP MARKS IN 2022-23
• The Tigers are enjoying one of their best seasons in years during the 2022-23 campaign.
• With a 17-6 overall record and with at least nine games left, Missouri has already has its most wins in a season since totaling 20 in 2017-18.
• It hasn’t come easy for the Tigers either as the team’s four ranked wins are tied for its most in the last 11 seasons.
• MU finished the non-conference campaign 12-1 – its best mark since also going 12-1 in 2013-14.
TOP-20 SCORING OFFENSE
• Overall, one of the biggest keys to success this season for Mizzou is owning a top scoring attack.
• Mizzou enters the game ranked 14th nationally with a scoring offense of 81.9 points.
• In fact, the Tigers’ 81.9 points rank as the sixth-best mark in their history and highest in 33 years.
TARGETING 70 POINTS
• While the Tigers are averaging over 80 points this season, the magic number is just 70 for MU.
• MU has won its last 20 games when scoring at least 70, including a perfect 16-0 mark this year.
• On the opposite end, Mizzou is just 1-6 this year when held under the target – losing 24 of its last 25 games overall with 69 or fewer points.
STRONG STARTS NEEDED
• With its offensive output key to success, the first half is usually a strong indication of how the game will go and if MU reaches its targets.
• In the team’s 23 games this year, there has not been a single lead change in 17 of the contests during the second half.
• Overall, the team that is leading at the half is 17-3 in Mizzou games this season. MU’s largest deficit overcome at the half is just a single point.
LEADER IN KOBE BROWN
• The team’s leader this season, Kobe Brown is also among the best in the SEC.
• Brown leads MU and ranks fourth in the SEC with 16.2 points per game – the top mark by a Tiger since Kassius Robertson tallied 16.3 in 2017-18.
• The senior forward also ranks second in the SEC in conference games only with 18.1 points – the second-best mark by a Tiger since joining the league (Jabari Brown averaged 20.7 in 2013-14).
