The Missouri men’s basketball team is back on the road, facing off against Pittsburgh in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Tipoff on Tuesday night is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Mizzou has won its last two games to improve to 5-2 on the season, coming off a 78-70 win over Loyola Maryland on Saturday.
• Sean East II leads the Tigers with 15.4 points per game and 18 total assists.
• Two additional Tigers average in double figures with Noah Carter and Nick Honor both scoring 13.0 points per game.
• Carter also leads Mizzou with 6.4 rebounds.
• The Tigers are averaging 75.1 points per game, while allowing 67.0 points.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS
• Pittsburgh owns a 5-1 record through six games, coming off a 76-51 win over Oregon State Friday.
• Blake Hinson leads the team with 19.2 points.
• Ishmael Leggett chips in 15.7 points to go with a team-best 8.0 boards, while Carlton Carrington adds 15.2 points and leads Pitt with 6.2 assists.
• The Panthers are scoring 88.2 points through six contests, while allowing 63.2.
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools are meeting for the first time in series history.
MIZZOU VERSUS ACC
• Missouri owns a 13-20 all-time record against schools from the ACC with 19 of the 33 meetings coming on a neutral court.
• The Tigers are 2-5 in road games at ACC schools – earning a win at NC State in 2013 in its last trip.
• Mizzou has lost its last three games versus the league – falling twice to Florida State (2018 and 2021) and once to NC State (2015).
ACC/SEC CHALLENGE
• The Tigers and Panthers are meeting on the first day of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.
• In previous challenge series, the Tigers own a 6-4 record – going 3-3 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge (2013-22) and 3-1 in the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series (2007-10).
• The home team won 9-of-10 challenge games featuring Mizzou with the Tigers’ win in 2010 at Oregon the only victory for the road team.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• Missouri is hoping to maintain its recent success on the road this week.
• After already earning a win at Minnesota, MU is aiming for its second true-road non-conference win in a season for the first time since 2003-04.
• After winning its final two road games last season (Georgia and LSU), the Tigers are also aiming for their first four-game road winning streak since a five-game run during the 1999-00 campaign.
PICK YOUR POISON
• The Tigers put the pressure on opponents in two ways on the defensive end this year.
• Mizzou currently ranks fourth nationally with 7.1 blocks per game, while also placing 44th with 9.3 steals per game.
• In its last two wins, MU set a school record with 12 blocks on Wednesday, while collecting a season-best 14 steals on Saturday.
• The Tigers are one of six schools in the nation to rank in the top 50 nationally in blocks and steals – joining Arizona, Cleveland State, Syracuse, TCU and Virginia.
20-POINT THREAT IN SEAN EAST
• Graduate guard Sean East II is making it a habit to score 20 points late in his college career.
• The team’s leader with 15.4 points per game, East has led the team in scoring in 4-of-7 games – three times eclipsing 20 points in a contest.
• In fact, East’s three games with 20-plus points this season is one more than in his 90 career games prior to the season.
• East is the only the second Tiger in the last 10 years to score at least 20 points in three of the season’s first seven games.
YOUR HONOR
• Graduate Nick Honor has started the season strong from deep.
• Honor leads Mizzou with 21 made 3-pointers, making 50.0 percent from beyond the arc.
• The guard ranks 12th nationally with his 3-point clip of 50.0 and 36th with 3.00 makes per game.
• Overall, Honor is second on the team with 13.3 points per game.
STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION
• Anthony Robinson II continues to make a strong first impression as a rookie.
• Robinson leads Mizzou with 12 steals, ranks second with 16 assists and adds 6.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and four total blocks.
• The freshman has scored in double figures in each of the last two games – the first MU rookie to do so since Kobe Brown in 2019-20.
• In addition, his 16 assists are the most by a MU freshman in his first seven games since Terrence Phillips had 24 in 2015-16.
CARTER DOES IT ALL FOR MIZZOU
• Graduate forward Noah Carter does a little bit of everything for the Tigers this season.
• Carter places in the top three of six stats for Mizzou, highlighted by ranking second in points (13.0) and first in rebounds (6.4).
