The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team returns to CoMo on Wednesday night for a matchup with rival Arkansas. First tip at Mizzou Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
PROMOTIONS
• Mizzou Arena is set for a White Out Wednesday with all fans encouraged to wear white.
• The Mizzou football team will be presented with the Battle Line Trophy for its 48-14 win at Arkansas in November.
• Students who attend the game will receive a free bucket hat and glow sticks.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 8-12 during the 2023-24 season with a 0-7 record in SEC action.
• The Tigers dropped a 72-64 decision at South Carolina on Saturday with Sean East II leading Mizzou with 21 points and seven assists.
• Overall, East leads MU with 16.2 points and 4.0 assists per game.
• Junior Tamar Bates has scored in double-figures in 10-straight contests and is now second on the team with 13.0 points per game.
• Noah Carter (11.9) and Nick Honor (10.5) also score in double figures, while Carter leads active Mizzou players with 5.3 rebounds.
• Mizzou is averaging 73.6 points per game, while allowing 73.5 defensively.
ABOUT THE RAZORBACKS
• Arkansas enters Mizzou Arena with a 10-10 mark in 2023-24, including a 1-6 record in SEC play.
• The Razorbacks have lost their last three games and are coming off a 63-57 home loss to No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday.
• Tramon Mark leads Arkansas with 17.4 points with Khalif Battle ranking second with 11.5.
• Trevon Brazile has a team-best 6.5 rebounds.
• Arkansas is averaging 75.2 points per game with a scoring defense of 76.8.
SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to the 1950-51 season, Arkansas holds a 33-27 advantage over Mizzou.
• Missouri, however, holds a 17-12 edge over the Razorbacks in Columbia.
• The schools played a pair of tight contests last season with Arkansas posting a 74-68 home win before the Tigers returned the favor with a 79-76 victory at Mizzou Arena.
• The MU win last January ended a five-game winning streak for Arkansas in the series.
SCORING AND PASSING
• Graduate guard Sean East II can beat you in a number of ways.
• At South Carolina on Saturday, East tallied 21 points and seven assists, marking his third game this season with at least 20 points and six assists.
• East joins Ole Miss’ Jaylen Murray as the only players in the SEC to reach the mark three times this year, while becoming the first Tiger to do so since Melvin Booker did it five times in 1993-94.
• One of just two players in the SEC to rank in the top 10 in both points and assists (Mark Sears), East is seventh in the conference with 16.2 points and sixth with 4.0 assists per game.
BATES CATCHES FIRE
• Junior Tamar Bates increased his output the second half of the season.
• Bates has scored in double digits in each of the last 10 games – he had never gone more than two-straight with 10-plus points prior to the run.
• Over the 10-game stretch, Bates is tallying 18.9 points per game – an increase of nearly 12 points from the season’s first 10 contests.
• Bates was fifth on MU in scoring when his run started and is now second at 13.0 points.
50/40/90
• Shooting efficiency is the key to success for junior Tamar Bates in 2023-24.
• Bates owns career-best marks with a 55.2 field goal percentage, 45.8 3-point percentage and 94.1 free-throw percentage.
• In fact, Bates and Nebraska’s C.J. Wilicher are the only two players in the country shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the free-throw line.
• Bates is also on target to become the first Tiger in school history to join the 50-40-90 club.
SEC RANKS
• With his strong performance as of late, Tamar Bates ranks among the leaders in SEC games.
• The junior is currently fifth in conference games only with 18.9 points, second with a field goal clip of 57.1 and first with a free-throw mark of 95.7.
• Sean East II is also a conference leader in league games, placing second in assists (4.7) and fourth in free-throw percentage (91.7).
CHARITY STRIPE DIFFERENTIAL
• One area that has hurt the Tigers this season is at the free-throw line.
• Mizzou ranks last in the SEC in both free throws per game (16.40) and free throws allowed (22.45).
• In fact, MU places 310th nationally (of 362 teams) in free throws and 313th in free throws allowed.
• Overall, the Tigers are 351st nationally and last among Power 6 schools with 6.05 fewer free throws per game than its opponent.
• Eight times this year, Mizzou has allowed 10 more shots from the charity stripe than it took.
