No. 14 Mizzou Men’s Hoops Returns to Action, Clashes with Bradley Tuesday Night at Mizzou Arena

Mizzou Basketball Game Notes

• Game Notes

STORYLINES

• Mizzou returns to action 10 days after knocking off No. 6 Illinois to earn its third consecutive victory in the Braggin’ Rights rivalry. Mizzou improved to 5-0 to start a campaign for the first time since 2013-14 (10-0) and seeks its 23rd 6-0 start in program history on Tuesday night vs. Bradley.
• Mizzou is one of just 49 remaining unbeaten teams nationally and one of 17 squads in that group to play at least five games. Mizzou has upended No. 21 Oregon, No. 6 Illinois and Wichita State on the road, becoming the nation’s only undefeated team with two wins over ranked opponents and a true road win on its resume.
• The last time a Mizzou team racked up at least two Top 25 wins & a true road win during nonconference play came during the 2011-12 campaign that saw the Tigers finish with 30 victories and a Big 12 Tournament Championship.
• The Tigers’ victory over No. 6 Illinois was their first over a Top-10 team since downing No. 5 Florida on Feb. 19, 2014. It marked the highest ranked opponent Mizzou has beaten under head coach Cuonzo Martin.
• After the historic win, Mizzou checked in at No. 16 in the AP Top 25 poll on Dec. 14, its highest ranking since Jan. 7, 2013. It’s the first time the Tigers have been ranked during the Martin era and the first time since the 2013-14 campaign. Mizzou was ranked as high as No. 7 during the 2012-13 campaign.
• Mizzou has won six straight dating back to its season-ending win over Alabama a year ago, and a win over Bradley would give it seven-straight victories for the first time since the 10-game streak to start the 2013-14 season. Mizzou has now fashioned four win streaks of five or more games in the last four seasons, but the current six-game streak matches the longest during the Martin era.
• Mizzou is now 18-2 in December during the Cuonzo Martin era.
• The Tigers are being recognized nationally for a hot start. In the past two weeks, Martin was named National Coach of the Week, Mizzou was named National Team of the Week and Mark Smith and Dru Smith earned back-to-back SEC Player of the Week awards. The squad nabbed two straight SEC weekly honors for the first time since Feb. 2018.
• According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, the Tigers boast the nation’s second-best NCAA Tournament resume nearly a month into the 2020-21 campaign.
• A win Tuesday would have Mizzou undefeated heading into Christmas for the first time since 2011-12.
• The Tigers are 2-0 all-time vs. Bradley, but haven’t faced the Braves since a Dec. 12, 1990 meeting in Peoria. Mizzou is 46-13 all-time vs. Missouri Valley Conference opponents. Bradley is the two-time defending MVC champion and ranked No. 122 in KenPom’s ratings, the fifth Top 125 opponent Mizzou has played in six games this season.
• A key to Mizzou’s early success has been experience. Martin’s squad features one of the most experienced rosters in all of college basketball, returning 88.13 percent of its scoring from a season ago, which ranks third among all Power 5 conference teams, trailing only Texas and UCLA.

EMBRACING THE SIXTH MAN ROLE

• After starting 52 games through his first two campaigns, head coach Cuonzo Martin has asked junior Javon Pickett to come off the bench this season. Pickett, well-known for his relentless work ethic, has responded by becoming Mizzou’s fourth-leading scorer with a career-best 9.6 points per game.
• Pickett leads the team in field goal percentage, making 62.5 percent of his attempts, including a 19-for-25 effort from 2-point range. He finished with 14 points, on 6-of-8 shooting, vs. No. 6 Illinois. In three career games vs. the Illini, he’s 3-0 while averaging 15.7 points and 5.0 rebounds and shooting 68.9 percent (20-of-29 FGs).
• Thru five games, Pickett has produced three double-figure scoring efforts. Pickett had 11 points in 20 minutes vs. ORU in the season-opener, then netted 13 in 21 minutes against No. 21 Oregon before the season-high 14 points vs. Illinois.  Mizzou is 10-1 over the last two seasons when Pickett scores in double figures.
• Fifth-year senior Mitchell Smith has also embraced coming off the bench, playing the fifth-most minutes on the team. He’s chipping in 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds (the third-most on the squad). Smith is the energy guy, who brings the emotion and has the ability to guard all five positions at 6-foot-10.