Mizzou Basketball Heads to Kansas City to Face Butler in Hall of Fame Classic

Monday, November 25

Kansas City, Mo.

6 PM

University of Missouri

Butler

NCAA Men's Basketball: Mizzou Tigers vs. Morehead State Eagles

Mizzou Basketball Heads to Kansas City to Face Butler in Hall of Fame Classic

11/23/2019 12:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Tip from the Sprint Center is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU

Mizzou Opens Hall of Fame Classic Monday vs. Butler
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
Butler	Kansas City, Mo.	Monday, Nov. 25	6:00 PM	ESPNU	Stats

Mizzou Basketball Game Notes

Game Notes

HALL OF FAME CLASSIC INFO

STORYLINES

Mizzou makes its sixth all-time appearance in the Hall of Fame Classic since its inception in 2001. Mizzou is a two-time champion (2001 and 2011) and stands 5-5 overall at the event's primary games in Kansas City, Mo.
The Tigers are 3-3 all-time vs. Butler. Mizzou has won the last three meetings. This will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1979, when Mizzou held on for a 64-60 win at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (Dec. 12). Mizzou is 25-24 in its program history against Big East opponents.
Butler is an undefeated 5-0 heading into Monday's matchup. Mizzou's opponents have been a combined 14-2 entering matchups with the Tigers this season (Incarnate Word - 0-0; Northern Kentucky - 1-0; Xavier - 2-0; Wofford - 2-2; Morehead State - 4-0).
Mizzou ranks seventh nationally in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric, allowing just 86.4 points per 100 possessions. The Tigers rank 12th in field goal percentage defense, 24th in 3-point field goal percentage defense and 13th in scoring defense. Cuonzo Martin's squad is one of two teams nationally to hold at least five opponents to 38 percent shooting or worse in a game this season, alongside Montana State. Only Mizzou has done that in all five of its games.
After outscoring Morehead State by 11 in the second half on Wednesday, the Tigers have outpaced opponents by a combined 59 points in second halves this season (177-118).
The Tigers stifled Wofford last Monday, holding the Terriers to 56 points and zero field goals over the game's final 14 minutes. The Tigers followed by limiting Morehead State to just two triples in the second half. No opponent has made more than eight threes in a game against Mizzou this season as the Tigers are allowing just 4.8 treys per game (24 total).
The Tigers have turned up the pressure, forcing 16 turnovers per game with a +1.4 turnover margin. Through five games last year, Mizzou had forced 12 turnovers per outing with a -2-2 turnover margin.
Mizzou has now held opponents to 63 or fewer points in five consecutive games to start a season for the first time since 1951-52, when the Tigers did so in eight straight games. Mizzou is one of 11 teams nationally to hold at least five teams to 63 or fewer points this season. The Tigers are one of six in that group of 11 programs to hold 100 percent of their opponents to 63 points or fewer.
After limiting Morehead State to 52 points, Mizzou is now 19-0 under Cuonzo Martin when holding its foe to 59 or fewer points, and has won 26 of its last 27 games overall when doing so. Mizzou has held opponents under 70 points 43 times in 70 games under Martin (61.4 percent of games).

CONSTRUCTION WORKER

Sophomore Javon Pickett is a do-it-all guard for head coach Cuonzo Martin, who describes Pickett as his construction worker who brings a hard hat every day, and can guard any position. Pickett has started 35 of 36 games since coming to Mizzou. He logged 808 minutes as a freshman - joining Jontay Porter, Terrence Phillips and Johnathan Williams III as the only Tiger freshmen with 800+ minutes this decade.
Pickett posted 10 points and eight boards vs. Incarnate Word, the fourth true guard to reach those numbers under Martin at Mizzou alongside Kassius Robertson, Jordan Geist and Mark Smith.
Pickett filled the box score with nine points, five boards and three assists in a team-high 33 minutes vs. Morehead State. He's scored at least seven points 22 times in 36 games at Mizzou. Pickett trails only Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr., in offensive rebounds on Mizzou's roster this season.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: WIN THE BOARDS & CASH IN AT THE CHARITY STRIPE

Mizzou is limiting second chance opponents well, outrebounding 13 of the last 15 opponents and 66 percent of its opponents under Martin. Mizzou has 198 total boards, the second-most in the SEC after snatching 45 vs. Morehead State. Mizzou's 29.8 defensive rebounds per game rank fifth in the league.
The Tigers also rank second in the SEC in defensive rebound percentage (.784), trailing only Kentucky.
Opponents have managed a combined 41 offensive boards in five games - 8.2 per game, which also trails only the Wildcats among all SEC teams.
Mizzou is shooting 77.6 percent as a team from the free throw line this season, which ranks second among SEC teams and 31st nationally. The Tigers are shooting 82.6 percent from the line in their last four games.
Mizzou made 20-of-23 at the line (86.9 percent), its best single-game performance in a game with 20+ attempts since converting 20-of-23 free throws vs. Arkansas on Jan. 12, 2016. It marked the seventh such performance since 2010.
Juniors Dru Smith (20-of-22) and Mark Smith (15-of-18) have taken 40 of Mizzou's 98 free throw attempts this season. The pair has missed just five attempts all season. Dru has made 17 consecutive free throws since Nov. 6.

ELITE DEFENSE

Mizzou is seventh nationally in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric. All six teams ahead of Mizzou reached the 2019 NCAA Tournament, including four Elite Eight teams - Virginia, Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State.
Mizzou has held four of its five opponents to a season-low scoring output in regulation so far with the exception Wofford, who managed only 55 points vs. South Florida after scoring 56 against the Tigers.
Mizzou ranks 12th nationally in field goal percentage defense (34.1 percent) and eighth among power conference teams. The Tigers also rank 24th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense. Mizzou is one of just 11 schools nationally that have played in at least five games and allowed 25 or fewer made 3-pointers.
Martin's squad is simply wearing teams down this season. In second halves alone, Mizzou is outpacing opponents by 177-118 - 11.8 points per second half. No opponent has mustered 30 points in a second half this season, as opponents are managing just 23.8 points in the final 20 minutes through four contests. The Tigers dismantled Wofford, 39-25, in the second half on Monday, allowing just four Terrier field goals. Wofford shot 19 percent from the field in the final period and 2-for-9 from beyond the arc despite the entering the game as a prolific team from outside the arc. The Tigers then held Morehead State to just 23 points in the final 20 minutes on Wednesday and just nine total made shots in the second period.
Mizzou is allowing just 53.8 points per game (13th nationally). The Tigers haven't held opponents under 60 points per game in a campaign since 1981-82.
Mizzou held Incarnate Word (42) and Northern Kentucky (56) under 59 points to start the season; the first time it has held consecutive opponents to 59 or fewer points since limiting UCF to 59 points Nov. 30, 2017, and Miami, Ohio, to 51 points on Dec. 5, 2017.

SMITH & SMITH

DRUUU

Dru Smith exploded for 22 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals at No. 21 Xavier, securing his first career double-double. He became the first Tiger to record at least 22 points, 10 boards, four dimes and three steals in a game since Doug Smith did so vs. Oklahoma in 1991.
He most recently had 11 points, nine rebounds & five assists vs. Morehead State, the first Tiger to hit those marks in a game since Earnest Ross in 2014.
Dru is averaging 11.6 points, 4.8 assists and a team-high 5.2 rebounds through five games to start the campaign. He is one of 11 players from power conferences averaging at least 11 points, four rebounds and 4.75 assists this season and of 32 players nationally.
Dru surpassed the 200 career assist mark with a season-high seven dimes vs. Wofford, his most in a game since Dec. 5, 2017, vs. Bowling Green. He's now dished at least six assists in a game 11 times in his career. He's the first Tiger with seven assists in a game since Jordan Geist vs. Illinois last season.
Dru sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. He is one of five Division I players in the last 20 years to shoot at least 45 percent from 3-point range, 55 percent from the field and 85 percent from the free throw line in the same season (Thomas Welsh - UCLA, Sterling Brown - SMU, Nick Masteron - Kennesaw State, Sam Sussenguth - North Dakota State). He's the only one in that group of five playing in 2019-20.
In 2017-18 at Evansville, he played just 22 games due to an injury. In those games, he reached double figures 18 times and scored 20+ points four times.
In his 54-game career, Dru has only gone one game without recording an assist, which came all the way back on Dec. 3, 2016, giving him 47 consecutive games with an assist. He's now posted 20 straight multi-assist outings after dishing five vs. Morehead State.
He's also collected a steal in 16 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 9, 2017.
Dru is also a career 85.9 percent free throw shooter. That is the 18th-best career clip from the charity stripe nationally among all active players. He's made 62 of his last 68 attempts from the free throw line (91.6 percent). His 8-for-8 performance from the line at Xavier marked the best outing by a Tiger at the charity stripe since Kassius Robertson went 8-for-8 on Feb. 3, 2018, vs. No. 21 Kentucky. Dru's knocked down 17 consecutive free throws. The Mizzou record is 39 set by Jason Sutherland in 1995-96.

MARKSMAN

Mark Smith shot a blistering 45 percent from 3-point range, the highest percentage in the SEC (min. 100 attempts) a year ago. It was the fourth-highest mark by a sophomore in Mizzou history and the eighth-highest ever in program history. He was one of 28 players nationally to shoot 45 percent from 3-point range and one of just six from power conferences. Before going down with an ankle injury in February, Mark averaged 11.4 points and 5.2 rebounds (second-most on the team) after averaging just 5.8 points and 1.4 rebounds as a freshman at Illinois.
Mark ripped off a career-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a dominant outing against Morehead State. The junior guard has tallied 43 points and 15 rebounds over the last two matchups with the Eagles the last two seasons. He reached 21 points on just nine field goal attempts in his last outing, the first Tiger to do so since Ryan Rosburg vs. Tennessee on Feb. 3, 2016, and the just the sixth Tiger overall since 2010.
Mark drained four 3-pointers en route to 19 points vs. Wofford, giving him a 20.0 PPG clip in Hall of Fame Classic games thus far.
The Tigers are now 3-0 this season when he leads the team in scoring and 5-2 when he scores 19+ points since his arrival at Mizzou. Since an 0-for-4 outing from deep to open the campaign, he's now 13-for-29 in Mizzou's last three games, shooting 44.8 percent from deep.
Mark also exploded for 19 points vs. Northern Kentucky, draining four triples while shooting 6-of-10 from the field.
Mark's had four rebounds in a game 22 times in 24 games in a Mizzou uniform. He had no games with 4+ rebounds during his freshman year at Illinois.
Mark has 124 rebounds as a Tiger. Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, only Javon Pickett (126) and Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr., (208) have grabbed more rebounds on Mizzou's active roster, despite Mark only appearing in 26 games in that span.