Mizzou Men's Hoops Set for 39th Annual Braggin' Rights Clash on Saturday

Saturday, December 21

St. Louis, Mo.

12:00 PM

University of Missouri

Illinois

Mizzou Men's Hoops Set for 39th Annual Braggin' Rights Clash on Saturday

12/19/2019 2:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Tip off is set for 12 p.m. on SEC Network

Mizzou Basketball Set for 39th Annual Braggin' Rights Clash with Illinois
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
Illinois	St. Louis, Mo.	Saturday, Dec. 21	12:00 PM	SEC Network	Stats

Mizzou Basketball Game Notes

Game Notes

STORYLINES

Mizzou is riding a two-game win streak and looking for its third victory in a row for the first time this season after Sunday's suffocating 64-48 win over Southern Illinois.
Mizzou held Southern Illinois to a season-low 48 points, 15.4 points below the Salukis' season average. SIU had managed 48 or fewer points just twice since the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign before running into Mizzou's stifling defense on Sunday.
Southern Illinois made 10 field goals, the fewest for the Salukis in a game since Nov. 15, 2011. It's the second-fewest field goals made by a Mizzou opponent this decade and the fewest since Arkansas Pine Bluff went 8-for-52 on Dec. 29, 2015. Only four schools nationally have held a Division I opponent to 10 or fewer made field goals in a game this season - Virginia, Utah State, Mizzou and South Carolina.
Junior Mark Smith scored a career-high 23 points vs. Southern Illinois, making seven 3-pointers, which matched a Mizzou Arena single-game record and marked the most by a Tiger since 2011.
Saturday will feature the 39th annual Braggin' Rights clash in St. Louis and the 50th all-time meeting between Illinois and Mizzou. The last 10 games in the series are an even 5-5 split. Mizzou upended the Illini in last year's battle, 79-63, behind strong performances from Javon Pickett (16 points on 7-of-8 shooting) and Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr., (16 points, 12 rebounds). Last year was the largest margin of victory for either school in the series since 2008. Prior to Mizzou's 16-point win, the last seven meetings in the heated matchup were decided by single digits.
Mizzou is looking for back-to-back wins in the series for the first time since 2011 and 2012.
The Tigers' 2019-20 roster is infused with plenty of St. Louis flair. Head Coach Cuonzo Martin was born in St. Louis and raised in East St. Louis alongside assistant coach Marco Harris. Mizzou has six players from Greater St. Louis, including a trio from the city (Torrence Watson, Brooks Ford and Mario McKinney, Jr.) and a trio from the East Side of the Missouri river (Javon Pickett, Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr.) that get to play in their backyard in front of friends and families.
After back-to-back strong defensive performances, Mizzou ranks 30th nationally in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric, allowing 90.3 points per 100 possessions. Mizzou allows only 57.9 points per game, which ranks 14th nationally. When the Tigers have held teams to fewer than 60 points they are 6-0 this season. Mizzou has held eight of its first 10 opponents to 63 of fewer points. Only 16 teams nationally have held at least eight opponents to 63 or fewer points in a game so far this season.

DEFENDING AT HISTORIC LEVEL

Mizzou ranks 14th nationally and seventh among power conference teams in scoring defense, allowing just 57.9 points per game. Of those seven teams, only Mizzou, Purdue, Tennessee and Butler have a Top 100 non-conference strength of schedule, according to the latest NET rankings.
Mizzou is one of just nine teams nationally to hold at least six opponents to 56 or fewer points in a game this season. The Tigers are 6-0 in those games.
Mizzou is now 20-0 under Cuonzo Martin when holding its foe to 59 or fewer points, and has won 28 of its last 29 games overall when doing that.
With roughly a third of the season under its belt, Mizzou's defensive scoring average would rank third all-time in a single-season in program history. The last time the Tigers held opponents to fewer than 58 points per game was 1951-52 (53.2 opp. PPG).
Mizzou also ranks 20th nationally and third in the SEC in field goal percentage defense as opponents are shooting just 37.1 percent this season.
The Tigers rank 32nd nationally and fourth in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (27.9).
After allowing just 10 made field goals vs. Southern Illinois, the fewest by a Mizzou opponent since 2015, the Tigers have allowed 19.2 made field goals per game, which ranks third nationally. Only Virginia (15.7) and Sacramento State (18.1) have allowed fewer made shots per game this season.
A large part of that success is cleaning up the glass. Of the defensive rebounds available, Mizzou has prevented an opponent from grabbing an offensive rebound 76.9 percent of the time, allowing just 80 offensive boards all season. That defensive rebound percentage leads the SEC.
Mizzou has outrebounded its opponent seven times in 10 games this season. The Tigers have outpaced opponents on the glass 50 times in 75 games during the Cuonzo Martin era.

MARKSMAN

Mark Smith shot a blistering 45 percent from 3-point range, the SEC's highest percentage (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. This season, Mark is right back at it from beyond the arc, shooting 40.9 percent, which ranks third in the SEC. He is one of 19 active players nationally to shoot 43 percent or better from 3-point range since the beginning of the 2018-19 campaign (minimum 175 3-point attempts). Of those 19 players, Mark is one of just four from power conferences.
Through 10 games, Mark is Mizzou's leading scorer with 12.9 points per game after a career-high 23 points vs. Southern Illinois. He hit seven 3-pointers en route to 23 points, tying a Mizzou Arena single-game record. He is the first Tiger to hit seven 3-pointers in a game since Marcus Denmon on Dec. 2, 2011. It marked just the 25th time in program history that a Mizzou player hit seven triples and he is the 12th different Tiger to do so.
Mark ripped off a then-season-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a dominant outing against Morehead State. He reached 21 points on just nine field goal attempts, 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 averaged 15.5 points per game over four Hall of Fame Classic games in November.
The Tigers are now 4-1 this season when he leads the team in scoring and 6-2 when he scores 19+ points since his arrival at Mizzou.
Mark is also Mizzou's leading rebounder at 5.0 boards per game. He's had four rebounds in a game 26 times in 29 games in a Mizzou uniform. He has 11 more defensive rebounds than anyone else on the roster, averaging 4.6 defensive boards per game. His career-high in rebounds was three at Illinois. He's snagged at least three rebounds in every game this season as a Tiger after another six boards at Temple, which led the team.
Mark has 149 rebounds as a Tiger. Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, only Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr., (230) has grabbed more rebounds on Mizzou's active roster, despite Mark only appearing in 29 games in that span.

BRAGGIN' RIGHTS SERIES

Braggin' Rights Series Record: Illinois leads 25-13
All-Time Series Record: Illinois leads 32-17
Current Streak: Mizzou W-1
Illinois when ranked: 13-6
Mizzou when ranked: 6-10
When both teams ranked: Illinois leads 6-3
When neither team is ranked: Illinois leads 8-4
In overtime games: Tied 2-2
At Enterprise Center: Ilinois leads 16-9
At The Arena: Illinois leads 9-4
Illinois' longest winning streak: 9 (2000-08)
Mizzou's longest winning streak: 4, twice (1991-94 & 2009-12)
Illinois' largest winning margin: 32 (2005)
Mizzou's largest winning margin: 18 (1994)
Closest margin: 1, five times (1992, 1993, 2003, 2007, 2013)
Illinois scoring record: 33, Andy Kaufman (1990)
Mizzou scoring record: 30, Doug Smith (1990)
Illinois rebounding record: 13, three players Mike Davis (2009), Mike Tisdale (2009-10), Meyers Leonard (2011)
Mizzou rebounding record: 15, Doug Smith (1990)