Tuesday, January 28
Columbia, Mo.
7:30 PM
University of Missouri
vs
Georgia
Mizzou Men's Hoops Set for Showdown with Georgia on Tuesday Night
1/27/2020 10:19:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network
| Mizzou Takes on Georgia at Home Tuesday Night | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | WATCH | STATS |
| Georgia | Columbia, Mo. | Tuesday, Jan. 28 | 7:30 PM | SEC Network | Stats |
Mizzou Basketball Game Notes
STORYLINES
- Mizzou and Georgia meet for the 15th time in program history with the series deadlocked at 7-7 entering Tuesday night's matchup.
- Mizzou has won three of the last four showdowns with the Bulldogs, including a season sweep last year. The Tigers downed Georgia on the road on March 6 in a convincing 64-39 win. Georgia's 39 points were its fewest at home since Dec. 28, 1945. Then-freshman Torrence Watson scored 17 points off the bench, hitting five 3-pointers. Mizzou then eliminated Georgia seven days later in the opening game of the SEC Tournament with a 71-61 victory. Xavier Pinson scored 15 key points in that win.
- A win on Tuesday would give Mizzou a 3-game win streak vs. Georgia for the first time since claiming the first four games of the series (2001, 2008, 2009 & 2013). Currently, Mizzou only owns a 3-game win streak against Vanderbilt, among SEC teams.
- After Mizzou made an SEC and program 31 consecutive made free throws vs. Alabama on Jan. 18, the Tigers made 25-of-26 against Texas A&M on Jan. 21. Mizzou is shooting an SEC-best 82 percent from the charity stripe in league play. The Tigers' season percentage of 77.5 percent leads the SEC, ranks 13th nationally and second among power conference teams behind only Villanova (79 percent).
- Mizzou ranks 33rd nationally and second in the SEC in scoring defense, holding opponents to 62.3 points per game. If the season ended today, that would rank fourth all-time in program history. It would mark the best defensive scoring average since 1983-84 (62.8). Only five Mizzou teams in the history of the program have held opponents to fewer than 63 points on average for an entire season.
- The Tigers are +96 in bench points in their last 11 games and +152 overall this season. Mizzou has outscored or matched 15 of its 19 opponents in bench production this season. On Saturday at No. 14 West Virginia, 72.5 percent of the Tigers' scoring came from their bench.
- Entering Tuesday's matchup with Georgia, Dru Smith has made 24 consecutive free throws, 15 shy of Mizzou's individual consecutive free throws made record. He ranks 10th nationally and fourth among all power league players in free throw percentage, shooting 90.7 percent at the line this season. Dru also leads the SEC in steals per game during league play with 2.8 thefts per contest.
- Senior Reed Nikko will play in his 112th career game on Tuesday vs. Georgia. Since the turn of the century, he is just the 18th Tiger to reach that mark and just the third since 2010.
TORRENCE HEATING UP
- Since Dec. 30, sophomore Torrence Watson has hit 19 3-pointers and averaged 9.5 points per game (76 total points). In that eight-game span, he's shooting 44.2 percent from beyond the arc and 91.7 percent from the free throw line. In the season's first 11 games, Watson shot 19.6 percent from beyond the arc and scored 3.2 points per game (35 total points).
- Watson is coming off a 19-point outburst at No. 14 West Virginia. He shot 6-of-13 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc against the Mountaineers, making at least five 3-pointers in game for the fourth time in his career.
- Watson scored 11 points vs. Texas A&M last Tuesday. He's reached double figures in two consecutive games for the first time this season.
- The sophomore is starting to heat up after an early-season slump. He was outstanding as a freshman, setting the Mizzou single-season freshman record for 3-pointers with 53, passing Tiger legend Kareem Rush (46 in 1999-00). Watson made 24 of those 53 3-pointers over the final seven games of last season, averaging 13.7 points per game. That torrid stretch included a 17-point outing at Georgia on March 6, 2019.
- On Dec. 30, Watson erupted for a career-high 24 points vs. Chicago State, setting the Mizzou Arena single-game record with eight treys, hitting six in the second half alone. The eight 3-pointers were the most by a Tiger since Thomas Gardner made eight vs. Baylor on Feb. 7, 2006.
KOBE BROWN MAKING AN IMPACT
- Kobe Brown, a freshman from Huntsville, Ala., has been a mainstay in the Mizzou lineup in his debut season. He has started 16 of 18 games he's appeared in on the season, averaging 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
- At Mississippi State on Jan. 14, Brown led Mizzou with a career-high 14 points and added four rebounds. It marked the first time reaching double figures since he chipped in 10 points in a 71-56 win over Northern Kentucky. Brown then followed with 11 points in his home state at Alabama, giving him back-to-back double figure scoring games for the first time in his career.
- He has scored six or more points on 10 occasions. The forward has recorded at least five rebounds in six games this season.
- Brown's field goal percentage of 45.5 percent (46-of-101) ranks sixth among SEC freshmen with at least 100 attempts on the year. He is one of just three in that group who also has at least 50 boards. Brown trails only Georgia's Anthony Edwards and Florida's Scottie Lewis in total steals this season among SEC freshman with 22. At his current pace, he'll finish with 38 steals, which would tie Wesley Stokes for sixth all-time at Mizzou for freshmen.
UP NEXT
- Mizzou heads to South Carolina on Saturday to face the Gamecocks for the 11th time in program history. The series is deadlocked at 5-5.
- Mizzou and South Carolina split their season series in 2018-19, with both teams winning at home. In their last meeting, Mizzou downed the Gamecocks, 78-63, as sophomore Torrence Watson poured in a then career-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
- Mizzou is 3-2 in the last five showdowns with South Carolina. Neither team has won back-to-back meetings in the series since 2015-16. The Tigers are seeking their second win in Columbia, S.C., since head coach Cuonzo Martin took over at the helm..
Players Mentioned
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