Mizzou Men's Hoops Travels to No. 25 LSU on Tuesday

Tuesday, February 11

Baton Rouge, La.

8 PM

University of Missouri

LSU

Mizzou forward Tray Jackson (2). Mizzou Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020. Zach Bland/Mizzou Athletics

2/10/2020 2:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Tip off is set for 8 p.m. on SEC Network

Mizzou Hoops Faces No. 25 LSU in Road Battle on Tuesday Night
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
No. 25 LSU	Baton Rouge, La.	Tuesday, Feb. 11	8 PM	SEC Network	Stats

Mizzou Basketball Game Notes

Game Notes

STORYLINES

Mizzou took down Arkansas, 83-79, in overtime on Saturday to capture its fourth consecutive win over the Razorbacks at Mizzou Arena. Mizzou improved to 5-0 in its annual Rally For Rhyan game, which benefits pediatric cancer research. The Mizzou community raised more than $80,000 for research over the weekend.
Mizzou heads to No. 25 LSU on Tuesday night looking for its first win in Baton Rouge in program history. LSU leads the all-time series, 7-2, having won the last four meetings. Mizzou is looking for its first win over LSU since a 74-67 overtime victory on Jan. 8, 2015, in Columbia. Mizzou also seeks its first road victory over a Top 25 team since beating No. 3 Baylor, 89-88, on Jan. 21, 2012.
Head coach Cuonzo Martin's squad continues to be strong defensively. Mizzou has forced 10+ turnovers in 22 of 23 games this season. Arkansas entered Saturday's game ranked fourth nationally in turnover margin. The Tigers forced 14 Razorback turnovers, including six in the first five minutes to jump out to a lead. Mizzou ranks second in the SEC during league play in turnovers forced per game (14.7). Since Dec. 7, opponents are coughing it up 15.6 times per game.
Sophomore Xavier Pinson led the Tigers offensively in their win over Arkansas with a career-high 24 points. He's averaged 15 points per contest over the last four games and led Mizzou in scoring three times during that span. His ability to get down hill and cash in at the free throw line has been key. Pinson made 12 free throws vs. Arkansas, becoming just the fourth Tiger to do since 2010.
As a team, Mizzou has been dominant at the free throw line. The Tigers made a season-high 34 free throws in the win over Arkansas. The Tigers are shooting 77.4 percent from the free throw line, which is on pace to break the single-season record of 76.6 percent set in 2011-12. The 77.4 percent clip ranks 12th nationally, and third among all power conference teams, behind only Villanova and Kentucky. The Tigers are shooting 84.4 percent from the line over their last seven games.
The battle on the boards has been key to winning for Mizzou. The Tigers are 8-3 when they outrebound their opponent this season after torching Arkansas on the glass, 52-35.
Dru Smith hit the 50-steal mark with four steals vs. Arkansas. He leads the SEC during league play with 2.5 per game. He is the first Tiger with a 50-steal season since Phil Pressey in 2012-13, and is five assists shy of becoming the seventh different Tiger with a 50-steal, 100-assist campaign since 1992.

PINSON ON THE ATTACK

Xavier Pinson has elevated his play offensively of late, providing a spark for Mizzou. He erupted for a career-high 24 points in the win over Arkansas, including 17 in the second half and overtime. He made a career-high 12 free throws, relentlessly getting to the basket to draw fouls. That marked the most free throws by a Tiger since Jordan Geist in 2018.
Pinson has led Mizzou in scoring in three of the last four games, averaging 15 points per game. He entered that stretch averaging 7.3 points per game for the season. That has risen to 8.6 points per contest, the team's third-highest clip.
Pinson became just the sixth player since Martin took over the helm to post 24 points in a game. He added a season-best seven rebounds and three assists against Arkansas, becoming just the fourth Tiger to tally at least 24 points, seven boards and three assists in a game since 2010.
Mizzou is 5-2 in Pinson's career when he scores at least 14 points, and 4-0 this season.

WREAKING HAVOC ON DEFENSE

In league play, the Tigers rank third in the SEC in steals per game (7.1) and turnovers forced per game (14.7). Mizzou has at least seven steals in 10 of its last 15 games dating back to Dec. 7 at Temple. Mizzou has 10+ steals three times in the last 13 games after tallying 11 vs. Florida. Before this stretch, Mizzou had just three games with 10+ steals in its previous 64 games.
Since Dec. 7, Mizzou has forced 234 turnovers (15.6 per game). All 15 opponents during that span have coughed it up at least 11 times.
Mizzou has forced 10+ turnovers in 22 of 23 games. Arkansas committed 14 turnovers on Saturday despite entering the game fourth nationally in turnover margin.
Mizzou finished the 2018-19 campaign ranked 12th in the league in turnover margin (-1.9) and 13th in steals per game (4.7). With Dru Smith leading the charge during conference play, Mizzou ranks sixth in turnover margin (+0.8) and third in steals (71).
Under Cuonzo Martin, Mizzou has established an elite defensive mentality. During Martin's coaching career, all 11 of his teams at four different schools held opponents to a scoring average under 70 points per game. The 2019-20 team is on pace to be the eighth Martin-coached team to hold opponents to fewer than 66 points per game for a season, currently allowing 64.1 points per game. That ranks third in the SEC this season, and 50th nationally.
Mizzou is 8-0 this season and 22-0 under Cuonzo Martin when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points in a game.

PICKETT THE SPARK PLUG

Sophomore Javon Pickett, the energy leader on the court for Mizzou, continues to be crucial to the Tigers' success. Mizzou is now 7-0 when he reaches double figures after a 14-point, six-rebound outing vs. Arkansas. Pickett had a monster bucket late in regulation to help send it to overtime on another aggressive drive to the hoop. In the seven victories with Pickett in double figures, Mizzou has won by an average margin of 13.7 points per game.
Pickett scored 11 points vs. Georgia on Jan. 28. On three consecutive possessions after Mizzou got down 20, Pickett scored back-to-back floaters and then assisted Xavier Pinson on a kickout 3-pointer to spark Mizzou offensively. He followed with eight points and eight boards at South Carolina.
He's reached double figures 17 times in his 54-game career and Mizzou is 11-6 in those games.
In Mizzou's wins this season, Pickett is averaging 10.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from beyond the arc. In Mizzou's losses, he's putting up 4.4 points, 3.1 boards and 1.4 assists while shooting 30.2 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range.
He has started 45 of 54 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.
He's scored at least seven points 32 times at Mizzou, and has turned it up since Dec. 7. Since that date, he has been Mizzou's fourth-leading scorer over the last 15 games, averaging 8.7 points per game, largely coming off the bench. In that stretch, he's shooting 41.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc while grabbing 58 boards.
In Mizzou's last four games, he's scored 40 points. He'd scored 38 total in the previous seven games before that stretch.
Pickett ranks second on the team in offensive rebounds this season with 35. Of his 91 rebounds this season, 38.5 percent have come on the offensive glass. He's one of five true hards in the SEC with at least 35 offensive boards.
Pickett, along with Mark Smith, is widely known as a relentless hard worker. He can be found in the gym each morning at 6 a.m. getting shots up, and sometimes has to be instructed to hold back from the extra work to save his legs during the season.