Men’s Basketball Faces Road Test at No. 6 Tennessee

The Missouri men’s basketball hits the road for one of its most challenging games away from home this season, squaring off with No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday. First tip is set for 5 p.m. on SEC Network.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 18-6 and 6-5 in SEC action – receiving votes in both national polls.
• MU has won four of its last five games, coming off an 83-74 victory over South Carolina Tuesday.
• Kobe Brown leads the Tigers and ranks fourth in the SEC with 16.3 points, while also adding a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game.
• Three Tigers are scoring in double figures as D’Moi Hodge (14.1) and DeAndre Gholston (10.2) follow Brown.
• Sean East II and Nick Honor lead Mizzou with 3.0 assists per game.
• Mizzou ranks 13th in the country with a scoring offense of 82.0, while allowing 74.8 points.

ABOUT THE VOLUNTEERS
• Tennessee enters the weekend with a 19-5 mark and an 8-3 record in SEC play.
• The Volunteers have also won 11-of-12 games at home this season.
• Three Volunteers are scoring in double figures – Santiago Vescovi (12.0), Olivier Nkamhoua (10.9) and Zakai Zeigler (10.8).
• Zeigler also leads UT with 5.2 assists, while Josiah-Jordan James has a team-best 5.3 boards.
• While the Tigers own a top-15 scoring offense, Tennessee ranks second nationally with a scoring defense of 55.0 and scores 72.0 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY
• In 19 all-time meetings, Tennessee owns an 11-8 advantage over the Tigers, including a 9-4 edge in SEC meetings.
• The road team has won the last four meetings in the series with No. 17 Tennessee posting an 80-61 in Columbia last year.

TIGERS VERSUS TOP 10
• Saturday is another opportunity for the Tigers to take on a top-10 opponent.
• MU owns 49 all-time wins versus schools ranked in the top 10 in 190 attempts (25.8 winning percentage) with an 0-2 mark this season.
• The Tigers last win over a top-10 foe was in 2021 during a 68-65 win over No. 10 Alabama.
• Mizzou is also 9-58 on the road versus the top 10, last defeating a school when it beat No. 6 Tennessee during its last trip to Knoxville in 2021.
• Xavier Pinson (27) and Dru Smith (18) combined for 45 points in the upset win two years ago.

TOP MARKS IN 2022-23
• The Tigers are enjoying one of their best seasons in years during the 2022-23 campaign.
• With an 18-6 overall record and with at least eight games left, Missouri already has its most wins in a season since totaling 20 in 2017-18.
• It hasn’t come easy for the Tigers either as the team’s four ranked wins are tied for its most in the last 11 seasons.
• MU finished the non-conference campaign 12-1 – its best mark since also going 12-1 in 2013-14.

TOP-20 SCORING OFFENSE
• Overall, one of the biggest keys to success this season for Mizzou is owning a top scoring attack.
• Mizzou enters the game ranked 13th nationally with a scoring offense of 82.0 points.
• In fact, the Tigers’ 82.0 points rank as the sixth-best mark in their history and highest in 33 years.

TARGETING 70 POINTS
• While the Tigers are averaging over 80 points this season, the magic number is just 70 for MU.
• MU has won its last 21 games when scoring at least 70, including a perfect 17-0 mark this year.
• On the opposite end, Mizzou is just 1-6 this year when held under the target – losing 24 of its last 25 games overall with 69 or fewer points.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE THREE
• Missouri’s performance beyond the 3-point arc has largely been a key to success.
• The Tigers are shooting 17.5 percent better from beyond the arc in wins (5.6 more makes per game) and 22.1 percent better in SEC games.
• MU is 15-0 with eight triples in a game (3-6 with fewer), 14-0 when making at least 33.3 percent (4-6 when lower) and 12-1 when making more than its foe (2-1 with the same, 4-4 with fewer).

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
• Kobe Brown has done a little bit of everything for the Tigers this year.
• Brown is coming off a 19-point, eight-board and six-assist performance in a win over South Carolina. Coupled with his three steals, he is only the seventh DI player with that stat line this year.
• It marks the third time this season that Brown has led the Tigers in all three categories.
• Overall, Brown leads the Tigers with 16.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while also adding 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals.
• The senior is on pace to be the first Tiger to average 15 points, five rebounds and two assists since Marcus Denmon in 2011-12.