Men’s Basketball Hosts Loyola Saturday

The Missouri men’s basketball program wraps up its holiday homestand on Saturday morning, hosting Loyola Maryland. First tip at Mizzou Arena is set for 11 a.m. on SEC Network +.
 
PROMOTIONS
• Fans looking to get out of the house during the holiday weekend can enjoy a Missouri basketball game for just $10 in the student section.
 
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 4-2 through six games of the 2023-24 campaign, coming off an 82-59 win over South Carolina State on Wednesday.
• Sean East II has led the team in scoring four times this season and leads the Tigers overall with 15.2 points per game.
• Two additional Tigers average in double figures with Nick Honor adding 13.0 points and Noah Carter chipping in 12.2.
• Carter also leads Mizzou with 6.5 rebounds.
• Jesus Carralero Martin and Anthony Robinson II lead MU with 15 assists.
• The Tigers are averaging 74.7 points per game, while allowing 66.5 points.
 
ABOUT THE GREYHOUNDS
• Loyola is 1-4 through five games this season, falling in its last three games. The Greyhounds are coming off a setback at UMBC last Sunday.
• Deon Perry leads Loyola with 13.4 points and 3.8 assists per game.
• Golden Dike also scores in double figures with 10.6 points to go with a team-best 7.2 rebounds.
• The Greyhounds own a scoring offense of 67.4 points with a scoring defense of 78.2.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools are meeting for the first time on the basketball court.
 
MIZZOU VERSUS PATRIOT LEAGUE
• Missouri is unbeaten in seven games with Patriot League schools.
• Six of the seven meetings have come in Columbia with the Tigers also defeating Navy in the first round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament.
• Mizzou last faced a Patriot League school during the 2012-13 campaign with Phil Pressey scoring 26 in a 66-64 victory over Bucknell.
 
FIRST NATIONALLY IN BLOCKS
• The Tigers are the nation’s top-ranked team in rejections this season, leading all teams in the country with 7.8 blocks per game.
• In Wednesday’s win over South Carolina State, the Tigers set a school record with 12 blocks, topping the previous standard of 11, set three times and most recently in 2015.
 
AIDAN SHAW LEADS BLOCK PARTY
• Sophomore Aidan Shaw has led the interior defense and ranks among the nation’s best.
• The forward is 15th in the country with 2.67 blocks per game.
• Shaw matched his career high with five rejections in Wednesday’s win, becoming the first Tiger with five or more blocks twice in a season since Jontay Porter in 2017-18.
• Shaw is adding 4.0 points and 4.7 boards this year.
 
20-POINT THREAT IN SEAN EAST
• Graduate guard Sean East II is making it a habit to score 20 points late in his college career.
• The team’s leader with 15.3 points per game, East has led the team in scoring in 4-of-6 games – three times eclipsing 20 points in a contest.
• In fact, East’s three games with 20-plus points this season is one more than in 90 career games prior to the season.
• East is the first Tiger to score at least 20 points three times in the season’s first six games since Jordan Clarkson in 2013-14.
 
YOUR HONOR
• Graduate Nick Honor has started the season strong from deep.
• Honor leads Mizzou with 18 made 3-pointers, making 48.6 percent from beyond the arc.
• The guard currently ranks 26th nationally with his 3-point clip of 48.6 percent and 40th with 3.00 makes per game.
• Overall, Honor is second on the team with 13.0 points per game.
 
STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION
• Freshman Anthony Robinson II is making a strong first impression with Mizzou fans.
• Robinson is tied for the team lead with 15 assists and seven steals, while also adding 5.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and four blocks.
• His 15 assists are the most by a Mizzou freshman in his first six career games since Terrence Phillips had 18 in six contests in 2015-16.
• The rookie is coming off his first double-digit scoring game with 10 points on Wednesday – the first Mizzou freshman with at least 10 points in November since Kobe Brown in 2019-20.
 
HALFTIME DISADVANTAGE?
• Missouri contests have seen the school trailing at the break with the advantage this season.
• The trailing team after 20 minutes has won 4-of-6 games in 2023-24, including each of the last three.
• Missouri 2-2 when ahead at the break, while winning both games it was trailing in.
• Dating back to last season, MU has now won six of its last eight when down at the intermission.