Men’s Basketball Hosts Ole Miss Saturday Night

University of Missouri men’s basketball begins its final homestand of the season, welcoming Ole Miss to Mizzou Arena on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

PROMOTIONS
• Saturday’s game is Star Wars Night and all fans are encouraged to wear black for the game.
• The first 1,500 fans will receive a free lightsaber.
• The Mizzou football team will be presented with the Cotton Bowl trophy at halftime.
• Saturday’s is the team’s annual Rally for Rhyan game with all donations being accepted to help fight childhood cancer.
• The ninth-annual Rally for Rhyan game, MU has raised $538,000 during its first eight games.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 8-20 during the 2023-24 season with a 0-15 record in SEC action.
• MU is coming off an 83-74 loss at No. 24 Florida on Wednesday. Sean East II led the team with 20 points – his fourth-straight 20-point game.
• Overall, East leads the Tigers with 17.2 points and 4.2 assists per game.
• Four Tigers are scoring in double figures as Tamar Bates (13.6), Noah Carter (11.3) and Nick Honor (11.1) follow East’s lead.
• Carter also leads all active Mizzou players with 5.0 rebounds per game.
• The Tigers are averaging 72.1 points and allowing 75.2 points per game.

ABOUT THE REBELS
• Ole Miss enters the weekend with a 19-9 overall record and 6-9 mark in SEC play.
• The Rebels have lost six of their last seven games and three straight after a 103-88 setback to No. 14 Alabama on Wednesday.
• Matthew Murrell leads Ole Miss with 16.9 points.
• Allen Flanigan is second with 15.7 points and a team-best 6.5 boards, while Jaylen Murray is third with 13.4 points to go with 4.2 assists.
• The Rebels average 75.6 points, while allowing 73.3 on defense.

SERIES HISTORY
• Ole Miss holds a 16-8 edge over Mizzou with all meetings coming since the Tigers joined the conference in 2012.
• The Rebels earned a three-point victory, 79-76, two weeks ago in Oxford. Sean East II led Mizzou with 25 points and six assists in the setback.
• The loss for the Tigers ended a five-game winning streak in the series for MU.

EAST CATCHES FIRE
• Since returning from an injury, Sean East II has been at his best over the last three games.
• East has averaged 25.8 points and 4.5 assists since missing two contests with a knee injury – scoring at least 20 points in all four games.
• Last Saturday, East tallied the highest-scoring game of his career with 33 points at Arkansas.
• Overall, East is the first Tiger to record at least 20 points in four-straight games since Jabari Brown had a six-game run in 2013-14.

TOP NUMBERS
• Overall, Sean East II is enjoying one of the best seasons in years by a Tiger.
• The team’s leader in points and assists, East ranks fifth in the SEC with 17.2 points and seventh with 4.2 assists.
• East’s 17.2 points per game are the most by a Mizzou player since Jabari Brown (19.9) and Jordan Clarkson (17.5) in 2013-14.
• With at least four games remaining, East needs 54 points and 17 assists to become the first Tiger in 30 years (and just third ever) with 500 points and 125 assists in a single season (Melvin Booker in 1993-94 and Anthony Peeler in 1989-90).

BLOCK PARTY
• The Tigers are one of the nation’s top teams in rejections this season.
• Mizzou ranks 23rd nationally with 5.0 blocks per game, which places second in school history. It also nearly double its total from last season (2.7).
• On Nov. 22, the Tigers set a new school record with 12 blocks against South Carolina State, topping the previous school standard of 11 that was set three times and most recently in 2015.
• Aidan Shaw leads MU and ranks 153rd nationally (eighth in the SEC) with 1.21 per game.

FREE-THROW SUCCESS
• Another school record the Tigers are chasing is at the free-throw line.
• Mizzou ranks ninth nationally by making 79.0 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe.
• Additionally, the team’s clip ranks as the best mark in school history.

BATES NO. 6 IN FREE THROWS
• Junior Tamar Bates has led the charge from the charity stripe.
• Bates currently ranks first in the SEC and sixth in the nation by making 91.8 percent from the free-throw line (79-86).
• Additionally, Bates’ mark is the top in school history, ahead of the current school record of 90.5, held by Brian Grawer (1999-00).