Men’s Basketball Hosts SIUE Monday Night

Missouri men’s basketball wraps up its three-game homestand to start the season with a contest against SIU Edwardsville on Monday night. First tip is set for 7 p.m. at Mizzou Arena on SEC Network+.
 
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Mizzou split its first two games of the season, defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff before falling to Memphis on Friday.
• Five Tigers are scoring in double figures – Sean East II (17.5), Nick Honor (13.0), Noah Carter (12.5), Tamar Bates (12.0) and Caleb Grill (10.5).
• Grill also leads MU with 8.5 rebounds per game, while Jesus Carralero Martin has a team-best 4.0 assists per game.
• The Tigers are scoring 78.0 points per game, while allowing 74.5.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS
• SIU Edwardsville has also split its first two games of the season, falling to Dayton, 63-47, before defeating North Park, 92-67.
• Shamar Wright scored 29 points in Thursday’s win after missing the opener. Overall, three more Cougars score in double figures, led by 11.5 from Damarco Minor.
• Minor also has a team-best 10.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
• SIUE is scoring 69.5 points, while allowing 65.0.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools are meeting for the fourth time with Missouri winning all three previous contests (all at Mizzou Arena).
• The closest of the three games was a 14-point Tigers win in 2012 with the average margin of victory being 29.7.
• Last season, Missouri defeated SIUE, 105-80, behind a 30-point game from D’Moi Hodge.
 
TIGERS VERSUS OVC
• Missouri is 40-1 all-time against schools in the Ohio Valley Conference, including a 39-1 mark in Columbia.
• Last season, the Tigers posted four wins over OVC foes – Southern Indiana (97-91), Lindenwood (82-53), SIUE (105-80) and Southeast Missouri State (96-89).
 
BEAST OF THE EAST
• Graduate Sean East II has started his final college season strong.
• East led the Tigers in scoring in both of the first two games of the season and is averaging 17.5 points – shooting 75.0 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range.
• East is the first Tiger to lead the team in scoring in both of the first two games of the season since Mark Smith five years ago (2018-19).
• No Tiger has led the team in scoring in each of the first three games since DeMarre Carroll did so in 2007-08.
 
TARGETING 70 POINTS
• The magic number for Mizzou continues to be 70 points.
• Under Coach Gates, MU is a perfect 24-0 when scoring at least 70 points and have won its last 28 games overall when reaching the benchmark.
• On the opposite end, Mizzou is just 2-11 under Gates with 69 or fewer points – losing 28 of its last 30 games overall.
• The Tigers scored 101 points in their season-opening win but tallied 55 in defeat Friday.
 
SHOOTING TOUCH
• Another trend continuing from last season is the importance of the 3-point shot.
• Missouri is 25-3 when making at least seven triples in a game but just 1-8 with fewer.
• In fact, the Tigers are shooting 15.7 percent better from 3-point range in wins under Gates.
• Missouri made 12-of-30 triples in its win (40.0) last week but just 6-of-30 (20.0) in its loss.
 
TOP 3-POINT WEAPON
• With the importance of the triple, it’s good news that MU has one of the SEC’s best in Nick Honor.
• Honor made 39.9 percent of his 3-point attempts last season and is the top returning shooter in the SEC (minimum 40 makes).
• Honor has started strong from beyond the arc this season as he leads MU with six made triples – hitting 46.2 percent (6-13).
 
DEPTH OF OPTIONS
• Mizzou can throw a number of weapons at a team this season.
• Five Tigers are currently scoring in double figures.
• In fact, five scored at least 15 points in the season opener, just the second time in program history to do so (also in 2012 versus Baylor).
 
PLAYING QUICK
• It’s a good thing the Tigers have so many options as they play as one of the nation’s quickest teams.
• The Tigers are currently averaging just 13.9 seconds per offensive possession, ranking 10th of the country’s 362 programs.
• Last year, MU ranked 44th at 16.4 seconds.