Men’s Basketball Hosts South Carolina State Wednesday Night

The Missouri men’s basketball program continues its holiday homestand on Wednesday, hosting South Carolina State. First tip at Mizzou Arena is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network +.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 3-2 through five games of the 2023-24 season with a 2-2 mark in Mizzou Arena.
• Sean East II and Nick Honor have combined to lead the team in scoring in each of the team’s five games this year with East leading MU with 14.0 points per game and Honor second at 12.8.
• Noah Carter also scores in double figures with 12.0 points, while leading MU with 6.6 boards.
• Jesus Carralero Martin leads the Tigers with 3.5 assists per game.
• The Tigers are averaging 73.2 points per game, while allowing 68.0 points.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
• South Carolina State enters CoMo with a 2-3 record, losing its last two games, including a 90-70 setback to Tulsa on Monday.
• Mitchel Taylor leads the Bulldogs with 12.0 points and 4.0 assists per game.
• Oma Croskey is second with 10.4 points, while Davion Everett has a team-best 7.6 rebounds.
• The Bulldogs have been outscored by an average of 81.8 to 69.2 this season.

SERIES HISTORY
• The schools have met on one prior occasion with the Tigers doubling up the Bulldogs, 102-51, during the 2012-13 campaign.
• Five Tigers scored in double figures in the victory, led by 16 points from Earnest Ross.

MIZZOU VERSUS MEAC
• Missouri owns a 16-3 all-time record versus MEAC schools, including a 16-2 mark in Columbia.
• The Tigers are playing a team from the league for the first time since suffering a 62-52 setback to North Carolina Central in 2016.

NEW LEADERS IN EAST & HONOR
• Two veteran guards in Sean East II and Nick Honor are taking a larger scoring role this season and leading the Tigers.
• The duo is posting 26.8 points and have combined to lead the team in scoring in all five contests.
• Last year, the two combined for 15.2 points and led the team in scoring a combined four times in 35 games.

HONOR WITH BACK-TO-BACK 15+
• Nick Honor, specifically, has taken the starring role the last two games for the Tigers.
• The graduate point guard has eclipsed 15 points in back-to-back games for the first time since the Nov. 2021. He last had three-straight games with 15 points as a freshman with Fordham (2018-19).
• Honor already has three games of at least 15 points this season – one shy of his total in 35 games last year.
• Overall, Honor is averaging 12.8 points this year.

CLEANING THE GLASS
• Graduate guard Caleb Grill is making a strong first impression on the glass for Mizzou.
• While averaging 8.8 points, Grill has made his biggest mark on the defensive end so far.
• The transfer leads the team with seven steals and is tied for the team lead with 6.6 rebounds.
• The last Mizzou guard to average 6.0 boards per game was Earnest Ross in 2013-14 (6.0), while Grill is ranked 68th nationally among guards.

THE LONE OUTLIER
• Mizzou is coming off a last-second 73-72 setback to Jackson State on Sunday despite hitting a lot of number that typically equal success.
• The loss ended a 29-game winning streak for Mizzou when scoring at least 70 points.
• Missouri also fell to 27-4 when making at least seven triples under Coach Gates and 23-2 with a 3-point clip of at least 33.3 percent.
• It also marked Mizzou’s first loss in the last two seasons in games decided by five or fewer points – MU entered with the nation’s best record at 9-0.
• Finally, it marked the first time the Tigers lost under Gates when leading with five minutes left (now 22-1) and when outshooting the opponent (also now 22-1).

NEED TO KEEP IT CLEAN
• Perhaps the biggest reason for Mizzou’s loss on Sunday was the turnover battle.
• Missouri committed a season-high 18 miscues in the setback – its most this year by five turnovers.
• The Tigers have lost the turnover battle twice this season (both of MU’s losses) after doing so just three times last year.
• Overall, Mizzou is 27-7 under Coach Gates when winning turnover battle but 0-5 when losing it.

BLOCK PARTY
• One area where the Tigers have excelled early in the season is rejecting the ball.
• Mizzou ranks sixth nationally with 7.0 blocks per game, collecting at least seven in 4-of-5 contests.
• Last season, the Tigers placed 240th nationally and 10th in the SEC with 2.70 blocks per game.
• Sophomore Aidan Shaw leads Mizzou and ranks fourth in the SEC and 40th nationally with 2.20 rejections per game.