Men’s Basketball Takes on Illinois for Braggin’ Rights

The Missouri men’s basketball team returns to St. Louis to play rival Illinois in the McBride Homes Braggin’ Rights matchup. First tip at Enterprise Center is set for 8 p.m. on FS1.
 
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri enters Braggin’ Rights with a 7-4 record.
• The Tigers have lost their last two games, falling at No. 2 Kansas and to Seton Hall in Kansas City.
• Graduate guard Sean East II leads the Tigers with 17.1 points and 3.9 assists per game.
• Overall, three Tigers score in double figures with Nick Honor tallying 12.5 points and Noah Carter chipping in 11.7 points.
• Carter also leads Mizzou with 6.5 rebounds.
• Missouri is scoring 75.5 points per game, while allowing 70.1 points on defense.
 
ABOUT THE FIGHTING ILLINI
• Illinois is ranked No. 13 in the AP poll and No. 11 in the coaches poll, entering with an 8-2 record.
• The Illini are coming off a 74-57 win over Colgate on Sunday.
• Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the Illini with 20.9 points per game.
• Marcus Domask is second on the team with 11.8 points, while Quincy Guerrier is third with 8.7 points and first with 6.7 rebounds.
• The Illini own a scoring offense of 79.4 points with a scoring defense of 64.2.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• The two rivals have met annually since 1983 with all but the 2020 meeting during the COVID season in St. Louis.
• Overall, the Illini own a 33-20 all-time edge in the series, including a 25-16 advantage in St. Louis.
• The Tigers have won four of the last five meetings with the Illini, including a 93-71 win last season.
 
2022 BRAGGIN’ RIGHTS RECAP
• The Tigers posted their largest win in Braggin’ Rights history last season, dominating No. 16 Illinois, 93-71.
• An early 20-2 run helped Mizzou take a 51-27 lead into halftime and the Tigers led by as many as 35 points before earning the 22-point victory.
• Kobe Brown led MU with 31 points – the most ever by a Tiger in a Braggin’ Rights game – to go with eight assists, five boards and four steals.
 
TIGERS VERSUS BIG TEN
• Missouri has played Big Ten schools 143 times during its history with 53 of the 143 games against Illinois.
• Overall, the Tigers own a 58-85 all-time record versus the conference
• Mizzou already owns one win over the league this season, defeating Minnesota on the road, 70-68, on Nov. 16.
• The last time the Tigers posted two wins over Big Ten foes in the same season was 2003-04 with victories over Indiana and Iowa.
 
VERSUS RANKED ILLINOIS
• Friday’s matchup is another opportunity for the Tigers to take down a ranked Illini team.
• While Missouri is 9-13 all-time against Illinois when ranked, the Tigers have actually won their last five meetings against a ranked Illini team (2010, 2011, 2012, 2020 and 2022).
 
20-POINT THREAT IN SEAN EAST II
• Sean East II has saved his best for last in 2023-24.
• East leads MU with 17.1 points this season – more than double his career average entering the year.
• The graduate guard has also tallied at least 20 points in 6-of-11 games this season after doing so just twice in 90 games prior to the season.
• In fact, it marks the first time that a Tiger has eclipsed 20 points in six of the season’s first 11 games since Jordan Clarkson in 2013-14.
• Overall, East is fifth in the SEC and 118th in the country with his 17.1 points per game.
 
MULTI-TALENTED
• Sean East II is more than just a scorer.
• Over the last six games, East is averaging 19.7 points and 5.5 assists to lead Mizzou.
• East has recorded at least six assists in the last three games – the first Tiger to do so since Dru Smith during the 2020-221 campaign.
• Other notable stats for East include becoming the first Tiger with 20 points and six assists in back-to-back games (Dec. 3 and Dec. 9) since 1994 and the first with 20 points and nine assists in a single game (Dec. 3) since 2013.
• Overall, East leads MU with 3.9 assists per game.
 
CAREER-BEST DAY FOR BATES
• Junior Tamar Bates stole the spotlight from Sean East II in Mizzou’s last game.
• Bates led MU in scoring for the first time in his career, matching a career-high with 22 points.
• Bates was especially strong from beyond the arc, hitting all four of his tries. He is the first Tiger to make at least four triples without a miss since Xavier Pinson versus Ole Miss on Feb. 18, 2020.
• Bates is now averaging 8.5 points – shooting 48.4 percent and 52.0 percent from 3-point range.
 
THREE-POINT ATTACK
• Missouri has increased its offensive pressure from beyond the arc this season.
• Mizzou ranks third in the SEC and 31st nationally with 9.6 triples per game.
• That is currently the highest mark in MU history as the current standard is 9.4 set in 1999-00.
• Missouri is also 76th nationally by making 36.2 percent of its attempts from 3-point range.