Men’s Basketball Takes on Vanderbilt Saturday

The Missouri men’s basketball goes back on the road for another SEC contest, squaring off at Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff in Nashville is set for 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
 
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 8-13 during the 2023-24 season with a 0-8 record in SEC action.
• The Tigers dropped their most recent game to Arkansas, 91-84, despite a 29-point effort from Tamar Bates.
• Sean East II and Bates lead the team in scoring with 16.0 and 13.8 points, respectively.
• East also leads the Tigers with 4.1 assists.
• Noah Carter (11.6) and Nick Honor (10.2) also score in double figures, while Carter leads active Mizzou players with 5.1 rebounds.
• Mizzou is averaging 74.1 points per game, while allowing 74.3 defensively.
 
ABOUT THE COMMODORES
• Vanderbilt is 5-15 during the 2023-24 campaign with a 0-7 record in SEC play.
• The Commodores are coming off an 81-54 loss to nationally-ranked Auburn on Wednesday.
• Ezra Manjon leads Vanderbilt with 14.6 points and 3.3 assists per game.
• Tyrin Lawrence (14.2) and Ven-Allen Lubin (10.1) also score in double figures.
• The Commodores average 66.3 points per game with a scoring defense of 72.6.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1958, Mizzou owns a 9-7 advantage against the Commodores.
• The home school has won 13-of-15 meetings between the two conference foes.
• Missouri has had the better of the Commodores as of late, winning five of the last six contests.
• Last season, four Tigers scored in double figures as MU earned an 85-82 home win in January.
 
TOP PASSER AND SCORER
• Graduate guard Sean East II can beat you in a number of ways.
• East currently leads the Tigers with 16.0 points and 4.1 assists per game.
• The point guard is aiming to be just the sixth player in MU history to average 15.0 points and 4.0 assists in a single season.
• East is one of just three players in the SEC to rank in the top 10 in both points and assists, placing eighth in points and fifth in assists.
 
BATES CATCHES FIRE
• Junior Tamar Bates has increased his output the second half of the season.
• Bates has scored in double digits in each of the last 11 games – he had never gone more than two-straight with 10-plus points prior to the run.
• Over the 11-game stretch, Bates is tallying 19.8 points per game – an increase of nearly 13 points from the season’s first 10 contests.
• Bates was fifth on MU in scoring when his run started and is now second at 13.8 points.
 
50/40/90
• Shooting efficiency is the key to success for junior Tamar Bates in 2023-24.
• Bates owns career-best marks with a 54.7 field goal percentage, 45.1 3-point percentage and 95.1 free-throw percentage.
• In fact, Bates and Nebraska’s C.J. Wilcher are the only two players in the country shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the free-throw line.
• Bates is also on target to become the first Tiger in school history to join the 50-40-90 club.
 
1-2 PUNCH
• Overall, guards Tamar Bates and Sean East II are a strong 1-2 punch for the Tigers this season.
• The duo has combined to score 34.2 points per game in SEC play – the second-highest total by a pair of Tigers since joining the conference and the highest since 2013-14.
 
SEC RANKS
• Tamar Bates and Sean East II also rank among the leaders in SEC games.
• The junior is fourth in conference games only with 20.1 points, fourth with a field goal clip of 56.0 and first with a free-throw mark of 97.0.
• East is also a leader in conference games, placing second in assists (5.0) and fourth in free-throw percentage (92.9).
 
A TURN IN TURNOVERS
• One stat MU could always rely on was winning the turnover battle but that tide has turned recently.
• In the first 53 games under Coach Gates, Mizzou committed fewer turnovers than its foe in 47-of-53 games (more five times and tying once).
• However, Mizzou has committed more turnovers in the last three games, being outscored 61-32 in points off turnovers (average of 20.3-10.7).
• In the first 18 games of the season, the Tigers allowed 12.0 points off turnovers.