Men’s Hoops Hosts Georgia in SEC Opener Saturday

The Missouri men’s basketball team turns its attention toward conference play as the Tigers open SEC action on Saturday versus Georgia. First tip at Mizzou Arena is set for noon on SEC Network.
 
PROMOTIONS
• Fans can celebrate the New Year by purchasing four tickets for $24 in the student section.
• The first 500 fans will receive portable chargers.
• Speed painter Evan Struck is set to perform at halftime.
 
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri finished its non-conference campaign with an 8-5 record.
• The Tigers are coming off their largest win of the season with a 92-59 victory over Central Arkansas last Saturday.
• Graduate guard Sean East II leads Mizzou with 17.1 points and 3.5 assists per game in 2023-24.
• Classmates Noah Carter (11.4) and Nick Honor (11.3) also score in double figures.
• Carter also leads the Tigers with 6.5 rebounds.
• Mizzou is averaging 76.5 points per game, while allowing 71.3 on the year.
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
• Georgia enters SEC action after posting a 10-3 record during non-conference play.
• The Bulldogs have won their last eight games since last losing to Providence on Nov. 19.
• Jabri Abdur-Rahim leads the Bulldogs with 13.2 points, while Noah Thomasson is second with 12.3.
• Russel Tchewa has a team-best 6.3 rebounds with Justin Hill leading the way with 3.2 assists.
• Georgia averages 75.4 points on the offensive end, while allowing 69.4 points defensively.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• Missouri owns an 11-8 advantage in 19 all-time meetings, while the series is deadlocked at 8-8 since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012-13.
• MU is 5-2 versus the Bulldogs at Mizzou Arena and have won the last three home matchups.
• Overall, the Tigers have claimed the last three contests and six of the last seven versus Georgia. 
• Last year, Mizzou outscored the Bulldogs, 45-22, in the second half en route to an 85-63 victory.
 
TIGERS IN THE SEC
• Mizzou is set to open its 12th season of play in the SEC on Saturday.
• MU owns a 74-122 all-time record (37.8 winning percentage) since joining the conference prior to the 2012-13 campaign (nine SEC wins would later be vacated from the 2013-14 season).
• In its opening conference game of the season, the Tigers own a 4-7 record, including a 3-4 mark when played in Mizzou Arena.
• Last season, the Tigers ended a four-game losing streak in their SEC opener – winning the first SEC contest under Coach Gates with an 89-75 victory over No. 19/17 Kentucky.
 
MOST IMPROVED AWARD
• Sean East II has put his name in the conversation as one of the nation’s most improved players.
• East leads the Tigers with 17.1 points per game – ranking fifth in the SEC and 117th nationally.
• The guard has increased his scoring by 9.8 points per game – the highest mark in the SEC.
• East, who averaged 8.4 points in his first three seasons, owns career-best marks in shooting percentage (56.8) and 3-point percentage (56.8).
 
NEARING 1,000
• Thanks to his strong start to the campaign, Sean East II is quickly approaching 1,000 career points.
• East is just 18 points shy of the career milestone, having scored 982 points in his first 3.5 seasons and 103 career games.
• The graduate would become the fourth active Tiger with 1,000 points – joining Nick Honor, Noah Carter and John Tonje.
 
BATES CATCHES FIRE
• Tamar Bates has found his role with MU and has become one of the team’s top threats recently.
• For the first time in his career, Bates has scored in double figures in three-straight games, including two contests of 20-plus points and a career-best 25 in Mizzou’s last game versus Central Arkansas.
• Bates has now tallied 19.0 points the last three games – shooting 65.5 percent from the field (19-29), 87.5 percent from 3-point range (7-8) and 100.0 percent from the free-throw line (12-12).
• Overall, the junior ranks fourth on the team with 9.8 points per game this season.
 
INSIDE GAME
• The Tigers are coming off their most dominating inside game of the season.
• Mizzou earned its largest win of the year, 92-59, over Central Arkansas thanks to a 46-16 edge in points in the paint and 23-5 advantage in second-chance points.
• MU outrebounded UCA, 47-22 – marking its most boards since collecting 49 against Paul Quinn in 2021 and its highest margin since outrebounding Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 56-30, in 2015.
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT OPTIONS
• Tamar Bates wasn’t the only one that had a career-best scoring day in Mizzou’s last game.
• Sophomore Aidan Shaw also scored 10 points for the first time in his career in the win.
• With his double-digit scoring performance, the Tigers have now had nine different players score at least 10 points in a game this season.