Mizzou Opens SEC Championship Friday

Missouri opens its quest for a conference title on Friday in the SEC Quarterfinals. The Tigers meet either Tennessee or Ole Miss with an approximate 2:30 p.m. tipoff on SEC Network.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Mizzou finished the regular season with a 23-8 record, posting an 11-7 mark in SEC play.
• The Tigers have won their last four games of the campaign to finish with the league’s No. 4 seed.
• Senior Kobe Brown leads the Tigers with 15.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game this season.
• D’Moi Hodge (14.3) and DeAndre Gholston (10.5) also score in double figures for the Tigers.
• Nick Honor leads MU with 2.9 assists per game.
• Mizzou ranks 21st in the country with a scoring offense of 80.1, while allowing 74.8 points.

TOP MARKS IN 2022-23
• The Tigers are enjoying one of their best seasons in years during the 2022-23 campaign.
• With a 23-8 overall record, Missouri has its most wins in a season since totaling 23 in 2013-14.
• It also marks the MU’s most wins in the regular season since 2011-12, while matching its most SEC wins since joining the conference (2012-13).
• It hasn’t come easy for the Tigers as the team’s five ranked wins are its most in the last 11 years.
• MU finished the non-conference campaign 12-1 – its best mark since also going 12-1 in 2013-14.
• Finally, the Tigers’ 16 wins at Mizzou Arena are tied for the seventh-most home wins this season and MU’s most since also going 16-3 in 2013-14.

SEC TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW
• The Tigers earned the No. 4 seed for the SEC Tournament – their highest seed in school history – earning a double bye to the quarterfinals.
• Mizzou will play the winner of the second-round game between No. 5 Tennessee and either No. 12 South Carolina or No. 13 Ole Miss.
• The Tigers posted a combined 4-0 record versus its potential opponents, sweeping the Rebels and defeating the Vols and Gamecocks once each.

SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Mizzou is competing in its ninth SEC Tournament since joining the league in 2012-13, posting a 6-8 record in its first eight attempts.
• The Tigers have advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth time (also 2013, 2014 and 2021).
• Mizzou is aiming for its first semifinal bid at the SEC Championship, having lost their previous three quarterfinal matchups.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING!
• MU heads to the SEC Tournament with momentum.
• Mizzou finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak – it longest in SEC play since a four-game run in 2017-18.
• It’s also marks the team’s longest winning streak to end the regular season since entering the 1994 Big Eight Tournament on a 14-game run.

TENNESSEE SERIES
• Tennessee owns a slight 11-9 advantage in a series that dates back to 1961.
• The teams have never met at the SEC Tournament.
• The Tigers earned an 86-85 victory at No. 6 Tennessee earlier in the season thanks to a 35-foot buzzer beater from DeAndre Gholston.
• The 86 points are 29 points more than the Volunteers allow on average this season, while MU also connected on 14-of-26 triples (53.8%) against the nation’s top 3-point defense.

OLE MISS SERIES
• Ole Miss holds a 15-8 edge over Mizzou.
• The Tigers has won the last five games against the Rebels – more wins in the last two seasons than in the first nine years of the series (18-3 Ole Miss advantage).
• Mizzou swept the season series this year. D’Moi Hodge led the Tigers with 38 points in the two games, which included MU making 16 triples in the first meeting – its most ever in an SEC game.

BROWN NAMED ALL-SEC FIRST TEAM
• After one of the best seasons by a Tiger in years, Kobe Brown collected first-team All-SEC honors.
• Brown received the honor from both the coaches and the Associated Press, becoming the second Tiger in school history to earn both accolades – Jabari Brown also did so in 2013-14.
• The senior was also honored for his work off the court, becoming the first Tiger to earn SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

THE BEST IN CLOSE GAMES
• The Tigers have been at their best in close games this season.
• Mizzou is a perfect 8-0 in contests decided by five or fewer points, including 5-0 in one-possession matches and 2-0 in overtime games.
• MU is one of eight teams nationally with a perfect record in games decided by five or less and the only team of the eight with at least eight wins.