The Missouri men’s basketball program wraps up its holiday homestand on Saturday morning, hosting Loyola Maryland. First tip at Mizzou Arena is set for 11 a.m. on SEC Network +.
PROMOTIONS
• Fans looking to get out of the house during the holiday weekend can enjoy a Missouri basketball game for just $10 in the student section.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Missouri is 4-2 through six games of the 2023-24 campaign, coming off an 82-59 win over South Carolina State on Wednesday.
• Sean East II has led the team in scoring four times this season and leads the Tigers overall with 15.2 points per game.
• Two additional Tigers average in double figures with Nick Honor adding 13.0 points and Noah Carter chipping in 12.2.
• Carter also leads Mizzou with 6.5 rebounds.
• Jesus Carralero Martin and Anthony Robinson II lead MU with 15 assists.
• The Tigers are averaging 74.7 points per game, while allowing 66.5 points.
ABOUT THE GREYHOUNDS
• Loyola is 1-4 through five games this season, falling in its last three games. The Greyhounds are coming off a setback at UMBC last Sunday.
• Deon Perry leads Loyola with 13.4 points and 3.8 assists per game.
• Golden Dike also scores in double figures with 10.6 points to go with a team-best 7.2 rebounds.
• The Greyhounds own a scoring offense of 67.4 points with a scoring defense of 78.2.
SERIES HISTORY
• The schools are meeting for the first time on the basketball court.
MIZZOU VERSUS PATRIOT LEAGUE
• Missouri is unbeaten in seven games with Patriot League schools.
• Six of the seven meetings have come in Columbia with the Tigers also defeating Navy in the first round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament.
• Mizzou last faced a Patriot League school during the 2012-13 campaign with Phil Pressey scoring 26 in a 66-64 victory over Bucknell.
FIRST NATIONALLY IN BLOCKS
• The Tigers are the nation’s top-ranked team in rejections this season, leading all teams in the country with 7.8 blocks per game.
• In Wednesday’s win over South Carolina State, the Tigers set a school record with 12 blocks, topping the previous standard of 11, set three times and most recently in 2015.
AIDAN SHAW LEADS BLOCK PARTY
• Sophomore Aidan Shaw has led the interior defense and ranks among the nation’s best.
• The forward is 15th in the country with 2.67 blocks per game.
• Shaw matched his career high with five rejections in Wednesday’s win, becoming the first Tiger with five or more blocks twice in a season since Jontay Porter in 2017-18.
• Shaw is adding 4.0 points and 4.7 boards this year.
20-POINT THREAT IN SEAN EAST
• Graduate guard Sean East II is making it a habit to score 20 points late in his college career.
• The team’s leader with 15.3 points per game, East has led the team in scoring in 4-of-6 games – three times eclipsing 20 points in a contest.
• In fact, East’s three games with 20-plus points this season is one more than in 90 career games prior to the season.
• East is the first Tiger to score at least 20 points three times in the season’s first six games since Jordan Clarkson in 2013-14.
YOUR HONOR
• Graduate Nick Honor has started the season strong from deep.
• Honor leads Mizzou with 18 made 3-pointers, making 48.6 percent from beyond the arc.
• The guard currently ranks 26th nationally with his 3-point clip of 48.6 percent and 40th with 3.00 makes per game.
• Overall, Honor is second on the team with 13.0 points per game.
STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION
• Freshman Anthony Robinson II is making a strong first impression with Mizzou fans.
• Robinson is tied for the team lead with 15 assists and seven steals, while also adding 5.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and four blocks.
• His 15 assists are the most by a Mizzou freshman in his first six career games since Terrence Phillips had 18 in six contests in 2015-16.
• The rookie is coming off his first double-digit scoring game with 10 points on Wednesday – the first Mizzou freshman with at least 10 points in November since Kobe Brown in 2019-20.
HALFTIME DISADVANTAGE?
• Missouri contests have seen the school trailing at the break with the advantage this season.
• The trailing team after 20 minutes has won 4-of-6 games in 2023-24, including each of the last three.
• Missouri 2-2 when ahead at the break, while winning both games it was trailing in.
• Dating back to last season, MU has now won six of its last eight when down at the intermission.