The Tigers managed to keep away from their first three-game shedding streak of the season by defeating Mississippi State in time beyond regulation on Tuesday. Missouri doubtless reserved a spot within the NCAA event with the win — Mizzou was listed in all 107 of the forecasts that Bracket Project’s matrix tracks with a mean seed of 8.60 as of Thursday.
The crew is one in every of 5 within the nation that has 5 wins in opposition to Quad 1 opponents and nil losses in Quads 2-4, becoming a member of Baylor, Kansas, Purdue and Texas. The Tigers finish the common season going in opposition to three groups within the backside 4 of the SEC standings, that means they’ll’t add one other “good win” to their case. The purpose for Mizzou now’s to maintain its resume blemish-free of “dangerous losses.”
That begins with a matchup in opposition to Georgia within the first leg of a two-game street journey. The Bulldogs aren’t all the time straightforward to place away at Stegeman Coliseum. Though they dropped two video games to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, they’ve additionally claimed wins over groups close to the highest of the convention in Auburn and Kentucky.
Georgia, led by head coach Mike White, is coming off two of its roughest losses of the 12 months, falling to Alabama, 108-59, and Arkansas, 97-65, each approaching the street. MU head coach Dennis Gates expects the Bulldogs to need to present they’re a greater crew.
“(It’s) positively a possibility, one other street recreation, street contest,” Gates mentioned. “Definitely gonna be difficult, as all video games within the SEC is. But you realize, Georgia is coming off a troublesome loss, so now we have to have the ability to offset emotionally how they really feel about that by defending their house court docket. So positively a troublesome recreation for us and one which we look ahead to enjoying.”
TIP TIME INFORMATION
Missouri (20-8, 8-7 SEC) at Georgia (16-12, 6-9)
WHEN: 12 p.m. CT
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
TV: SEC Network
SERIES: Missouri leads, 10-8
KENPOM PREDICTION: Missouri 80, Georgia 77
PROJECTED STARTERS
BY THE NUMBERS
BEST LINEUP OF THE LAST 5 OUTINGS (per CBB Analytics)
Nick Honor-Sean East II-DeAndre Gholston-Kobe Brown-Mohamed Diarra
Minutes performed: 10
Offensive score: 179.6
Defensive score: 93.7
Net score: +85.9
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Swarm Terry Roberts. Georgia’s lead guard has the ball in fingers an excellent chunk of the time. According to KenPom, 29.6% of the crew’s possession finish with a made shot, a missed shot or a turnover by Roberts whereas the senior is on the ground, which ranks 52nd within the nation. In addition to main the Bulldogs in factors, Roberts additionally leads the crew with an help fee of 33.0%, which ranks thirty sixth within the nation. Roberts isn’t essentially an environment friendly offensive choice, although, posting below-average taking pictures percentages and coughing the ball up on 19.6% of his private possessions. Applying stress on Roberts ought to maintain the Georgia offense out of sync.
2. Keep the Bulldogs off the foul line. Georgia is just like Texas A&M in that a big swath of its factors — 23.3%, to be precise — come from free throws. Four completely different gamers draw at the very least 4.0 fouls per 40 minutes. Kario Oquendo leads the pack, drawing 5.5 fouls per 40 minutes, which ranks 93rd within the NCAA, and sinking 91 of his 122 free throw makes an attempt. The Aggies went to the road 32 instances of their first matchup with Missouri in College Station, Texas. But the Tigers confirmed enchancment within the rematch inside Mizzou Arena, solely permitting Texas A&M to shoot 19 free throws. The Bulldogs may get a positive whistle of their house area however it’s as much as Missouri to maintain it from being a big issue.
3. Get to the ring. Georgia is pretty stable at defending alongside the 3-point line, permitting opponents to shoot simply 31.7% from long-range. The crew offers up much more contained in the arc, nevertheless, the place opponents join on 50.7% of their makes an attempt. Though the crew’s rotation options two gamers at 6-foot-10 or taller, not one of the Bulldogs common greater than 0.4 blocks per recreation. The Tigers have been one of many higher groups at scoring inside this season, making 55.6% of their 2-pointers, which ranks 18th within the nation. Mizzou ought to reap the benefits of its matchup in opposition to a crew with subpar rim safety.
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