SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Missouri at LSU

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Missouri visits LSU on Tuesday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
Missouri	0.403	0.301	0.774	245	803	261	167	67	336
Missouri OPP	0.400	0.296	0.731	227	788	245	142	87	346
LSU	0.479	0.310	0.769	280	922	305	149	96	307
LSU OPP	0.414	0.340	0.710	248	748	288	139	66	288

Statistical Leaders

Missouri Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Dru Smith	Missouri	11.3	78	87	17
Mark Smith	Missouri	10.9	67	35	48
Xavier Pinson	Missouri	8.6	59	62	18
Javon Pickett	Missouri	7.5	67	26	12
Kobe Brown	Missouri	5.9	49	17	14
Torrence Watson	Missouri	5.2	37	16	30
Mitchell Smith	Missouri	5.0	34	28	14
Reed Nikko	Missouri	4.1	33	24	0
Tray Jackson	Missouri	3.1	20	15	3

Missouri Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
Mitchell Smith	Missouri	80.0	109	5
Dru Smith	Missouri	69.0	94	4.1
Javon Pickett	Missouri	56.0	91	4
Mark Smith	Missouri	80.0	86	4.3
Reed Nikko	Missouri	36.0	73	3.3
Kobe Brown	Missouri	47.0	72	3.3
Jeremiah Tilmon	Missouri	29.0	55	4.2
Xavier Pinson	Missouri	35.0	47	2
Tray Jackson	Missouri	29.0	38	2
Torrence Watson	Missouri	31.0	34	1.5
Parker Braun	Missouri	12.0	15	0.9
Mario McKinney Jr.	Missouri	6.0	11	1.6
Axel Okongo	Missouri	1.0	2	0.3
Evan Yerkes	Missouri	1.0	2	0.3

LSU Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Skylar Mays	LSU	15.9	122	90	32
Emmitt Williams	LSU	14.0	115	88	5
Trendon Watford	LSU	13.9	117	73	12
Javonte Smart	LSU	12.3	103	46	30
Darius Days	LSU	11.7	100	40	29
Aundre Hyatt	LSU	2.0	17	2	10

LSU Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
Darius Days	LSU	108.0	169	7.3
Trendon Watford	LSU	117.0	166	7.2
Emmitt Williams	LSU	101.0	160	7
Skylar Mays	LSU	96.0	108	4.7
Javonte Smart	LSU	62.0	78	3.4
Marlon Taylor	LSU	36.0	57	4.4
Aundre Hyatt	LSU	40.0	52	2.3
Charles Manning Jr.	LSU	40.0	49	3.1
Courtese Cooper	LSU	9.0	13	1.6
Marshall Graves	LSU	6.0	6	0.5
James Bishop	LSU	3.0	4	0.3

NCAA RPI

Missouri: 96

LSU: 27

Missouri Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Torrence Watson	G	6′-5″	205	SO	St. Louis, MO
1	Xavier Pinson	G	6′-2″	170	SO	Chicago, IL
2	Tray Jackson	F	6′-8″	215	FR	Detroit, MI
4	Javon Pickett	G	6′-5″	220	SO	Belleville, IL
5	Mitchell Smith	F	6′-10″	221	JR	Van Buren, AR
10	Evan Yerkes	G	6′-3″	187	SO	Tinley Park, IL
11	Mario McKinney Jr.	G	6′-2″	185	FR	St. Louis, MO
12	Dru Smith	G	6′-3″	203	JR	Evansville, IN
13	Mark Smith	G	6′-5″	220	JR	Edwardsville, IL
14	Reed Nikko	F	6′-10″	240	SR	Maple Grove, MN
15	Axel Okongo	F	7′-0″	240	JR	Saacy-sur-Marne, France
23	Jeremiah Tilmon	F	6′-10″	260	JR	East Saint Louis, IL
24	Kobe Brown	F	6′-7″	240	FR	Huntsville, AL
25	Brooks Ford	G	6′-0″	187	SO	St. Louis, MO
42	Parker Braun	F	6′-8″	217	FR	Overland Park, KS

LSU Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Darius Days	F	6′-6″	240	SO	Raleigh, FL
1	Javonte Smart	G	6′-4″	205	SO	Baton Rouge, LA
2	Trendon Watford	F	6′-9″	235	FR	Birmingham, AL
3	Parker Edwards	G	6′-3″	190	SO	Mandeville, LA
4	Skylar Mays	G	6′-4″	205	SR	Baton Rouge, LA
5	Emmitt Williams	F	6′-6″	230	SO	Fort Myers, FL
10	James Bishop	G	6′-2″	190	FR	Baltimore, MD
11	Charles Manning Jr.	G	6′-5″	200	JR	Riverhead, NY
12	Marshall Graves	G	6′-4″	195	SR	Ponchatoula, LA
14	Marlon Taylor	G	6′-5″	210	SR	Mount Vernon, NY
15	Aundre Hyatt	F	6′-4″	225	FR	Bronx, NY
20	Caleb Starks	G	6′-3″	205	JR	Lafayette, LA
21	Courtese Cooper	F	6′-9″	220	SO	Elgin, IL
24	Deshawn Thomas	C	6′-9″	250	JR	Dentsville, SC

Scouting Report

LSU (17-6, 8-2 SEC) fell to Auburn 91-90 in a thriller on Saturday in Auburn. LSU led with less than 30 seconds to play but a J’Von McCormick made jump shot with one second to play lifted Auburn to victory. Skylar Mays led LSU with 30 points. Auburn was paced by Samir Doughty with 26 points.

LSU averages 80.7 points per game, second in the SEC. The Tigers are allowing opponents 71.8 points per contest, 11th in the league. LSU as a team shoots 47.9% from the field, 31.0% from 3-point range, and 76.9% from the line. Skylar Mays leads the Tigers in scoring averaging 15.9 points per game. Darius Days paces the Tigers in rebounding averaging almost 7.3 boards a game.

Missouri (11-12, 3-7 SEC) pulled off big home win on Saturday defeating Arkansas 83-79 in overtime. The game was tied at 67 at the end of regulation. Missouri out-scored Arkansas 16-12 in the extra period. Mason Jones led the Razorbacks with 17 points while Xavier Pinson topped the Tigers with 24 points. The game was close statistically. The overall difference was likely Missouri’s better free throw shooting. The Tigers made 34/44 (77.3%) of shots from line compared to Arkansas’ 28/39 (71.8%). Indeed, in overtime 10 of Mizzou’s 16 points were scored at the line.

Guard Dru Smith leads the Tigers in scoring (11.3 ppg). He also is No. 1 in the SEC in steals with 50 and is over 90% for his free throws. Another Smith, guard Mark Smith, is the second leading scorer (10.9 ppg). Mark also is the rebounding leader of the team (5.0 rpg). There is a third Smith on the team, forward Mitchell Smith. Missouri is among the worst teams in the SEC in scoring offense averaging just 66.0 points per contest. However, the Tigers are the third best team in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 64.1 points a game. Mizzou is No. 5 in the SEC in field goal defense (40.0%) and No. 4 in 3-point defense (29.6%).

Hats off to Mizzou for their win over Arkansas. The Tigers will have their hands full against an angry LSU team in Baton Rouge.

Missouri-LSU Prediction

LSU 78, Missouri 68

Tuesday‘s game tips off at 9:00 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT). TV: SEC Network.