Mizzou scorers Noah Carter (left) and Tamar Bates celebrate the Tigers’ win over Central Arkansas back on December 30. (Photo: Cedric Williams)
Mizzou Basketball – Gameday Info
Game No. 14 – Georgia (10-3) at Missouri (8-5)
Date/Time – January 6, 2024 – 12 pm
Location – Mizzou Arena — Columbia, MO
Broadcast – SEC Network
Live Stats – Mizzou StatBroadcast
Terrance Williams
Staff Writer
COLUMBIA, MO — After finishing off a disappointing first half of the 2023-24 season with a fun and exciting win over Central Arkansas on December 30, the University of Missouri men’s basketball team will begin its journey through the SEC season with a home matchup, Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena against Georgia.
The Bulldogs (10-3) will come into Saturday’s contest on an eight-game winning streak, which has included wins over Florida State, Georgia Tech, and its last outing at home against Alabama A&M. The eight wins in a row is the longest single season win streak for the Dawgs since the 2010-11 season.
The first half of the season has been very different for the two clubs. Mizzou was picked to finish eighth, and possibly make the NCAA Tournament, when the season began, while Georgia was picked to finish 13th in the conference, and possibly be a team battling just to have a winning record this year.
Instead, it’s the Tigers that struggled through December, while the Bulldogs have been touted as one of the top surprise teams in the country.
Both teams will be looking to set the right tone for their SEC season with a win on Saturday.
Players to Watch: Missouri is led by seniors Sean East, Nick Carter, and Nick Honor. East leads the Tigers and ranks fifth in the SEC with a 17.1 points per game average.
The senior from Louisville also leads the league and ranks among the nation’s leaders with a 56.8 shooting percentage from three-point land. Carter and Honor are both averaging 11.3 ppg, but have also both been going through shooting slumps lately.
In Mizzou’s last game, junior guard Tamar Bates had his best game as a Tiger, as he notched 25 points and made nine of the 10 shots he took. Bates had 22 points in Missouri’s game against Seton Hall on December 17 and may be a player the Tigers will begin to rely on to provide more consistent scoring.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 13.2 ppg. The senior forward sports team-leading shooting percentages of .426 from three and .882 at the free throw line. Noah Thomasson also is scoring at a double-digit pace for the Bulldogs at 12.2 ppg, while RJ Melendez is a single bucket shy of a double-figure average at 9.8 ppg.
Justin Hill has distributed a team-best 3.2 assists per game while taking care of the basketball. Hill enters the weekend ranked fourth in the SEC and No. 30 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.00.
Up Next: The Tigers will play their first road conference game next week, when they’ll travel to Lexington to take on No. 6-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday.
That contest at historic Rupp Arena is set to tip off at 6 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Georgia will play its next game on Wednesday against Arkansas.
GEORGIA BULLDOGS STARTERS
| Player | Yr. | Pos. | Ht./Wt. | PPG | RPG | Assists | Steals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jabari Abdur-Rahim | Sr. | Forward | 6’8/215 | 13.2 | 3.5 | 2 | 11 |
| 3 Noah Thomasson | Gr. | Guard | 6’4/210 | 12.3 | 3.5 | 23 | 10 |
| 4 Silas Dumary | Fr. | Guard | 6’5/190 | 8.5 | 4.6 | 39 | 20 |
| 15 R.J. Melendez | Jr. | Guard | 6’7/210 | 9.8 | 5.1 | 18 | 18 |
| 54 Russel Tchewa | Sr. | Center | 7’0/275 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 14 | 5 |
MIZZOU TIGERS STARTERS
| Player | Yr. | Pos. | Ht./Wt. | PPG | RPG | Assists | Steals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Tamar Bates | Jr. | Guard | 6’5/195 | 9.8 | 1.6 | 13 | 8 |
| 10 Nick Honor | Gr. | Guard | 5’10/200 | 11.3 | 1.5 | 28 | 9 |
| 23 Aidan Shaw | So. | Forward | 6’8/205 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 5 | 7 |
| 35 Noah Carter | Gr. | Forward | 6’6/235 | 11.3 | 6.5 | 18 | 13 |
| 55 Sean East | Gr. | Guard | 6’3/180 | 17.1 | 2.8 | 46 | 15 |
2023-24 Mizzou Tigers Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 6, 2024 (Saturday) | Noon | Home | Georgia | Mizzou Arena |  |
| January 9, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Away | #6 Kentucky | Lexington, Ky. |  |
| January 13, 2024 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Home | South Carolina | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 16, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Away | Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | |
| January 20, 2024 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | Florida | Mizzou Arena | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| January 23, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Away | Texas A&M | College Station, Texas | |
| January 27, 2024 (Saturday) | Noon CT | Away | South Carolina | Columbia, S.C. | |
| January 31, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Arkansas | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 3, 2024 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Away | Vanderbilt | Nashville, Tenn. | |
| February 7, 2024 (Wednesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | Texas A&M | Mizzou Arena |  |
| February 10, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Mississippi State | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 17, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, Miss. | |
| February 20, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Home | #5 Tennessee | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 24, 2024 (Saturday) | 11 a.m. | Away | Arkansas | Fayetteville, Ark. | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| February 28, 2024 (Wednesday) | 5:30 p.m. CT | Away | Florida | Gainesville, Fla. | |
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Ole Miss | Mizzou Arena | |
| March 5, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | Auburn | Mizzou Arena | |
| March 9, 2024 (Saturday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | LSU | Baton Rouge, La. | |
| March 13-17, 2024 (Wednesday) | TBA | Bridgestone Arena | SEC Tournament | Nashville, Tenn. |