Missouri and Marquette meet Sunday afternoon in Chicago with matching 2-1 records and a similar early-season path. Both teams handled their bye-game opponents comfortably, then ran into trouble in their first real tests. Now they get another chance to sort things out at the United Center, with tipoff set for 1:30 p.m.
For Missouri, the spotlight is squarely on freshman guard Jason Crowe Jr. He has been the Tigers’ engine so far, leading the team in both scoring and assists at 21.7 points and 4.3 assists per game. After an inefficient eight-point outing in Missouri’s 90-84 loss to Saint Louis in its first neutral-site game of the season, Crowe answered in a big way Monday against SIUE, exploding for 34 points.
That performance helped Missouri bounce back in a hurry. The Tigers beat Southern Illinois University Edwardsville by 38 points and shot 12-for-23 from 3-point range in the process. Crowe’s 34-point night also set the Missouri freshman scoring record.
Marquette comes in off its own 84-70 loss to Michigan on Wednesday in Ann Arbor. The Golden Eagles shot 35% in that game and were beaten on the glass 45-33. Senior Colin Porter led them with 21 points in 20 minutes, while last year’s Big East Rookie of the Year Nigel James Jr. had a rough night, going scoreless on 0-for-11 shooting.
James has not looked like the player who averaged 16.4 points and 4.9 assists per game last season. Through three games, he is down to 4.3 points and four assists per contest. Marquette will be looking for a response from him, especially with Missouri’s Crowe already coming off his own early-season stumble.
The Golden Eagles’ top scorer is returning starting forward Royce Parham, who is averaging 12 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Marquette’s offense has been spread around, with seven players averaging at least seven points per game.
Sunday’s matchup also sets up an intriguing frontcourt test for Missouri’s Bryson Tiller. The Kansas transfer is expected to draw Louisville transfer Sananda Fru in what shapes up as a battle between two established sophomore forwards.
Missouri On SI beat writers will have live blog coverage with score updates and analysis throughout the game.
In Other News...
Mizzou-Georgia Suddenly Has A Travel Problem Fans Didnt See Coming
Missouri got to Athens before the Federal Aviation Administrations nationwide ground stop hit, so the Tigers are already in place for Saturdays game against Georgia. The FAAs safety-related order has created widespread delays and cancellations across the country, turning what is normally a routine travel day into a logistical mess for teams, officials and broadcast crews trying to get where they need to go.
For Missouri, the good news is that its own travel is already out of the way, but the broader ripple effect still matters around an SEC matchup like this one. The officiating crew and broadcast crew for Missouri-Georgia are confirmed to be on their campuses, while other teams around the country are now weighing alternate travel plans or even delayed kickoffs as they work around the flight restrictions. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Fans Had The Same Reaction To Georgias First-Half Statement
Georgia wasted little time turning Saturdays matchup into a statement, jumping on Missouri early and carrying a 31-7 lead into halftime. Gunner Stockton was efficient and in control for Georgia, while Nate Frazier did plenty of damage on the ground, and the Bulldogs defense set the tone from the opening snap by forcing an interception on Missouris first play.
For Missouri, the first half was the kind of stretch that leaves a crowd restless and searching for answers. The Tigers were held to 115 total yards and never found much rhythm against a Georgia defense that kept shrinking the field, leaving Missouri fans with the same uneasy reaction as the scoreboard kept tilting further the wrong way. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Heads To Georgia With Almost No Margin For Error
The SECs Week 11 slate arrives with the kind of chaos that has already reshaped the national picture, and Missouri is right in the middle of it. Over the past five weeks, six teams ranked first or second in the AP Top 25 have gone down, part of a broader run in which 36 ranked teams have lost, so every conference game now feels a little heavier than it did a month ago. Against that backdrop, the Tigers head to Georgia with the kind of pressure that comes with knowing there is very little room left to absorb a misstep.
The rest of the league card only adds to the stakes, with Auburn at Mississippi State, Alabama at Vanderbilt, Tennessee at Texas A&M, Ole Miss at Oklahoma and Florida at Kentucky all carrying their own implications for the SEC race and the weekly picks competition around the conference. For Missouri, though, the focus is narrower and more immediate: a road trip to one of the leagues toughest settings, where the margin for error is thin and the outcome could shape how the Tigers are viewed the rest of the way. [Read more 🡒]