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The Missouri Tigers (8-13) and the Vanderbilt Commodores (5-13) will face each other Saturday, providing each team with an opportunity to grab their first conference win.
Missouri missed out on its first SEC win Wednesday night, losing to Arkansas 91-84 on the road.
Final. pic.twitter.com/1oNlw8SITD
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) February 1, 2024
Vanderbilt, also winless in the SEC, lost 81-54 at Auburn Wednesday.
Final. pic.twitter.com/TtLtvfbFxY
— Vanderbilt Men's Basketball (@VandyMBB) February 1, 2024
Missouri and Vanderbilt are the only two teams in the conference with losing records. They are also at the bottom of the SEC with a combined 0-15 record in the conference.
Too Many Turnovers
In its loss to Arkansas, Missouri allowed 56 points in the paint, and a large percentage of those points came from their 17 turnovers. The Razorbacks were able to consistently score on the Tigers with effective fast breaks to take advantage of their mistakes.
The last time the Tigers played the Commodores, they coughed up 18 turnovers which tied a season-high.
Vanderbilt is also guilty of being careless with the basketball. They surrendered 12 turnovers in its loss to Auburn, allowing the home team to pull away.
Offensive Inefficiencies
The Commodores and Tigers both struggle to create looks offensively due to not moving the ball.
In the Auburn loss, Vanderbilt posted just six assists, one of the lowest totals of its season. They also shot just 27% from the field.
Missouri had a solid performance from the floor against the Razorbacks, shooting 46% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line. However, they too could use better ball movement to generate more stronger looks and assists.
Weak Rebounding
The Commodores and Tigers both need to improve their rebounding if they want to earn their first conference win.
They rank No. 12 and No. 14, respectively, in rebounds per game out of the 14 teams in the SEC.
Tip-off is at 3:30 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee.
