Missouri @ West Virginia preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 26, 2017 ) Missouri 79, West Virginia 83

No. 15 West Virginia will try to build upon its best offensive showing this season when it hosts Missouri on Saturday in a Big 12/SEC Challenge affair. The Mountaineers bounced back from an 84-68 loss at Kansas State last Saturday by pounding Texas at home 97-59 just two days later.

West Virginia shot 51.4 percent while attempting a season-high 70 shots, getting nine players to score at least seven points in a runaway win. "For a one-day prep, I thought we did a really good job," coach Bob Huggins, who needs one win to tie Adolph Rupp (875) for seventh on the all-time list, told reporters. "We pretty much did what we asked them to do. We didn't get beat to loose balls, we got beat to every loose ball the other day." The Tigers are languishing near the bottom of the SEC after losing their third straight game with a 66-64 setback to visiting Texas A&M on Tuesday. There was a silver lining in the loss, as Missouri hit its first 23 foul shots against the Aggies to set an NCAA record with 54 consecutive makes.

TIME: Noon ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT MISSOURI (9-9): While the shots are falling at the foul line, the Tigers are shooting 41.8 percent from the floor - 13th in the SEC - after finishing 15-of-50 against Texas A&M. "We have a lot of confidence that they're going to make shots," junior guard Dru Smith, who leads the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, told reporters. "And even if we have games like this where they don't fall as often, if I pass them the ball and they're open, I still want them to shoot that ball every time. Like (coach Cuonzo Martin) said, they're definitely falling in practice, and I think we're going to see it translate here soon." Smith scored 18 points and handed out a season-high eight assists in Tuesday's loss, while fellow guard Mark Smith scored 19 to push his average to 11.8, second on the team.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (15-3): Turnovers have been an issue at times, but the Mountaineers played a clean game against Texas with a season-low eight giveaways. Freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe and sophomore forward Derek Culver scored 13 points apiece and rank first and second, respectively, on the team in scoring at 11.7 and 10.7 per contest. Junior forward Gabe Osabuohien, who leads the squad with 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals, has 19 points over his last two games after producing a total of 21 through his first 13.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Dru Smith is 22-of-22 from the line over his last four games.

2. Mountaineers senior G Jermaine Haley is 15-of-23 from the floor over a four-game hot stretch.

3. West Virginia erased a 16-point second-half deficit to defeat Missouri 83-79 in the title game in the 2017 AdvoCare Invitational in Florida in the last meeting between the teams.

PREDICTION: West Virginia 76, Missouri 64