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Missouri basketball tips off its SEC schedule in place it’s yet to win

By Thomas Huitt-Johnson

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - JANUARY 26: Head coach Cuonzo Martin of the Missouri Tigers reacts from the bench during the game against the LSU Tigers at Mizzou Arena on January 26, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - JANUARY 26: Head coach Cuonzo Martin of the Missouri Tigers reacts from the bench during the game against the LSU Tigers at Mizzou Arena on January 26, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Missouri basketball opens up conference play on the road against No. 17 Kentucky.

The Missouri basketball team is on a four-game winning streak heading into the conference schedule today. The Tigers’ win streak will be put to a tough test today when they battle their first SEC opponent, No. 17 Kentucky.

When the schedule came out a few months ago, most people pointed toward early January as a tough road for Mizzou. The first stop on that road is Lexington, where Mizzou has yet to win a game in school history. The Tigers will want to end that streak today as they play the Wildcats with a chance to improve their win streak and get to 1-0 in conference play.

Here’s a look at today’s game:

Records: Kentucky 9-3 (0-0); Missouri 8-4 (0-0)

Where: Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky

Time: 1 p.m.

How to watch: SEC Network

How to listen: TuneIn

Live stats: mutigers

Line: Mizzou -8 courtesy of the Action Network

Over/under: 126 courtesy of the Action Network

Other conference games today: LSU at Tennessee; Georgia at No. 9 Memphis; Ole Miss at No. 24 Wichita State; No. 8 Auburn at Mississippi State; Alabama at Florida; Texas A&M at Arkansas; SMU at Vanderbilt.

Kentucky owns the series with a 12-1 advantage, but the one win Mizzou has over Kentucky came in 2018 with coach Cuonzo Martin at the helm.

The Wildcats have a trio of players who lead the team this season. Freshman Tyrese Maxey is the top scorer, averaging 14.2 points per game. Sophomore guard Ashton Hagans leads the team with 7.3 assists with a second-best 13.4 points-per-game average. Hagans also is Kentucky’s top defender with 2.1 steals per contest. Meanwhile, junior big man Nick Richards averages 7.2 rebounds to go with 2.2 blocks. These players give Mizzou an interesting look as the Tigers bring out experienced guards with go-to big man Jeremiah Tilmon, who the team expects to play today after missing the Tigers’ last game against Chicago State.

Next up: Missouri comes home to play Tennessee in its first SEC home game on Tuesday.

Next. Mizzou Basketball: Tigers hot going into SEC play. dark

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