Preview: Mizzou hosts Cal in a power-five showdown on Tuesday evening

After falling to a very talented Memphis team, the Missouri Tigers have defended their home court, winning six straight games at Mizzou Arena.

Mizzou has a huge a game this Sunday against its biggest rivals, the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, however, before that contest, the Tigers must turn their attention to the California Golden Bears (6-1). This matchup gives them a chance to earn their first win against a power-five school this season.

The Golden Bears are off to a respectable start this season, beginning 2-0, with wins over CSUB and Cal Poly, before falling to Vanderbilt by 16, the only SEC team they’ve faced thus far. Cal had a great response as it hasn’t lost since that November 13th game, taking down USC, Air Force, Sacramento State, and Mercyhurst. 

The Golden Bears’s resume is similar to the Tigers, both having taken care of business in games they needed to, each with losses to competitive squads.

Andrej Stojakovic and Jovan Blacksher Jr. forefront the way for Cal, each averaging around 32 minutes per game.

Stojakovic, a sophomore transfer from Stanford and son of NBA great Peja Stojakovic, has shown drastic improvement already this season, averaging 17.7 points per game, 5 rebounds, and over a block a night. One area of his game he's still looking to improve is three-point shooting, where he onlt shoots 27% on nearly five attempts per game.

His 17.7 points per game places him in the top-80 of all Division I basketball players this season.

The senior, Blacksher, is also playing his first year for the Golden Bears, though it’s his sixth season in college basketball. He’s shooting 50% from the field and 52% from three, while adding 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal each night.

After tearing his ACL last season at Grand Canyon, Blacksher has been impressive since returning, however he hasn’t suited up since the November 17th win at USC, in which he put up 19 points on 7-11 shooting. The Oakland native has been day-to-day and is deemed “questionable” going into the contest tonight.

Another player to look out for is junior transfer Lee Dort, a Texas native and one of the biggest players the Tigers have seen this season, listed as 6'10 and 250 pounds.

Dort is in his first season since coming over from Vanderbilt, and tough he's never started a game, he’s seeing an increase in minutes this season.

Dort is averaging 7.5 rebounds a night, which definitely could give Mizzou problems on Tuesday evening.

This game comes as a part of the ACC/SEC Challenge, giving the Tigers a big opportunity to gain momentum heading into Sunday.

The habits that Mizzou has built on this season need to continue Tuesday; getting to and converting on free throws, limiting turnovers and fast break points, while staying out of foul trouble.

This is a game that will be played without senior Caleb Grill, who’s been one of Mizzou's best players this season.