Green Bay-Mizzou basketball preview: Projected lineups, time, TV, what to expect

Green Bay at Missouri

WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m. Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia

TV/RADIO: SEC Network; KMBZ (980 AM)

Projected lineups:

ABOUT MISSOURI (7-2): This is the second game in a four-game home stand for Mizzou. All of these games are against low- or mid-major teams, but coach Cuonzo Martin doesn’t want his players to coast. Martin seemed unhappy with his team after its 19-point win over Miami, Ohio on Tuesday. The Tigers — a team made up mostly of veterans who lost during the Kim Anderson era and talented but inexperienced freshmen — are still learning how to dominate opponents. … MU has struggled with turnovers this season, which has allowed inferior teams to keep games close. Mizzou has turned the ball over on 22 percent of its possessions this season, which ranks 293 in the country. Martin has attributed this mostly to carelessness. … The Tigers still have no set point guard rotation. Martin has started freshman Blake Harris, but from game to game, Martin has opted for whoever is playing best that day. After the Miami game, Martin said the point guard job was not Harris’ alone to win. The coach mentioned juniors Terrence Phillips and Jordan Geist as other contenders to become the Tigers’ primary ball handler, and he said it remains an open competition. … During the Mizzou’s past three games, senior forward Jordan Barnett and graduate transfer guard Kassius Robertson have combined to average 34 points per game, and they have converted 21 of 42 three-point attempts.

ABOUT GREEN BAY (3-4): Picked to finish sixth in the 10-team Horizon League, Green Bay has lost all three of its road games thus far this season, including 77-68 at Mississippi State last month. … The Phoenix has made just 40.1 percent of its two-point field goal attempts this season, which is one of the worst rates in the country. … Like Missouri, Green Bay struggles with turnovers. Its turnover rate, 21.9, is just slightly better than Mizzou’s. … Khalil Small, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, leads the Phoenix in scoring (15.6 points per game) and rebounding (7.0 rebounds per game). Through seven games, Mack has made 12 of 22 three-point attempts. … Green Bay has 10 players averaging 11 or more minutes per game. The Phoenix’s third-leading scorer, TJ Parham, comes off the bench. ... None of Green Bay’s players are taller than 6 feet 8. … Green Bay coach Linc Darner played with Martin at Purdue in the early 1990s. Darner won a Division II national title in 2015, when he was the head coach at Florida Southern. This is Darner’s third season at Green Bay. In his first two seasons coaching the Phoenix, he led his team to a 41-27 record and a 2016 NCAA tournament berth.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Green Bay-Mizzou basketball preview: Projected lineups, time, TV, what to expect."