Mark Smith is expected to return on Saturday. Where has Missouri missed him the most?

Missouri goes to Mississippi this weekend with a much-needed weapon expected to return to the lineup for the first time in weeks.

Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin said on his weekly radio show that barring a setback, sophomore guard Mark Smith will return from a left ankle sprain on Saturday against the Ole Miss Rebels. Smith has missed six games after injuring the ankle in the closing minutes of the Tigers’ Jan. 23 loss at Arkansas, and his absence has been felt.

But where has Missouri missed Smith the most?

The Tigers are 2-4 without him and are somehow scoring more in spite of the fact that they’re missing their second-leading scorer and best shooter. In 17 games with Smith in the lineup, Missouri averaged 67.8 points per game. In the six without him, the Tigers’ are averaging 68.8.

Smith was also one of Missouri’s best rebounding guards, averaging 5.5 boards per game, and was the team’s leading rebounder in a lot of games, especially when Jeremiah Tilmon was in foul trouble. Freshman point guard Xavier Pinson has seen an uptick in playing time since Smith went down and has followed his lead on the glass. Pinson had 11 points and nine rebounds in Missouri’s win over Arkansas on Tuesday, and overall, MU has a 227-200 rebounding advantage in the six games Smith has missed.

While Missouri has been able to score and rebound without Smith, it has struggled mightily from three-point territory. Smith’s 47.5 three-point shooting percentage still ranks top 10 nationally and first in the conference despite his six-game absence, but Missouri can’t say the same as a team.

With Smith in the lineup, Missouri was one of the top three-point shooting teams in the Southeastern Conference, at a 39 percent clip. The Tigers currently rank No. 5 at 36.6 percent without him. Missouri has shot just 30 percent from three-point range in the six games Smith has missed. Wednesday’s win over Arkansas was the first time MU shot better than 34 percent without him. Missouri has yet to hit 10 threes in a game without Smith.

Martin admitted after MU’s loss to Texas A&M on Saturday that Smith’s absence has limited the Tigers on offense in a number of ways.

“He was a three-point presence,” Martin said. “What he did was spacing, more than anything. It’s hard to leave him so your big can get a layup. Different things that we run, (we) put him in different positions because he can shoot the ball.”

Freshman Torrence Watson said Smith’s presence simplified the offense for the Tigers’ younger players, who are still adjusting to the college game. The 6-foot-4 Illinois transfer was the one player opposing teams couldn’t forget about. Help defense doesn’t exist when Smith is on the floor.

“He’s the guy that you always have to stay attached to,” said Torrence Watson, MU’s freshman guard. “So if he’s in the corner, his man has to stay in the corner. It’s almost like four-on-four.”

According to KenPom.com, Ole Miss ranks No. 279 nationally in three-point defense at 36.4, which could be an advantage for the Tigers. The Rebels have otherwise been a pleasant surprise under coach Kermit Davis. Davis is in first season in Oxford after taking over for Andy Kennedy.

Last year, Missouri’s win in Oxford came in the middle of a five-game winning streak that helped get the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament in five years. Smith’s return could have a similar effect with the NIT.