Missouri @ Temple preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 27, 2018 ) Temple 79, Missouri 77

Temple is off to a solid 6-1 start this season heading into Saturday's home date with Missouri. The Owls, now under the guidance of former player Aaron McKie, have overcome shooting issues as they continue to work on creating offensive cohesion.

The Owls persevered against Davidson in their last game, overcoming a small halftime deficit to win 66-53 despite shooting under 40 percent from the floor and missing 14 of their 20 3-pointers. "We got stagnant in the first half," McKie said. "We didn't attack the paint as much as I wanted to in the first half. We started to attack it in the second half and we got some better looks." Meanwhile, Missouri is looking to pick up the pieces after falling to Charleston Southern as 26-point home favorites on Tuesday. The Tigers, who also are not a good shooting team, have lost three straight overall.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT MISSOURI (4-4): Coach Cuonzo Martin handled recent neutral-court losses to Butler and Oklahoma - both by 11 points - but the defeat to Charleston Southern, which entered at 2-5 on the season, was much harder to digest. "It was a tough, tough one," Martin said. "One of the toughest ones and one of the games I don't know if I'll ever forget. We didn't play at the level we're of course capable of playing at and the way we practice. So it was really tough." The Tigers only shoot 42.9 percent as a team, and their 3-point percentage (25.4) is hampered by Tray Jackson (1-of-9) and Xavier Pinson (1-of-18).

ABOUT TEMPLE (6-1): Five of the Owls' top six scorers shoot under 40 percent from the field, including top scorer Quinton Rose (35.5 percent, 14.6 points per game) and do-it-all backcourt mate Nate Pierre-Louis (39.7 percent, 12.7 points). Rose nearly had a triple-double against Davidson with 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while Pierre-Louis is averaging 8.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists, not to mention 2.6 steals per contest. Jake Forrester, a transfer from Indiana, had 10 points versus Davidson in his third game with Temple.

TIP-INS

1. Pierre-Louis had 10-plus rebounds in each of the first four games, but he hasn't had more than seven in any game since.

2. Missouri leading scorer Mark Smith (12.4 points) has already had games where he shot 0-of-4, 2-of-11, 1-of-6 and 2-of-12 from the field.

3. Temple averages just 11.4 turnovers per game with no player averaging more than 1.6 per contest.

PREDICTION: Temple 71, Missouri 63