Missouri hasn't been tested while winning its first seven games under new coach Frank Haith. That might change in its next one.
Traveling outside their home state for the first time, the No. 10 Tigers will take on Villanova in Tuesday night's Jimmy V Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Missouri (7-0) is off to its best start since winning its first nine games in 2006-07, its first season under former coach Mike Anderson. After Anderson left for Arkansas following the 2010-11 campaign, the school brought in Haith from Miami.
The move has paid off so far as the Tigers have won their games by an average of 27.9 points. Among those victories was a 92-53 drubbing of then-No. 20 California in the CBE Classic title game in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 22.
"We've done some things well, but we're still a hungry group," guard Marcus Denmon said. "I feel that starting off 7-0 is good, but it's something that we want to build on as a team."
Denmon leads Missouri with 20.3 points per game and had a career-high 31 in a 90-56 victory over visiting Northwestern State on Friday. Ricardo Ratliffe also matched his career high with 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting, and reserve guard Michael Dixon set a personal best with 19.
The 6-foot-8 Ratliffe, the team's lone starter taller than 6-6, is among the nation's leaders in field goal percentage (74.1) and has helped the Tigers shoot 52.5 percent. Missouri is also making 43.0 percent of its 3-point attempts, with Kim English knocking down 25 of 44 shots from beyond the arc (56.8 percent).
The senior guard is averaging a career-high 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 59.4 percent overall - English entered the season a 38.3 percent career shooter. Missouri is also forcing 17.4 turnovers per game despite using a more controlled defense than the fast-paced one under Anderson.
"We are excited about where we are at, but we know there is room for us to grow," Haith said. "(The game at Madison Square Garden) is important for our program. We want to be a championship team, and when you play on the national scene, you have the opportunity to put the Mizzou brand out there. We had that opportunity in the CBE Classic and showed well. Now we have another opportunity on Tuesday evening."
That opportunity will came against a Villanova team that struggled in its only trip away from home, albeit much farther than Missouri's trek to New York. The Wildcats (5-2) dropped their final two games at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., during the week of Thanksgiving but bounced back for a 73-65 victory over intracity rival Penn on Saturday.
Villanova allowed 20 points and 29.2 percent shooting in the first half, but was outscored 45-35 over the final 20 minutes while allowing the Quakers to make 17 of 31 shots (54.8 percent)
"We played like we have been playing this year," coach Jay Wright said. "That first half was great. We have to learn that we have to play 40 minutes."
Mouphtaou Yarou recorded his fourth double-double this season (21 points and 11 rebounds) in the win, and the 6-10 big man might cause matchup problems for the shorter Tigers. Yarou is averaging 16.0 points and a team-best 8.4 boards.
Maalik Wayns is the team's leader scorer with 18.7 points per contest but early foul trouble has helped limit him to a combined 21 in the past two games.
Missouri won its only matchup with Villanova at the 1985 Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.
