FAYETTEVILLE -- Missouri's men's basketball team never has won three consecutive games against nationally-ranked opponents.
The University of Arkansas hopes to keep it that way when the No. 13 Razorbacks (11-2, 0-1 SEC) play the No. 20 Tigers (12-1, 1-0) at 7:30 tonight at Walton Arena.
Missouri, picked to finish 11th in the SEC in a preseason media poll, has been one of the most pleasant surprises on the national scene under first-year Coach Dennis Gates.
The Tigers jumped into this week's Associated Press poll after victories over then-No. 16 Illinois 93-71 in St. Louis on Dec. 22 and then-No. 19 Kentucky 89-75 at Mizzou Arena last Wednesday.
It's the first back-to-back victories for Missouri over ranked teams since the 2009 NCAA Tournament when the Tigers -- led by Mike Anderson, the former Arkansas coach -- beat No. 23 Marquette in Boise, Idaho, and No. 3 Memphis in Glendale, Ariz.
Missouri hadn't beaten ranked teams in consecutive regular-season games since the 2001-02 season when the Tigers had victories over No. 22 Alabama and No. 9 Iowa in Kansas City, Mo.
"Look, Mizzou would have beat a whole lot of teams the way they played," Kentucky Coach John Calipari said after the Tigers beat his Wildcats. "And they played pretty good."
Kobe Brown, a 6-8 senior forward who is Missouri's only returning starter, had 31 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals against Illinois. He followed that with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists against Kentucky.
In the two games, Brown hit 20 of 33 shots, including 7 of 11 three-pointers, and 14 of 16 free throws.
Brown is averaging 15.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and shooting 60.6% (77 of 127) to lead the SEC. He averaged 12.6 points last season.
"I thought he was a great player offensively," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. "I think he's elevated his game.
"He's a veteran player in this league. He scored 61 points against Illinois and Kentucky -- two really good teams, two physical teams, two teams with size.
"He can score the ball from three-point land, he can score the ball off the bounce. ... He's handling the ball as a pick-and-roll player, which is a new dimension to his game.
"He's a movable piece that you can put in scoring positions in different spots on the court."
Gates, who had a 50-40 record at Cleveland State the past three seasons with one NCAA Tournament appearance and one NIT bid, has surrounded Brown with a group of experienced transfers.
"They did a great job in the portal," Musselman said.
The Tigers have four fifth-year transfers in guards D'Moi Hodge (from Cleveland State), DeAndre Gholston (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Nick Honor (Clemson) and Tre Gomillion (Cleveland State).
"Those guys have made the transition because they've always believed they were under-recruited and they belonged on this level," Gates said on the College Hoops Today podcast with Jon Rothstein.
Other transfers for Missouri include senior forward Noah Carter (Northern Iowa), senior guard Isiaih Mosley (Missouri State) and junior forward Ronnie DeGray (Massachusetts).
Hodge is averaging a team-high 16.5 points, Carter is averaging 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds, Gholston is averaging 10.5 points and Honor is averaging 10.0 points and 3.7 assists.
"I think they play really hard," Musselman said. "I think they're extremely well-coached. I think they understand their roles."
Missouri leads the SEC in scoring (88.8 points per game), shooting (51.1%) and steals (12.5 per game).
"They're a team that looks like they're having fun together, and they're really healthy," Musselman said. "So you add all those things together, and you see a team that's 12-1."
Arkansas had a week of practice since losing its SEC opener at LSU 60-57 last Wednesday.
"We've cleaned up some things both offensively and defensively," Musselman said. "And we've gone more live than we probably ever have in the 7 1/2 years I've been a college coach to try to clean up some areas that we want to improve on."
Musselman said a focus in practice has been three-point defense, considering Missouri is shooting 37.1% (130 of 350) from beyond the arc -- led by Hodge (41 of 98) and Honor (25 of 56).
Scrimmaging in practice, Musselman said, has been important with tonight being the Razorbacks' fifth game since Dec. 10.
"I think if we would have played two games this week, we probably would not have had the ability to go live," Musselman said. "It's kind of weird and unique that you have a three-day Christmas break, you play one game then have another week off.
"You want to try to keep your guys fresh and crisp. In the past, we've tried to make sure that we don't go live so it keeps everybody healthy. We're at a point right now where we've got to keep getting better in a lot of areas."
Gates was an assistant coach at Nevada during the 2010-11 season, when Musselman was head coach of the G League's Reno Bighorns.
"It's a great program," Gates said of Arkansas. "Coach Muss does a great job. Their crowd is unbelievable, and they have done it over a long period of time.
"I respect everything that he's done, and everything that he will do. They are a talented group of players."
Gates was an assistant coach at Florida State under Leonard Hamilton for eight seasons before taking the Cleveland State job.
"He's got great respect in the coaching profession," Musselman said. "He did a great job at Cleveland State, and he's done an incredible job thus far at Missouri."