TIGER COMEBACKS
Missouri has rallied from deficits two times this season to register wins under Quin Snyder. Here's a look at those games:

 Date Opp. Deficit (Time) Final Score
11-13 Princeton 9 pts. (13:06, 1st) 51-48
11-21 UNCA 10 pts. (1:26, 1st) 75-69

But the last time out vs. Western Carolina, the lid was pried from the basket, as Mizzou shot a season-high 49.2% from the floor en route to an 85-68 win last Sunday. The Hearnes Center guy who brought the crowbar received a raise.

On the young season, Missouri is 3-1 de-spite shooting just 38.7% from the floor, while opponents are connecting at a much better 46.6% rate.

But the Tigers are also coming off a sea-son- best defensive effort, as they held West-ern Carolina to an opponent-low 40.6% shoot-ing night.

Missouri won last week vs. UNC-Asheville, despite shooting just 38.9 percent from the floor. Other game numbers for Mis-souri in the field goal department include a 34.7% mark in a loss to Wisconsin, and just 29.4% in a win over Princeton.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE
With the likes of long-range gunners Brian Grawer, Clarence Gilbert and Keyon Dooling, look for the Tigers to be a strong perimeter team in 1999-2000.

Quin Snyder's crew showed it has the abil-ity to score from long distance in Mizzou's four games, as they have connected on 37 treys thus far, including a season-high 12 bombs last Sunday vs. Western Carolina. The Tigers con-nected on 12-of-29 threes vs. WCU, good for a respectable 41.4% success rate.

Three Tigers: Clarence Gilbert, Johnnie Parker and freshman Kareem Rush, are the only Tigers to hit a three-point field goal in each game thus far, entering Saturday's Morgan State contest.

The MU record for made treys in a game is 15 (2-2-97 vs. Wake Forest & 2-28-98 vs.Kansas State), while the most attempts in a game is 36 (2-28-98 vs. Kansas State).

Season records to keep an eye on include 214 three-pointers made and 580 treys at-tempted, both by the 1997-98 squad. Through four games, the Tigers are on pace to make 268 three pointers in 761attempts.

Last year, Missouri made 38.0 percent of its three point attempts (180-of-474), and aver-aged 6.2 made threes per game and 16.4 attempts per game.

Individually, Brian Grawer was third in the NCAA last year in three point accuracy, as he nailed 64-of-129 attempts from beyond the arch, good for a 49.6% success rate. Included in that total was a perfect 6-of-6 performance at home against Iowa State, which set a single-game accuracy record for the Tigers.

ACHIEVING A BALANCE
Unlike an SID's checkbook register, Mis-souri has looked very balanced on the offen-sive end in its last two outings.

While Keyon Dooling is clearly the leader of this team, the Tigers at times have been caught standing and watching to see what the playmaker will do next. He was the only Tiger to score in double figures through MU's first two games other than Johnnie Parker, who notched 11 points in the season opener vs. Wisconsin.

But, much to the delight of Quin Snyder, Missouri showed a balanced scoring attack last time out vs. Western Carolina, as four Ti-gers scored in double figures in MU's 85-68 win last Sunday. That came at a time when Dooling was held to a season-low seven points, as well.

All four Tigers set or matched career highs during the game. Newcomers T.J. Soyoye and Josh Kroenke set career highs, with 19 points and 15 points, respectively, while Clarence Gilbert and Johnnie Parker set career bests, as well, with 13 points apiece.

Prior to that, against UNC-Asheville, five Tigers scored in double figures. Against Western Carolina, only eight Ti-gers played, but all eight scored at least five points.

TOEING THE LINE
Missouri opened the season by hitting 24-of-29 free throws (82.8%) in its first two games, offsetting the Tigers' shooting troubles from the floor.

But in the past two contests, Missouri has connected on just 37-of-61 freebies in wins over UNCA and Western Carolina (60.1%). No matter how they shoot from the line, a positive remains that the Tigers are getting to the foul line much more frequently than their opponents thus far.

Through four games, the Tigers have made more free throws (61) than their foes have even attempted (51). MU is attempting an average of 22.5 free throws per game, while opponents are toeing the line just 12.8 times an outing.

MU FREE THROWS IN LAST FOUR MINUTES

Tiger FT FTA PCT.
Gilbert 5 6 .833
Parker 3 4 .750
Dooling 6 12 .500
Hafer 2 4 .500
Soyoye 1 2 .500
Rush 0 4 .000
Total 17 32 .531

Tiger FT FTA PCT.
Parker 2 2 1.000
Gilbert 5 6 .833
Dooling 4 8 .500
Soyoye 1 2 .500
Hafer 1 2 .500
Rush 0 4 .000
Total 13 24 .542

Category FR SO JR SR
Points 18.4% 38.4% 37.6% 5.6%
Rebounds 17.1% 16.4% 50.0% 6.4%
Assists 7.3% 45.5% 34.6% 12.7%
Turnovers 14.8% 38.9% 38.9% 7.4%

Pts: 22, John Risinger, UNCA, 11-19-99
FG: 8, Four tied with
FGA: 17, Jarvis Hayes, W. Carolina, 11-21-99
3FG: 4, Two tied with
3FGA: 8, Jarvis Hayes, W. Carolina, 11-21-99
FT: 4, Two tied with
FTA: 6, John Risinger, UNCA, 11-19-99
Reb.: 10, Adam Earnhardt, UNCA, 11-19-99
Asst: 7, Mark Vershaw, Wisconsin, 11-12-99
Blocks: 1, Nine tied with
Steals: 3, Jarvis Hayes, W. Carolina, 11-21-99

But last time out vs. Western Carolina, Gilbert, at just 6-foot-2 inches tall, grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds, in addition to tying a career-high with 13 points. That marked the sparkplug's first career double-double. Through four games, Gilbert is MU's third-leading scorer, averaging 9.8 points a game.

He's shooting just 36.1% from the floor thus far, has connected on 9-of-17 field goals in his last two games (52.9%).

Gilbert has scored in double figures in two straight games, and currently leads the Tigers with 13 assists on the season.

KROENKE ERUPTS
Through the first three games of the sea-son, freshman guard Josh Kroenke was held scoreless, as he was 0-of-3 from the floor. Last Sunday vs. Western Carolina, he came out gunning, and lit up the Catamounts for 15 points in just 13 minutes of play, on 5- of-8 three pointers. He came off the bench and gave MU a spark when they were strug-gling offensively.

The Columbia, Mo. native has hit 5-of-11 field goals on the year, with all 11 attempts coming from beyond the three-point stripe.

A RUSH TO JUDGMENT
No, it's not a cheesy made-for-TV movie about O.J. Simpson or Monica Lewinsky, although we'd like to see one that combines the two!

We're talking about Tiger freshman for-ward Kareem Rush, who has been pretty im-pressive thus far.

In MU's four games, Rush is averaging 8.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Not eye-popping numbers, exactly, but he has defi-

DOUBLE TROUBLE
While his name creates problems for broadcasters, junior center Tajudeen Soyoye has been creating even more distress for Tiger opponents on the court of late.

The junior college transfer is coming off the best game of his young Tiger career, in which he tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds in MU's 85-68 win over Western Carolina last Sunday. It marked the Lagos, Nigeria native's first career double-double at MU.

Soyoye hit 8-of-11 field goals on the day, and snagged seven offensive rebounds in 29 minutes of action.

Soyoye enters the Morgan State game as MU's second-leading scorer (10.0 ppg) and is the team's top rebounder (8.2 rpg). He's also shooting a team-best 51.9% from the floor through four contests.

After hitting just 2-of-9 field goals in MU's first two games, he's settled in nicely, connect-ing on 12-of-18 since (66.7%). He's averaged 15.5 points in MU's last two outings.

MU'S KEY: KEYON DOOLING
If the early season is any indication of things to come, keep an eye on electrifying sophomore guard Keyon Dooling, who clearly is the key to MU's fortunes.

He's coming off a season-low seven points last Sunday vs. Western Carolina, but he still chipped in a team-best five assists vs. the Cata-mounts. Prior to that, Dooling helped fuel a Tiger comeback two games ago vs. UNCA, as he scored all 15 of his points in the second half, erasing a 10-point Bulldog lead. Dooling was held scoreless in the first half, as he could play only 9 minutes due to foul trouble.

Dooling led Missouri to victory against Princeton on Nov. 13th, as he scored 25 of MU's 51 points on the night (that's 49.0 per-cent of the team's scoring). The 25 points was a career high for the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. na-tive. Dooling entered the season determined to be more of a scoring threat from the outside this season, and early on, he's showing he can get it done. He hit 5-of-6 three pointers against Princeton, both totals marking personal bests. He's hit 9-of-20 threes to open the season (good for a success rate of 45.0%), and now in four games has one more three pointer than all of last season, when he hit 8-of-28 threes (28.6%) in 28 games.

As the primary point guard in MU's three-nitely been a key for Quin Snyder's Tigers. Rush was held to five points last Sunday vs. Western Carolina, but prior to that, he had a career-high 16 point outing vs. UNCA. He hit 3 three-pointers on the night, and helped keep the Tigers in a game in which they trailed by 10 points at one point.

In MU's win against Princeton, Rush gave Quin Snyder 31 key minutes. He managed just five points (on 1-of-8 shooting), but came up huge on the boards, as he grabbed a game-high 10 caroms, including the game-saving re-bound after Princeton's last-second attempt was no good. He also added two assists and a blocked shot on the night.

Against Wisconsin, he came off the bench to contribute eight points in 16 minutes of play.

OH, TO BE YOUNG AGAIN
Okay, senior forward Jeff Hafer, at 22 years old, isn't exactly an old-timer. But, with all the bumps and bruises he's sustained in his Tiger career, it was good to see the Joplin native fly-ing all over the floor like he was a freshman again, two games ago vs. UNCA.

Hafer came off the bench and helped guide MU to its comeback win vs. UNCA. He scored 10 points (the first of his senior season), and added 4 steals, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 21 minutes of play.

He made a key play late in the game Friday that helped seal MU's win. With 3:09 left in the game, and MU clinging to a 67-62 lead, Hafer made a steal, and raced down the court for a crowd-pleasing slam while getting fouled. His free throw capped a three-point play which gave MU 70-62 lead, the Tigers' biggest of the night.

TIGERS SIGN THREE PREP BLUE-CHIPPERS DURING EARLY PERIOD
MU Head Coach Quin Snyder has signed three high school standouts in what is quickly becoming one of the nation's top recruiting classes.

During the early signing period, which ran from Nov. 10-17, Snyder inked prep stars Rickey Paulding, Arthur Johnson and Wesley Stokes to national letters of intent. Paulding and Johnson hail from Detroit, Mich., while Stokes is from Long Beach, Calif. Here's a look at each of them:

RICKEY PAULDING
Paulding, a 6-foot-5 guard from Detroit Re-naissance High School, is considered one of the nation's top 30 prep prospects, and has been selected to the pre-season all-American team by Street & Smith Magazine . He aver-aged 25.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots per game last season at Renaissance High, and was selected to Michigan's all-state team in 1999. His point total led the extremely competitive Detroit Public School League last year. In addition to his success on the court, Paulding has en-joyed much success in the classroom as well, having fully met NCAA standards, and boast-ing an exceptional academic record at one of the countries' top academic high schools. Paulding selected Missouri over Michi-gan State, Ohio State and Miami, Fla.

ARTHUR JOHNSON
Johnson, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Detroit Pershing High School, is considered a top 30 national prospect by many recruiting services. He's one of the top big men in the country, and is coming off a season in which he averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds per game as a junior. He led his Pershing team to a top-five ranking in the state last year, and earned all-state honors for his efforts. Johnson selected Missouri over Miami, Fla., Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State. His high school coach is Arnold Neville.

WESLEY STOKES

Stokes, a 5-foot-10 point guard out of Long Beach Poly, is considered the top-rated point guard prospect in the West, and is a top-50 national recruit. Stokes averaged 16 points, eight assists and four steals per game last year as a junior, and garnered much atten-tion after some superb play in various summer all-star camps.

Stokes selected Missouri over Southern California, San Diego State, Texas and Massa-chusetts. His high school coach is Ron Palmer, who directed Long Beach Poly to a 24-7 record last season, and the quarterfinals of the South-ern California Regionals. They are a pre-sea-son favorite to win the Southern Section Divi-sion I-AA championship, which would be their second in the past four years.

"We're obviously very excited to have such good kids want to join our program," said Quin Snyder. "We get better with all three of them, in different ways."

A GUARD-ED VIEWPOINT
Take a look at MU's roster for the 1999- 2000 season, and you'd think the Tigers could do well in a 6-foot-6 and under league. That's because only two Tigers on the roster stand taller than 6-foot-6.

MU RECORD WHEN

 1999-2000
Ahead at half 1-0
Behind at half 2-1
FG% of .450 or more 1-0
FG% less than .450 2-1
Better FG% than opp. 1-0
Worse FG% than opp. 2-1
Opp. shoots less than .450 1-0
3FG% of .400 or more 1-0
3FG% less than .400 2-1
Try more than 20 3FGs 3-1
Try 20 or less 3FGs 0-0
Try more FTs than opp. 3-0
Try less FTs than opp. 0-1
Bench outscores opp. bench 1-0
Opp. bench outscores MU bench 2-1
Outrebound opp. 2-0
Tied or outrebounded 1-1
More TOs than opp. 1-1
Same or fewer TOs 2-0
Make 10 or more TOs 2-1
Make less than 10 TOs 1-0
Score less than 50 pts. 0-0
Score 50-59 pts. 1-1
Score 60-69 pts. 0-0
Score 70-79 pts. 1-0
Score 80 or more pts. 1-0
Allow less than 50 pts. 1-0
Allow 50-59 pts. 0-0
Allow 60-69 pts. 2-1
Allow 70-79 pts. 0-0
Allow 80 or more pts. 0-0
Overtime 0-0
Vs. AP Top 25 0-0
Home Games 2-0
Road Games 0-0
Neutral Site Games 1-1
Day Games 1-0
Night Games 2-1
On Monday 0-0
On Tuesday 0-0
On Wednesday 0-0
On Thursday 0-0
On Friday 1-1
On Saturday 1-0
On Sunday 1-0
On Mizzou Sports Network 1-1
On CBS 0-0
On ESPN 0-0
On ESPN-Plus 0-0
On ABC 0-0

5 pts. or less 1-0
6-10 pts. 1-0
11-19 pts. 1-1
20 or more pts. 0-0

Earlier this summer, current Detroit Pis-tons Head Coach Alvin Gentry paid a visit to Columbia. Gentry coached with MU associ-ate head coach John Hammond at Detroit The lack of size means that Tiger guards will play a heavy role in determining success this season.

Quin Snyder has started three guards in each of MU's four previous games, and will likely deploy a three-guard attack for much of the season. And the results from the Tigers two early games shows that the guard-heavy lineup can be quite effective.

MU's starting guard trio of Keyon Dooling, Brian Grawer and Clarence Gilbert have scored 47.0% of MU's points in the four contests, as they've combined for 125 points.

TIGER QUICK NOTES
Sophomore forward Matt Rowan has left the University of Missouri men's basket-ball team, and will transfer from MU at the fol-lowing of the fall semester, as announced Nov. 16th by Head Coach Quin Snyder.

Rowan, a Liberty, Mo. native, did not play in either of Missouri's games the NABC Clas-sic in Syracuse, N.Y. The 6-foot-7 forward saw limited action last season as a freshman, aver-aging 0.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 17 games.

He averaged 4.9 minutes played in those con-tests. Rowan will remain on scholarship through the end of the fall semester, after which time he will be released from his commitment. By re-leasing him at the end of the semester, Rowan will be allowed to pursue a number of options. He will be eligible to play immediately at any Division II school, and would have to sit out until the end of the first semester of the 2000- 2001 season if he was to choose another Divi-sion I program.

"We wish Matt the very best, and we'll do whatever we can to help him with his future plans," said Coach Snyder. "He's made a per-sonal decision that he wants to be in a program where he'll be able to make more of a contribu-tion, and we certainly understand and respect his decision."

A quick check of the MU record book shows that Missouri had never before won a game when shooting worse than 30.0%. The Tigers managed a 51-48 win over Princeton on Nov. 13th despite shooting just 29.4%. The previous low shooting night during a Tiger win was back on Feb. 8, 1995, when MU shot just 30.0%, but beat Iowa State, 59-56 in Columbia. The first point scored in the Quin Snyder era came on a free throw from T.J. Soyoye. Johnnie Parker Hit the first field goal (a three-pointer), got the first steal and blocked shot.