Dec. 7, 1999
COLUMBIA, Miss. (AP) -- Two teams riding impressive winning streaks meet Tuesday when No. 15 Indiana visits the Missouri Tigers.
The Hoosiers (4-0) won their fourth straight to remain undefeated on the season and exorcised some old demons in the process with an 83-75 win over then-No. 13 Kentucky on Saturday.
Indiana, which had lost five straight to interstate rival Kentucky, used an aggressive man-to-man defense to hold the Wildcats to 40 percent shooting from the field and send Kentucky to its third straight loss.
Indiana coach Bob Knight credits his team's defense as one of the reasons for its success so far this season.
"You bring an attitude in playing defense and we haven't had that attitude," said Knight, adding that the team began showing "a totally different attitude" during weight training in April. "They kind of get on each other when somebody screws up on defense."
The Hoosiers also excelled on offense Saturday, particularly in the first half, when they shot 61 percent (17-of-28) and put together an 18-4 run. Indiana shot a season-high 55 percent for the game.
A.J. Guyton led Indiana with 21 points and senior guard Michael Lewis had 17.
After dropping their season opener to Wisconsin, the Tigers (5-1) have reeled off five straight wins, including a 63-60 victory over Southern Methodist on Wednesday night.
"There's a lot for us to learn from this game," said Missouri coach Quin Synder. "We've got to keep getting better - that's what this month is all about. Hopefully, we don't need to lose to learn."
Indiana is the first ranked opponent the Tigers will face this season. They'll also face No. 22 Illinois and Kentucky later this month.
The Tigers should be confident after holding SMU to nearly 30 points below its scoring average of 89.2 per game and pressuring the Mustangs into their worst shooting night of the season at 35 percent.
"Anytime you play a team that is unbeaten they have a certain strut," Snyder said. "Those guys have some really big players who are capable of having big nights. I thought we did an excellent job."
Kareem Rush led the Tigers with 13 points.