Feb. 13, 2001

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

CLOSING TIME IS NEAR
Called "Toast" by one national media website (CNN/SI.com), the Missouri Tigers begin the final month of the season looking to prove that they are indeed worthy of an NCAA Tournament bid.

With a 15-8 record and a respectable RPI ranking while playing one of the nation's toughest schedules, Missouri seems to have done so to this point. But due to the loss of all-everything forward Kareem Rush, MU has had to defend not only opponents on the floor, but critics who doubt the team's chances.

MU currently ranks 38th in the latest RPI, down from a season-best of 16th back in January, but this fact bodes well for the Tigers: MU is 3-4 against teams ranked 1-25 in the latest RPI poll. Only four teams in the country (Kentucky [6], Stanford [5], Arizona [5], UCLA [4]) have more wins than MU against the top 25.

Even in defeat, Mizzou made a large statement Sunday at Ames, Iowa, where they gave the then-12th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones all they could handle before falling, 72-64. A gritty Tiger squad did that, despite playing without the services of Rush, who was the leading candidate for Big 12 Player-of-the-Year (21.9 ppg) and Clarence Gilbert (17.0 ppg -- 4th in Big 12), who missed the game due to disciplinary reasons.

The Tigers will look to continue its statement Wednesday vs. a talented Colorado team that has won more road games (6) than any Big 12 team this season.

With six games left in the regular season, conventional wisdom has it that the Tigers likley need 18 or 19 wins to reach the NCAA Tournament.

MU'S NEWEST COACH
Evidently feeling there were no more challenges left for him on the court, Missouri's all-American candidate and Big 12 Player-of-the-Year frontrunner Kareem Rush has taken off his uniform to join the Tiger coaching staff, giving MU fans their own version of "Coach K." Unfortunately for Tiger fans, however, it was out of necessity and not choice. Rush suffered a season-ending injury to his left thumb on Feb. 5 at Oklahoma State, and is now on the Tiger bench in street clothes.

Rush was named the league's player of the week (Feb. 5) for his 27-point, 11-rebound outing in MU's Jan. 29th win over #3 Kansas. He followed with a solid 21-point, 7-rebound game in MU's narrow 69-66 loss at OSU.

That was the good news. The bad news came the next afternoon when he learned that he'd miss the rest of the 2000-01 season due to torn ligaments in his left thumb.

Rush injured his thumb with 1:50 left in the game, when he fell to the floor after being fouled on a drive to the basket. He stayed in the game despite his obvious pain, and hit 1-of-2 free throws while playing with the injury.

After examination, it was determined that Rush suffered an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left (shooting hand) thumb. In layman's terms, when he fell to the floor, he tore ligaments in the thumb, and pulled off a small piece of bone at the ligament attachment at the base of the thumb, as well.

He had surgery the morning of Feb. 7th in Columbia to repair the ligament, and will be in a cast for another five to seven weeks. The surgery was dubbed a success, and he'll make a full recovery for his junior season.

The Tigers joke that Rush combines with roommate and close friend Josh Kroenke to form the most unproductive apartment on the team. Kroenke is sitting out the 2000-01 season on a medical hardship due to a series of concussions he suffered early on in the year.

ROSTER CHANGES
Junior guard Clarence Gilbert was suspended indefinitey by Head Coach Quin Snyder last Thursday for undisclosed internal disciplinary reasons. Additionally, junior Kenge Stevenson was dismissed from the team in an unrelated disciplinary move.

Gilbert is the 4th-leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference with a season average of 17.0 points per game. He scored a Big 12 record 43 points on Jan. 13th vs. Iowa State. As of Tuesday morning, it was unknown whether or not he would join the team in time for Wednesday's game with Colorado. He met with Tiger coaches Monday afternoon, and was scheduled for a follow-up meeting Tuesday.

Stevenson, a former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship prior to this season, played in 27 games in three years at MU. He will retain his scholarship for the remainder of the 2000-01 season.

THE QUIN-TISENNTIALS
The 15th head coach in Missouri basketball history, Quin Snyder is 33-21 in his second season as a head coach. He was named the national rookie coach-of-the-year by Basketball Times last season after leading the Tigers to an 18-13 record and an NCAA appearance.

Snyder is 3-0 in his career vs. Colorado, and is looking for his second-straight regular-season sweep over the Buffaloes.

Snyder's mission is to take the Tiger program to the next level. And if that next level represents the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, Snyder will be a repeat visitor. In 10 years at Duke, he took part in five Final Fours -- three as a player (1986, 88, 89) and two more as a coach (1994, 99). For those of you keeping score at home, that's exactly five more Final Fours than Mizzou has qualified for in its previous 93 years.

Snyder had served as Duke's associate head coach the previous two seasons, and was entrusted with numerous on-court coaching responsibilities, as well as recruiting duties for the Blue Devils by Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski. He was widely credited with recruiting the group of student-athletes (including 1999 national player-of-the-year Elton Brand) at Duke who compiled a 37-2 record in 1998-99 and finished as NCAA runners-up.