July 23, 2001

As it has in each of the previous two years under Head Coach Quin Snyder, the University of Missouri men's basketball program will play a very challenging schedule in the upcoming season. The MU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics released the 2001-02 men's basketball non-conference schedule today.

Snyder's Tigers, who return their top three scorers from last year's team that went 20-13 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, will go up against four non-conference opponents who reached the postseason, and could face two more through in-season tournament play.

The 2001-02 regular season tips off in Columbia, Mo. on Nov. 13th as the Tigers play host to Tennessee-Martin in the first round of the inaugural NABC Guardians Classic. The tournament is a 16-team event that features first and second-round play on campus sites (Nov. 13-14), with semifinal and final action set for Nov. 20-21 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City.

The MU/UT-Martin winner will face either Air Force or Yale the next night at Hearnes Center for the right to advance to Kansas City. Other tournament hosts include Iowa, Memphis and Alabama. If all four host schools reach Kansas City, Iowa would face Memphis, while MU would match up with Alabama. Memphis and Alabama both reached the final four of last year's NIT, while Iowa reached the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 24th) will see Missouri face NCAA Tournament participant Xavier at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. as part of the Wooden Classic. Stanford and Purdue are the other game in the one-day event.

After returning to Columbia for a two-game homestand (Nov. 29th vs. Jackson State and Dec. 1st vs. Grambling State), MU will play the first of its two December games at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, as the Tigers will take on Saint Louis (Dec. 3rd). Less than three weeks later, Mizzou will return there to renew its annual rivalry with Illinois in the Busch Braggin' Rights Game (Dec. 22nd), as part of a men's-women's double-header. The MU-Illinois women play at 5 p.m., while the men wrap up the evening of basketball at 8 p.m.

In between those St. Louis dates, the Tigers will host Southern University A&M on Dec. 8th, and Iowa on Dec. 15th. The Tigers and Hawkeyes will play for the sixth straight year, and the home team has won each of the last five games since the resumption of the series (Iowa leads, 3-2).

The Tigers will close out the month of December with a game at DePaul on Dec. 29th at Allstate Arena in Chicago, Ill., and then open 2002 by hosting Coppin State on Jan. 2nd. After beginning Big 12 Conference action on Sat., Jan. 5th, MU will venture out of conference just once more, when the Tigers play host to the Virginia Cavaliers on Sun., Feb. 3rd.

Currently, Mizzou is scheduled to appear on national television for three non-conference games, with others currently being considered. Games known at this time include Virginia (ABC), vs. Illinois (ESPN) and at Saint Louis (ESPN2). Additionally, Mizzou Sports Network games have yet to be determined.

The Big 12 Conference portion of the schedule has yet to be released from the league office, but league officials hope to have it ready by next week. In addition to the home-and-home series games vs. Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Nebraska, the Tigers will host Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M, and will travel to Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

Single-game ticket information will be released at a later date.

Men's 2001-02 Season Schedule

Exhibition Season
Day	 Date	Opponent	 Site	 TV	Tipoff
Saturday	Nov. 3	CALIFORNIA ALL-STARS	 Columbia, Mo.	 --	1:00 p.m.
Tuesday	 Nov. 6	ILLINOIS ALL-STARS	 Columbia, Mo.	 --	7:00 p.m.
Regular Season
Day	 Date	Opponent	 Site	 TV	Tipoff
Tuesday	 Nov. 13	%vs. Tennessee-Martin	 Columbia, Mo.	 TBA	TBA
Wednesday	Nov. 14	%vs. Air Force/Yale 	 Columbia, Mo.	 TBA	TBA
	Other 1st-2nd Round Sites include:
	Tuscaloosa, Ala. (ALABAMA vs. Wofford, Samford vs. Loyola-Marymount)
	Iowa City, Iowa (IOWA vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore, New Orleans vs. Boston University)
	Memphis, Tenn. (MEMPHIS vs. Mississippi Valley St., Old Dominion vs. Sacramento St.)
Tuesday	 Nov. 20	%vs. TBA (Semifinals)	 Kansas City, Mo. TBA	TBA
Wednesday	Nov. 21	%vs. TBA (Championship)	 Kansas City, Mo. TBA	TBA
Saturday	Nov. 24	^vs. Xavier	 Indianapolis, Ind. TBA	TBA
Thursday	Nov. 29	JACKSON STATE	 Columbia, Mo.	 TBA	7:00 p.m.

Saturday	Dec. 1	GRAMBLING STATE	 Columbia, Mo.	 TBA	1:00 p.m.
Monday	 Dec. 3	at Saint Louis	 St. Louis, Mo. ESPN2	7:05 p.m.
Saturday	Dec. 8	SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY A&M	 Columbia, Mo.	 TBA	TBA
Saturday	Dec. 15	IOWA	 Columbia, Mo.	 TBA	7:00 p.m.
Saturday	Dec. 22	vs. Illinois 	 St. Louis, Mo. ESPN	8:00 p.m.
Saturday	Dec. 29	at DePaul 	 Chicago, Ill.	 TBA	TBA

Wednesday	Jan. 2	COPPIN STATE	 Columbia, Mo.	 TBA	7:00 p.m.
NOTE - The Big 12 Conference schedule has not yet been finalized

Sunday	Feb. 3	VIRGINIA	 Columbia, Mo.	 ABC	3:00 p.m.

Thurs./Sun.	M. 7-10	Big 12 Tournament	 Kansas City, Mo. ESPN-Plus	TBA

LEGEND
% - NABC Guardians Classic (at Kemper Arena)
^-John R. Wooden Tradition (at Conseco Fieldhouse)
* -- Denotes Big 12 Conference Game	ALL CAPS - Denotes Home Game
ESPN-Plus - Big 12 Regional Network	MSN - Mizzou Sports Network
All Times are Central, and are subject to change