Nov. 14, 2001

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TIGERS AND FALCONS MEET FOR REGIONAL SUPREMACY
The Missouri Tigers (1-0) will look for their second win in as many nights as they play host to the Air Force Falcons (1-0) Wednesday night in second round action of the inaugural NABC Guardians Classic. The winner of the game Wednesday advances to Kansas City next week to take on the winner of a regional hosted by Alabama. Iowa and Memphis are the other regional site hosts.

Mizzou opened the third season under Head Coach Quin Snyder with a solid 89-63 win over Tennessee-Martin. Pre-season All-American Kareem Rush led the was, as expected, with 28 points, while Clarence Gilbert (19 pts.), Wesley Stokes (11) and Rickey Paulding (10) also scored in double figures. Air Force was led by "top gun" Lamoni Yazzie's 21 points, and downed Yale last night, 68-62 in the regional opener.

THE OL' 1-2 PUNCH
Missouri displayed its well-publicized 1-2 scoring punch last night in its 89-63 win over Tennessee-Martin, as pre-season All-American Kareem Rush and senior Clarence Gilbert combined to score 47 points. Rush, the Big 12's scoring champ last season, had 28 points, while Gilbert, who ranked 4th in the league last year in scoring, added 19 points on Tuesday.

Just how special was Rush's start to what could be a magical season? His 28 points were the most scored by a Tiger in a season opener in more than 30 years, since Henry Smith racked up 35 points in an overtime game on Dec. 1, 1970 against Arkansas.

TIGERS EXTEND UNBEATEN STREAK
Even though the regional rounds of the NABC Guardians Classic aren't considered "home" tournaments, one could argue that the regional format is akin to the old Show-Me Classic Tournaments that MU hosted from 1973-1988 at the Hearnes Center. In 12 Show-Me Classics held during that time period, MU went 24-0, winning all 12 tournament championships. Missouri's 89-63 win over Tennessee-Martin Tuesday night extended MU's winning streak at Hearnes in this tournament format to 25 consecutive games.

Making the connections
Missouri opened its season last night with an efficient, if unspectacular, performance against Tennessee-Martin. The Tigers shot a solid 52.7 percent from the floor on the night, connecting on 29-of-55 shots. Included in that total was a 45.0% (9-of-20) success rate from three-point land. UT-Martin actually had more attempts than Missouri on the night (65 to 55), and shot the same number of free throws (34 apiece), but MU held the Skyhawks to just 29.2% from the floor (19-of-65), to make the difference in the game.

ROCK THE VOTE
Members of the media are invited to vote on the regional most outstanding player, and tournament team. Ballots will be distributed at the conclusion of Wednesday's first game, and should be turned in to the MU Media Relations staff by halftime of the nightcap. Results will be announced following the MU-Air Force contest.

CREDENTIAL REMINDER FOR K.C.
Should Missouri win Wednesday's game vs. Air Force, any members of the media wishing to cover next week's games at Kemper Arena in Kansas City need to request credentials from the Gazelle Group. The contact person for credentials is Phil Wendler. He can be reached at (609) 921-1300, or by e-mail at pwendler@gazellegroup.com. Phone lines are available on a first-come, first-served basis in the Kemper workroom. Those wishing to have their own lines must order them by Nov. 16th through Wendler.

TELECONFERENCE REMINDER
A teleconference will be held tomorrow (Thursday) with the head coaches of the four teams that win the regionals held at Missouri, Iowa, Memphis and Alabama. The conference is set for 9:30 a.m. (central) and can be accessed by calling 1-877-329-7569. Please reference the Guardians Classic teleconference. Also, a press conference will be held on Monday, Nov. 19th at 5:30 p.m. (central) in the Fireplace Room at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, with advancing team's coaches and select players.

MU NABS TOP-10 RANKING
It's official, Missouri is a top-ten team, according to both key national polls. The pre-season Associated Press top-25 poll was released last week, and MU found itself perched at number eight, just one spot below its initial No. 9 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today poll. MU is now #8 in the coaches' poll, after a new version was released Monday. It is the first time since 1995 that MU has started the season ranked (#14 prior to the 1995-96 season). The #8 ranking equals the highest an MU team has received to begin the season, matching the 1987-88 squad, which was ranked eighth in the initial poll. That squad went 19-11 and was not ranked at the end of the season after falling to Rhode Island in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

MORE RANKING RANTINGS
The last time MU was ranked in the A.P. top ten came in February of 1995, when the Tigers were ranked No. 9 prior to enduring a four-game losing streak that dropped them to No. 23 by the end of the 1994-95 season. The highest MU has ever finished a season in the rankings in the A.P. poll is No. 5, accomplished by the 1981-82 and 1993-94 teams. The first squad began the season ranked 16th and won the third of four consecutive Big Eight Conference titles for Norm Stewart, and finished the year with a 27-4 record. The '93-94 team started the year unranked but eventually climbed to as high as No. 3 after going a perfect 14-0 in the Big Eight. That squad finished with a record of 28-4.

THE QUIN SNYDER FILE
The 15th head coach in Missouri basketball history, Quin Snyder is 39-26 in his third season as a head coach. Snyder guided Missouri to a 20-13 record in 2000-01, including the schools' first NCAA Tournament win since 1995, when MU defeated Georgia in the opening round. He was named the national rookie coach-of-the-year by Basketball Times after leading the Tigers to an 18-13 record and an NCAA appearance in the 1999-2000 campaign. 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). 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.