HERE'S TO A HAPPIER HOLIDAY
The Missouri Tigers got the year off to a bang, starting the season 9-0 and reaching as high as #2 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll.

But Santa must not have been pleased with the Tigers' play, because MU got a lump of coal for the holiday, losing two straight to then-No. 15 Iowa and then-No. 9 Illinois.

MU will be looking to snap its two-game mini-skid vs. DePaul this Saturday in Chicago - where Mizzou hasn't played in over 42 years since defeating Loyola (Ill.), 71-62 on Dec. 21, 1959.

Mizzou will be playing its third straight game with at least one week of rest, and Tiger faithful are hoping for better fortunes than the past results. MU had 9 days of rest between a Dec. 6 shellacking of Southern (117-67) and an 83-65 loss to Iowa. The Tigers then had 7 days between the Iowa game and the Dec. 22 tilt with #9 Illinois in St. Louis, and MU dropped its second-straight game, 72-61.

THE HOLIDAY HUSTLE & BUSTLE
Missouri took its annual holiday mini-break following the Dec. 22nd game with Illinois in St. Louis. After the game, most everyone including coaches, players and staff, all went to their respective homes all around the country the next morning for some family time.

Following a few days at home, the team was to meet up in Chicago on the 27th, with a practice and team dinner scheduled for later in the day.

The 28th called for another afternoon practice and team dinner, before a night of shuteye to prepare for Saturday's game.

COMPARISON SHOPPING
Mizzou began the year with 9 straight wins, but has fallen on hard times in its last 2 outings. Not surprisingly, statistics comparing MU's output during its winning streak vs. the losing streak are quite revealing.

Individually, you don't have to look mcuh farther than MU's dynamic duo of Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert to see how MU has struggled in its last 2 outings.

Rush and Gilbert averaged 20.2 and 19.7 points per game, respectively, in MU's 9-0 start, but have been held to 15.0 and 6.5, respectively, in the last 2 games.

Poor shooting has been the main culprit for the duo's struggles. Rush has hit just 30.3% from the floor, including just 27.3% from 3-pt. range in the last 2 games, after beginning 48.1% (FGs) and 47.4% (3-pt. FGs) on the year.

A lid has been squarely placed on the lid for Gilbert in the last 2 games, as he's hit just 17.4% (4-of-23) from the floor, including 11.8% (2-of-27) from 3-pt. range, after shooting 47.2% (FGs) and 40.6% (3-pt. FGs) in MU's first 9 games.

On the flip side, sophomore forward Rickey Paulding has provided MU with a positive in the last 2 games. Paulding, who was already playing outstanding coming off the bench, has averaged a team-best 18.0 points per game in MU's last 2 games, after averaging 10.0 per game in his first 9 outings.

MU road rules
MU is 1-0 in road games this year (69-67 at Saint Louis), and is 9-12 overall in hostile territory under Quin Snyder thus far. That breaks down to 5-4 in 1999-2000, and 3-8 last season. MU has taken care of business on the road against non-ranked teams, going 8-5 in those situations under Snyder.

MU-dEpaul SERIES
Mizzou and DePaul will meet for just the 4th time on Saturday, and the Tigers will be looking for their 3rd straight win in the limited series history.

MU owns a 2-1 edge in the series, with wins coming last year in Columbia (99-84) and in the 1997 Maui Invitational (a 47-45 barnburner). On Jan. 2, 1980, 3rd-ranked DePaul scored a 92-79 win in Kansas City over 11th-ranked MU, on the strength of Mark Aguirre's 34 points.

LAST YEAR RECAP: MU 99, DEpAUL 84
Kareem Rush scored 31 points, Clarence Gilbert scored 26, and Arthur Johnson added 16 to lead Missouri to a solid 99-84 home win over DePaul in a nationally-televised ESPN contest. Johnson also grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the Tiger win.

The Blue Demons had their best shooting night of the year at 57 percent, but were outrebounded by the Tigers 38 to 26.

Bobby Simmons led DePaul with a season-high 25 points. Rashon Burno added a career-high 19 for the Blue Demons, with all but three of his points coming in the first half.

Burno scored nine points in the first five minutes as DePaul jumped out to a 16-6 lead. Missouri then responded with a 15-5 run behind two Brian Grawer 3-pointers to tie it at 21.

Gilbert hit back-to-back 3s to make it 31-30 with 5:50 left in the half, giving Missouri a lead that it never gave up.

Missouri hit 12 3-pointers, including 6-of-9 by Gilbert and 4-of-8 by Rush. DePaul only made five 3-pointers as a team.

DePaul hung close in the second half, getting as close as 64-61 with 10:16 left. Missouri then went on a 22-10 run over the next five minutes to secure the win.

DePaul's leading scorer, Lance Williams, was held to six points.

A HOMECOMING FOR NAJEEB
Freshman forward Najeeb Echols will get the honor of playing a game in his hometown of Chicago Saturday when MU and DePaul square off at the United Center.

Echols hails from the Windy City, where he starred in high school for powerful Whitney Young and later ended his prep days at Morgan Park High School.

Echols has played in the United Center several times, and expects to have many family and friends in the stands Saturday.

MORE MU-CHICAGO CONNECTIONS
Even though its been over 42 years since MU played in Chicago, there are several ways that the Tigers are tied to the Windy City, most legit, some are stretches:

NON-CONFERENCE WINS MOUNTING
A Missouri win Saturday vs. DePaul would give MU a 10-2 non-conference record, and would give the Tigers its most non-league regular-season wins since the 1995-96 team went 10-5.

12-GAGE RETURNS WITH A BANG
All-Big 12 wide receiver Justin Gage joined the basketball team last week prior to MU's game with Illinois, and he provided immediate dividends for the hoops squad.

MU Coach Quin Snyder wasn't sure if he would play Gage vs. the Illini, but when Tiger center Arthur Johnson got his second foul with 15:51 left in the first half, up popped Gage as MU's first sub of the contest.

Gage ended up playing 17 minutes vs. Illinois, and grabbed 7 rebounds and added 1 steal in his time.

Gage, a 6-foot-4, 208-pound forward, is playing two sports for the third straight year. He is the only Tiger, along with Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert, to play in each of Quin Snyder's three years at Mizzou.

Gage's decision surprised a lot of people in the Tiger camp, as most thought he would forego basketball after playing two sports for the past two years.

Gage played in a total of 49 games the past two years for Snyder, and averaged 2.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. On the gridiron, he has led the football team in receiving each of the past two years, including 74 receptions in 2001 for 920 yards and 5 touchdowns. His receptions mark was just one catch shy of the MU single-season record.

last time out:
#9 illinois 72, #8 mu 61
Recap

THE QUIN SNYDER FILE
In only his third season at Missouri, Head Coach Quin Snyder has his Tigers achieving heights not seen at MU in years.

After getting out to a 9-0 start to the season, Mizzou was perched #2 in the Associated Press top-25 poll. That marked the highest an MU team has been ranked since the 1989-90 season. Additionally, when MU won the Guardians Classic in November with its miraculous comeback vs. Iowa, it gave the school its first in-season tournament championship since 1989.

The 15th head coach in Missouri basketball history, Snyder is 47-28 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.

MU GETS downright OFFENSIVE ON THE BOARDS
It's certainly too early to determine much statistically, but in MU's first 11 games, the Tigers appear to be an improved rebounding squad.

A year after ranking 11th in the Big 12 Conference with a rebounding margin of -0.7 per game, the Tigers currently rank 5th in the league with a margin of +8.5 per outing. MU had ranked 1st in the league, and 3rd in the nation, with a margin of +12.1 prior to being outrebounded in its last outings.

Despite the recent losses, the Tigers have been especially dominant on the offensive rebounding, as MU still leads the Big 12 in that category, with an average of 16.73 per game.

In MU's 4 games prior to Iowa, the Tigers enjoyed a rebounding margin of +24.0 per game, including 82-31 on the offensive glass.

Mizzou outrebounded Southern on Dec. 6th by a 53-24 margin, which is the largest single-game rebounding margin under Quin Snyder.

MU has won the rebounding battle in 7 of 11 games this season, and is 7-0 on the year, and an impressive 24-3 under Quin Snyder when outrebounding its opponent.

Last season, Missouri outrebounded its opponent just 11 times in 33 games.

Dec. 3rd at Saint Louis, the Tigers trailed 35-31 at halftime, thanks in large part to SLU's 20-19 rebounding edge in the first half. The second half was a different story, though, as the Tigers controlled the boards by a 24-11 margin in the second half, and won the category 43-31 for the game.

On Nov. 14th, MU had a historic rebounding game in an 86-58 win over Air Force. Missouri held the Falcons to just 12 rebounds in the game. That's right, 12 rebounds total. MU outrebounded Air Force 31-12 on the night, and had more offensive boards (17) than the Falcons had overall (12).

Records show that the 12 rebounds by Air Force is a new record single-game low for an opponent against MU.

Missouri enjoyed a huge 104-49 rebounding advantage in wins over Grambling and Jackson State, outrebounding Grambling 50-23, preceded by a 54-26 edge over Jackson State.

Mizzou was dominant on the offensive glass in those games, holding an eye-popping 46-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.

FINDING WAYS TO WIN
In the first two years under Quin Snyder's direction, Missouri fell victim quite often to its dependance on the outside shot. While the 3-pt. shot is still a vital weapon in MU's arsenal, this year's Tigers are showing they have the ability to win games in varied ways - more often than not the trait of a good team.

What's this all mean? That's open for interpretation, certainly, but it should show that Missouri is no longer a one-dimensional team that lives and dies by the long jumper.

GETTING QUALITY WINS
In winning its first 9 games, Missouri has already claimed wins against teams from four of the top conferences in college basketball.

MU has downed Iowa of the Big Ten, Alabama of the SEC, Xavier of the Atlantic 10 and Saint Louis of Conference USA.

Mizzou will have a chance to add the ACC to its list when the Tigers host Virginia in its last non-league game of the regular season in February.

MU did stake its claim to the SWAC championship, as MU rolled to a perfect 3-0 in games vs. SWAC teams Jackson State, Grambling State and Southern.

PAULDING STEPS UP AS 6TH MAN
Sophomore Rickey Paulding is quickly establishing himself as one of the nation's top 6th-men. That's one of the many subjective claims we make in these propaganda-lined notes, but those who have seen Paulding play this year know just what we're talking about.

The Detroit, Mich. native is currently 3rd on the Tiger squad with an average of 11.5 points per game, up from his freshman scoring mark of 7.0 points per game.

And while he's still MU's human highlight reel (re: countless amazing alley-oop jams throughout the year), his improvement in shooting has been arguably the most impressive part of his game this year.

A year ago, Paulding shot 42.1% for the year, including 21.4% from 3-pt. range. After working hard in the off-season, the numbers have gone up to 57.7% from the floor in MU's 1st 11 games, including a solid 41.4% from 3-pt. range. He enters the DePaul game ranking 4th in the Big 12 with his field goal percentage.

Paulding is coming off a 14-pt. game last Saturday vs. Illinois. Prior to that, he turned in a career-high 22-pt. outing vs. #15 Iowa, in which he sank 8-of-12 shots on the night. He was one of MU's few bright spots on the night, and scored 10 points in a stretch in the first half that helped pull MU to within 5 points of Iowa, the closest MU would get all night.

IT'S ALWAYS RUSH HOUR AT MIZZOU
Junior forward Kareem Rush was named MU's first-ever pre-season first team All-American by the Associated Press, and he's done nothing to hurt his chances of winning the post-season honor, as well.

Rush is MU's leading scorer, and ranks 2nd in the Big 12, with a 19.3 scoring average. That number is down slightly from his sophomore average of 21.1, likely because Mizzou has more scoring options, and opponents are now gameplaning to stop him.

Rush is looking to rebound from a pair of off nights offensively. Last Saturday vs. Illinois, he scored 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, but early foul trouble ruined what appeared to be a promising night, as he scored 10 points in the game's first 9 minutes. After getting his 2nd foul, he sat out the rest of the first half, and made just 2-of-9 shots in the second half.

Previously, Iowa held him to just 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting, including 2-of-10 from 3-pt. range. In MU's 2 games vs. Iowa this year, he was held to an average of 12.5 points per game, after scoring a career-high 32 points at Iowa last season.

Rush had an efficient outing Dec. 6th vs. Southern, as he tallied 25 points in only 22 minutes of play. He hit 9-of-13 shots, including 4-of-7 from 3-pt. range before being pulled with just over 12 minutes left in the game.

Rush had perhaps his best all-around performance in a Tiger uniform Nov. 24th when he led MU to a solid victory over Xavier in Indianapolis, with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists in 39 minutes. He also played excellent defense, holding one of Xavier's top scorers, Romain Sato, to a 4-of-13 shooting night.

He had a 17-point performance Dec. 1st vs. Grambling in a game in which he sat out the final 8 minutes after the game was in hand for MU. He entered the game with 994 career points, and became the 33rd member of MU's 1,000-point club. He's now ranked 29th alltime among Tiger scorers with 1,068 points, and needs 29 more to surpass Byron Irvin for 28th on the chart.

Rush was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Nov. 27th. The league award marked the fifth time the that Rush claimed a Big 12 weekly honor. A pre-season first team All-American, Rush was named Big 12 Player of the Week twice last season, and earned the league Freshman of the Week honor twice during his freshman season of 1999-2000.

Rush has now scored in double figures in 55-of-59 games in his Tiger career.

GILBERT movin' on up
Just like George and 'Weezy, senior guard Clarence Gilbert keeps movin' on up.

Instead of a dee-lux apartment in the sky, Gilbert is continuing his ascent up the MU career scoring chart.

He enters Saturday's game vs. DePaul ranking 20th on the MU career scoring chart, with 1,264 points.

Gilbert has struggled to find the mark in the last 2 games, as he has been held to an average of 6.5 points on a combined 17.4% shooting (4-of-23 FGs), including just 11.8% from 3-pt. range (2-of-17 3FGs). That's been a stark contrast to his superb shooting to begin the season, as he averaged 19.7 points in MU's first 9 games, shooting 47.2% from the floor, including a solid 40.6% from 3-pt. range.

Gilbert was held to 9 pts. on 3-of-12 shooting last Saturday vs. #9 Illinois, including 2-of-9 from 3-pt. range.

He was held to a season-low 4 points in his previous outing vs. #15 Iowa, as he couldn't find his rhythym offensively, going just 1-of-11 for the game, including 0-of-8 from 3-pt. range. Earlier in the year, he scored 27 points to lead MU to a win on Nov. 21st vs. Iowa, and scored 32 points against the Hawkeyes last season.

Gilbert was named Big 12 Conference player of the week Dec. 10th for his play in leading MU to wins over Saint Louis and Southern.

Gilbert led MU in scoring each game, averaging 23.5 points for the week. He first had 18 points at SLU, and led the way down the stretch, as he scored 8 of MU's final 13 points in the win. Included in that were 6 consecutive points late in the game, as well as a pair of clutch foul shots with under a minute left.

He followed with a sizzling shooting performance against Southern, when he erupted for a season-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting (including 7-of-10 from 3-pt. range).

Gilbert needs 10 points to pass Lee Coward for 19th place on the chart.

Gilbert is on pace to statistically become one of the most productive players in Missouri history. Gilbert is already MU's career leader in three-point field goals (244), and if he matches last season's point total of 529, he would end his career ranking 8th on the alltime school scoring chart. He began the season ranked #28 on the scoring chart with 1,074 points.

Gilbert was 0-of-3 from the three-point line at SLU, breaking a string of 17 consecutive games in which he'd made a trey. The Big 12 leader in threes per game last season (3.11 p/g), Gilbert has made a three pointer in 67-of-74 games dating back to his sophomore season.

Gilbert was the hero vs. #9 Iowa in the NABC Guardians Classic championship game, as he had a 27-point outing. He hit the game-winning free throw after being fouled with just :00.8 seconds left in the game. He was named the tournament MVP for his performances in Kansas City, where he averaged 22.5 points against two ranked teams.

Gilbert's game-winning free throw against Iowa got the headlines, but it was his leadership down the stretch that was really evident, as he helped will his team to the title.

He helped lead MU's improbable comeback win vs. Iowa with a steal, and two baskets in a 45-second stretch. He grabbed a crucial defensive rebound with time running down, and raced down court to draw the foul just before the buzzer that set up his winning free throw.

Against #22 Alabama the night before, he led MU with 18 points, and grabbed a season-high 9 rebounds, including four huge defensive boards in the final two minutes as MU fought off a Crimson Tide charge after Kareem Rush was knocked out of the game.

MORE ON GILBERT
To help illustrate just what a solid overall player Clarence Gilbert has been in his career, consider the fact that he is on pace to end his Tiger career in the top-10 in scoring, 3-point field goals, assists and steals. He would join former All-American Melvin Booker as the only Tiger to rank in the top-10 of each of those categories.

Gilbert was named one of 30 senior players as candidates for the first-annual Senior CLASS Award, to be awarded to the nation's top senior. The award stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, and is being sponsored by broadcaster Dick Enberg and the Kansas City Club.

A daunting list of foes
A quick glance at the top-25 rankings reads virtually like Missouri's schedule. As many as seven past or future opponents on MU's docket currently reside in both the Associated Press Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.

STOKES GETS RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Missouri point guard Wesley Stokes enjoyed quite a week (Dec. 3-9) in MU's wins over Saint Louis and Southern.

Stokes earned national attention on Dec. 3rd when he drained a 17-footer at the buzzer to keep #2 Missouri undefeated with a win at SLU. He followed those heroics by scoring 10 points and dishing out a career-high 11 assists Dec. 6th vs. Southern.

He became just the 8th player in MU history to record double figures in points and assists in a game. The last Tiger to accomplish that feat was Melvin Booker, who had 21 points and an MU-record 13 assists vs. Illinois on Dec. 22, 1993. Booker did have the benefit of three overtime periods to amass his stats, for what it's worth.

Stokes' assist total tied for the 4th-most in a single game at Missouri. Here's a look at the top-five individual assist games:

A.J. LEADING THE WAY
Sophomore postman Arthur Johnson is becoming one of the best big men in the powerful Big 12 Conference.

Statistics show that the Detroit, Mich. native ranks among Big 12 leaders in 5 different categories.

Johnson leads the Big 12 in blocked shots (2.27) and ranks among leaders in offensive rebounding (2nd - 3.82 p/g), field goal percentage (3rd - 58.2%) and total rebounding (8th - 7.7), and steals (14th - 1.55 p/g).

He grabbed a season-high 16 boards Dec. 3rd in St. Louis, and added 10 vs. both Grambling and Jackson State. All 10 of his rebounds against Grambling came on the offensive end.

He also scored in double figures in each of those games, making him the first Tiger to record three straight double-doubles since Albert White did so in games 2, 3 and 4 during the 1998-99 season.

Johnson is MU's 4th-leading scorer, averaging 10.5 points a game. He scored a career-high 19 points in MU's Nov. 14 win over Air Force.

His 14-point, 16-rebound outing vs. SLU was a key reason why MU won the game, as the Tigers were a season-worst 1-of-10 from three-point range. MU outscored SLU in the paint, 42-28 on the night.

tigers strong out of the gate
Missouri got off to a 9-0 start to a season for the first time since the 1991-92 squad won its first 11 games.

Only 5 times previously in modern school history has MU won its first 9 games to begin a season. The best start in school history came when the 1981-82 team won its first 19 games on its way to a #1 national ranking and eventual 27-4 record and Big Eight championship.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
Missouri is taking quite good care of the ball thus far, as Quin Snyder's group is averaging just 13.9 turnovers per game. That's just slightly more than the school record of 13.3 turnovers per game set in the 1999-2000 season.

a comeback for the ages
The evening of Nov. 21st saw Missouri stage an incredible rally to gain an improbable 78-77 comeback win over 9th-ranked Iowa in the championship game of the NABC Guardians Classic in Kansas City, Mo.

The Tigers trailed Iowa by 11 points (73-62) with just 2:15 remaining, but a frantic series of events took place quickly, and when the dust settled, the game was tied with :00.8 seconds left on the clock, and MU's Clarence Gilbert was standing at the foul line to shoot two free throws. He missed the first after a series of three Iowa timeouts, but got the second one home and MU knocked away a desperation full-court heave to get the dramatic win.

All told, Mizzou outscored Iowa 14-4 over the last 2:11, and forced three turnovers.

TICKETS TO HOME GAMES GOING FAST
Excitement for Tiger Basketball is reaching a fevered pitch, as evidenced by recent ticket sales for home games.

The MU Athletic Ticket Office announced recently that 9 of MU's remaining 10 home games have officially sold out.

The sold out games include:

Tickets remain for only the Jan. 2 game vs. Coppin State, but fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance, as they are going fast. Tickets are available by visiting the Hearnes Box Office, or by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS. Prices are $10 for non-conference games.

IT'S A YOUTH MOVEMENT
The lofty expectations thrust upon Missouri this pre-season are a welcome challenge to all those in the Tiger program. Not that we're trying to temper expectations, but to be a top-10 team like many are predicting, will be indeed a tall challenge for a squad that is very young overall. Eight of MU's top 11 players in the rotation are freshmen or sophomores, and a ninth - junior college transfer Uche Okafor - is in his first year in the program.