2000-01 Season Review
8/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 10, 2001
Columbia, Mo. - After a successful first season at the University of Missouri, anticipation was high for Head Coach Quin Snyder and his 2000-01 Tiger squad. Despite losing sophomore Keyon Dooling early to the NBA Draft, MU was expected to build on an 18-win season that saw them earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In a campaign that saw the Tigers take on one of the country's toughest schedules, Snyder's young team fought furiously, and stood proud in the end. When the dust settled, Mizzou had claimed 20 wins, notched its first NCAA Tournament win in six years, and earned the admiration of many along the way.
Led by All-American Kareem Rush, sharpshooter Clarence Gilbert, flashy freshman Arthur Johnson and gritty leader Brian Grawer, the Tigers took steps in the right direction. It was a group that reveled in landmark wins, and came together in times of setback.
Through it all, this group of Missouri Tigers helped continue the momentum that someday will see the program ascend to unreached heights. With the long-range goal of being the best always in mind, the Tigers were indeed "Continuing the Climb."
Missouri opened fall practice with a roster featuring three seniors and a talented crop of underclassmen that the coaching staff would come to depend on rather quickly.
The month of November saw the young Tigers earn their stripes, winning three of four games to start the season.
Missouri cruised in its opener versus Savannah State, winning 90-49 at Hearnes. Kareem Rush led the way with a brilliant 24-point, 15-rebound effort - undoubtedly a sign of things to come for the Tigers' sophomore sensation.
Next, it was North to Alaska, as the Tigers made the trek to chilly Anchorage, to vie for the Great Alaska Shootout title. Missouri reached the championship game after notching thrilling come-from-behind wins over Rhode Island and Valparaiso, using dominant second halves in both outings. The title game went to Syracuse, however, as the veteran Orangemen broke open a tight contest by outscoring MU by 20 in the second half to pull away for an 84-62 win.
Missouri returned to the mainland and built momentum by winning five of seven games in the month of December, against some sterling competition.
A three-game home- stand greeted the Tigers upon their return. MU proved up to the challenge by earning wins over Southwest Texas State, followed by a solid win over a talented DePaul squad, and a thrilling 77-73 come-from-behind win over Saint Louis.
Standing at 6-1 on the season, and on the verge of cracking the national polls, Missouri embarked on its toughest stretch of the non-conference season, with three straight games: at Iowa, at Indiana and in the annual St. Louis tussle versus Illinois.
The Tigers dropped two of the three games, but still turned heads in the process. Iowa, ranked 25th at the time, needed double overtime to claim a thrilling 99-94 win in a shootout that saw Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert score 32 points apiece in Iowa City. Later, the Tigers gave fifth-ranked Illinois all it could handle, before falling 86-81 in overtime. In between, MU claimed a watershed win at venerable Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
Missouri's 68-63 win marked just the ninth win by a non-conference team in the building's 29-year history. The Tigers turned back a late Hoosier rally and held on for the historic win with key plays from unflappable freshman Wesley Stokes and late free throws by Rush and senior Brian Grawer.
Two more non-conference wins over Stetson and Coastal Carolina put the Tigers at 9-3 heading into the Big 12 season. MU opened league play with consecutive wins over Nebraska, Colorado and Iowa State, but it was the latter that will be remembered for generations to come.
On January 13th, the defending Big 12 champion Cyclones came to Columbia toting the nation's number 13 ranking. They left on the short end of an epic 112-109 four overtime Missouri win that had more plot twists than a mystery novel. ISU led 35-32 at half. Missouri tied it up at 72-all at the end of regulation. After one overtime, it was 82 apiece. Two overtimes, still tied at 91. A third overtime couldn't prove decisive, as the exhausted teams went to an improbable fourth extra period tied at 101. To the delight of the sellout crowd, MU made the big plays down the stretch, and survived a last-second shot to end up on top in a game that was labeled an instant classic by ESPN. Clarence Gilbert earned national attention for his 43-point performance, while Kareem Rush added 32 of his own on the day.
That win propelled the Tigers to 20th in the national polls, but the draining win seemed to take something out of the team. Missouri proceeded to drop consecutive road games at Kansas State, Virginia and Nebraska, but got back on the winning track with a hard-fought win at home vs. Texas Tech on January 27th.
Just two nights later, it was time to renew acquaintances with bitter rival Kansas. The Jayhawks came to Hearnes ranked 3rd in the nation, but it was the Tigers who came out swinging. Missouri jumped out early, and headed into halftime with a 14-point lead. The Tigers went up by as much as 17 early in the 2nd half, only to see KU score 18 straight points to take a lead with 11:39 to play. But MU's Arthur Johnson answered inside immediately, off a feed from fellow freshman Wesley Stokes, and the Tigers regained momentum and eventually pulled away for an impressive 75-66 win. Former coach Norm Stewart was awarded the game ball afterward, a fitting cap to a magical evening that saw the playing floor dedicated in Stewart's name at halftime.
But just when things seemed to be coming together, setback reared its ugly head, in the form of injury. Missouri had the unenviable task of playing its next game at Oklahoma State, which just happened to be the first game for OSU after losing 10 members of its program in a tragic plane crash nine days earlier. In a virtual no-win situation, Mizzou fought valiantly, but came up shy in a three-point loss. Of bigger significance, however, was the fact that Kareem Rush injured his shooting hand in the game's final minutes. Upon returning to Columbia, he was diagnosed with torn ligaments in his left thumb, and had reconstructive surgery two days later. The Big 12's leading candidate for player of the year was feared lost for the season.
It could have been a crushing blow to a young team heading into the crucial final month of the season. But thanks to superb veteran leadership by Brian Grawer, and stepped-up play from its quartet of impressive freshmen, the Tigers proved to be far from "toast" without Rush, as one national publication had predicted.
Grawer led the way, averaging a team-best 15.1 points over the next seven games without Rush, including a late game-winning three-pointer for a crucial win over Kansas State. Overall, the Tigers went 4-3 over the next seven games, with all three losses coming to ranked foes Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas.
The regular season came to a close at 10th-ranked Kansas, and the Tigers were impressive for the first 30 minutes, leading for a good portion of the contest. But the Jayhawks had too many weapons, and when it was all said and done, KU claimed a 75-59 win. A positive to come out of the loss was the return of Kareem Rush, who defied odds by returning to action barely less than a month after surgery.
Snyder's crew headed to Kansas City for the annual Big 12 Tournament with a record of 18-11 and the number six seed. Wanting to make a statement that they belonged in the NCAA Tournament, Clarence Gilbert did just that in the opening round at Kemper Arena. Gilbert scored 30 points on a brilliant shooting night that included 8-of-11 three pointers, and MU cruised to a 77-62 win over Texas A&M in the opener.
That set up what's becoming an annual post-season battle with Oklahoma in the tournament quarterfinals. Missouri outshot and outrebounded the Sooners, and had a brilliant 31-point performance by Kareem Rush, but OU continued its mastery in the series, claiming a last-second 67-65 win. It was Oklahoma's seventh straight win over MU, and marked the second time in less than three weeks that they had edged the Tigers with a heart-breaking last-second basket.
With the regular season complete, Missouri, with a 19-12 record, would await its postseason fate. The Tigers didn't have to wait long to learn their assignment in the NCAA Tournament, however, as Missouri's name was called in the first bracket shown on the selection show. The assignment? The East Regional in Greensboro, North Carolina, versus Georgia in the first round, with the winner facing top-ranked Duke.
Making its third-straight NCAA appearance, 9th-seeded Missouri came out scorching, scoring the first 15 points of the game. But the 8th-seeded Bulldogs wouldn't go down without a fight, and came back to take a one-point lead at halftime. After falling behind by four points with under 18 minutes left in the game, Missouri made a charge and led by 11 with just 3:51 left. Again, Georgia wouldn't throw in the towel. The Bulldogs scored 11 straight points to tie the game at 68 with 23 seconds left, leaving Tiger fans dreading another tournament heartbreaker. But Clarence Gilbert wouldn't allow any letdowns, as he took a pass from Kareem Rush and drilled an 18-foot baseline jumper with less than one second left on the clock to give MU a thrilling 70-68 win - MU's first in the NCAA since 1995.
That set up a second-round matchup with tournament favorite Duke, and a much-anticipated coaching battle between Quin Snyder and his coaching mentor, Mike Krzyzewski. Duke was a heavy favorite to roll into the Sweet 16, but Missouri was determined to make the Bluedevils earn their way in. The Tigers did just that, as they went toe-to-toe with the top-ranked Dukies before eventually falling by a 94-81 score. MU showed it would not be intimidated, and led by as much as six points midway through the first half on the strong early play of Clarence Gilbert. Duke made one of its patented runs, and went up by 15 points with just under two minutes left in the first half, and appeared on the verge of breaking the game open. But a late Tiger rally, led by eight points from the emerging Kareem Rush, got MU to within six at halftime. The second half was more of the same, as the Tigers kept Duke within striking distance. Consecutive three pointers by Brian Grawer and another one by Rush pulled the Tigers to within one point, with 10:42 left. That would be as close as the scrappy Tigers would stay, however, as national player of the year Shane Battier took charge of the game, and led Duke to the hard-fought win. As the Tigers walked off the court that afternoon in Greensboro, they did so with their heads held high - they knew they had proven they could play with the best.
While Kareem Rush rightfully claimed the attention, this Tiger squad benefited from quality leadership by three seniors - guard Brian Grawer, forward Tajudeen Soyoye and forward Johnnie Parker.
Grawer, a longtime crowd favorite at Hearnes, proved to be a calming force on a squad that depended so heavily on youngsters. The St. Louis native ended his Tiger career by averaging 8.4 points per game, and goes into the record books ranked in MU's top ten for career three-point field goals, three-point percentage, steals, assists and free throw percentage. His clutch game-winning three-pointer against Kansas State ranked as arguably the most important play of the 2000-01 season.
Soyoye closed out his two-year career by averaging just under seven points and seven rebounds per game. With an intensity matched by few both on and off the court, Soyoye became the only Tiger to start all 64 games under Quin Snyder.
Parker saw action in 29 games as a senior, and developed into a leader behind the scenes for the young Tigers. After striding onto the court for 118 games in a Tiger uniform, the most important walk Parker took came later in May, when he earned his undergraduate degree from Mizzou.
There was no question, however, that this squad was led by Kareem Rush. The smooth sophomore emerged as one of the nation's top players, and earned honorable mention All-America status after leading the Big 12 with a scoring average of 21.1 points per game. Labeled "the hardest player to guard in America" by one national publication, Rush scored 30 or more five times, and earned the respect of all with his play after returning from surgery.
Known for his explosive scoring capabilities, junior guard Clarence Gilbert amassed some impressive numbers indeed. He was second on the squad with a 16.5 scoring average, and broke the MU single-season record with 102 three pointers. He also led the team with 112 assists, and became just the sixth Tiger ever to record more than 500 points and 100 assists in a single season.
MU's impressive quartet of freshmen was led by imposing center Arthur Johnson, who was runner-up for Big 12 Freshman-of-the-Year after averaging nine points per game. Johnson led the Tigers in rebounding, at just under eight per game, and set school records for blocked shots in a season, as well as a single game. His presence inside gave Missouri's perimeter attack freedom to operate, and he ended the year among Big 12 leaders with six double-doubles.
Rookie slasher Rickey Paulding averaged seven points per game in his first year wearing the Black & Gold. Billed as a player with highlight-reel ability, Paulding didn't disappoint, as he showed time and again that he was one of the Big 12's most explosive talents. When Kareem Rush was lost to injury, Paulding impressed all, as he averaged over 10 points per game.
Stylish Wesley Stokes was a breath of fresh air for the Tigers. The freshman guard had a solid rookie season, averaging just under seven points and two assists per game. Stokes emerged as one of MU's most valuable players late in the year, as he stepped in to average 13 points a game while Kareem Rush was injured. He scored double figures in four straight games during that time, including 19 points twice in wins over Kansas State and Colorado.
Fellow freshman Travon Bryant joined the squad in mid-December, and gave the Tigers solid contributions off the bench. The big man played in 24 games for the Tigers, and averaged over three points and three rebounds per outing. The prep All-American flashed his potential in a key win at Colorado, when he helped lead the Tigers by scoring a career-high 12 points and adding nine rebounds.
Sophomore forward Justin Gage returned to the squad for a second year. A standout wide receiver on the MU football team, Gage again gave the Tigers hard-nosed play off the bench. Seeing action in 24 games, Gage became a valuable play-maker whose numbers didn't do justice to his contributions.
Individually, as well as collectively, the future for Tiger Basketball appears quite bright under Quin Snyder. With a solid nucleus returning for the 2001-02 season, including All-America candidate Kareem Rush, Missouri looks to challenge for supremacy in the Big 12 Conference.
Snyder's squad will still be fairly young, but an incoming recruiting class ranked among the nation's best has fans eagerly anticipating the year, and rightfully so. Add that talented group to a mix that returns the vast majority of its scoring, rebounding and assists for next season, and the potential is truly exciting.
Whatever success awaits in the future, there is no question that the 2001 Missouri Tigers will have played a vital role in the process of building. With a program that is clearly on the rise, this season saw the Tigers "Continuing the Climb."
