March 19, 2002
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2002 NCAA Tournament West Regional
#12 Missouri Tigers (23-11) vs.
#8 UCLA Bruins (21-11)
March 21-23, 2002
Compaq Center - San Jose, Calif.
TIPOFF: 7:15 p.m. (pacific time).
ARENA: Compaq Center (18,500). MU will be playing its first game in the venue.
RADIO: Tiger Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play/Gary Link, color). Carried on more than 50 stations statewide, and on the Internet at www.mutigers.com.
TV: CBS (Talent information TBA).
RANKINGS: Neither team is currently ranked.
SERIES: UCLA leads, 5-0, and has won the only NCAA Tournament meeting between the two schools, 75-74 on March 19, 1995 in Boise, Id.
COACHES:
Missouri:
Quin Snyder (Duke '89), 61-37 at MU and overall (3rd season). Snyder is 0-0 vs. UCLA and Steve Lavin.
UCLA:
Steve Lavin (Chapman '88), 135-58 at UCLA and overall (6th season). Lavin is 0-0 vs. MU and Quin Snyder.
WEST REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 21
At Compaq Center - San Jose, Calif.
Game 1 -- #2 Oklahoma (29-4) vs. #3 Arizona (24-9), 4:55 p.m. PST
Game 2 -- #8 UCLA (21-11) vs. #12 MISSOURI (23-11), 7:15 p.m., or 25 minutes after game 1
Saturday, March 23
West Regional Championship Game, TBA
FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE - Saturday, March 30
At Georgia Dome - Atlanta, Ga.
South Regional Champ vs. West Regional Champ
East Regional Champ vs. Midwest Regional Champ
Monday, April 1
National Championship Game
Sixteen Is Sweet Indeed For 12th-Seeded Tigers
The Missouri Tigers (23-11 overall) found their way to San Jose after a pair of impressive victories in the opening rounds of the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M. last week. The Tigers, seeded 12th in the West Region, bounced #5 seeded Miami, Fla. and #4 seeded Ohio State in consecutive games to earn the school's 6th Sweet 16 berth.
Missouri will face UCLA (21-11) Thursday night at the Compaq Center in San Jose, Calif. Gametime is set for 7:15 p.m. (pacific time).
Missouri will be making its first Sweet 16 trip since the 1993-94 squad reached the Elite Eight and finished 28-4. MU's other Sweet 16 appearances came in 1976, 1980, 1982, 1989 and 1994.
Missouri is making its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance overall, and its 4th straight, including 3 straight in 3 years under Head Coach Quin Snyder. MU's current streak of 4 straight "Big Dances" is the 2nd-longest streak in school history, just one shy of the record of 5 straight from 1986-90.
MU is making its 6th Sweet 16 appearance, and the 1st since the 1993-94 team reached the Elite Eight. Other Sweet 16 appearances came in 1976, 1980, 1982, 1989 and 1994.
MU's 23 wins is the school's most in 8 seasons, since the 1993-94 Elite Eight squad went 28-4.
MU has won opening-round NCAA Tournament games under Quin Snyder for 2 consecutive years. That's only the 2nd time in school history that MU has done so (1994-95 was the other occasion).
MU was dominant in its pair of wins last week vs. Miami and Ohio State. In 80 minutes of play, the Tigers led for 78:01 minutes, were tied for a total of 1:17 minutes and trailed for only 42 seconds. MU scored the 1st 12 points of the game vs. Miami and never trailed, and trailed 2-0 from 19:45 to 19:03 vs. Ohio State.
UCLA leads the alltime series with MU, 5-0. The teams last met in the 2nd round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament, when #1 UCLA got a buzzer beater from Tyus Edney to win, 75-74 in Boise, Idaho over #8 Mizzou.
MU ranks 6th nationally in 3-pt. field goals per game (9.1), and 26th in the NCAA in 3-pt. accuracy (39.2%). Clarence Gilbert (3.3 3FGs p/g) and Kareem Rush (3.1) rank 1-3 in the Big 12 in treys per game. Gilbert has made a school-record 113 threes this season, while Rush is right behind with 105. Their combined 218 treys is more than all but 2 Big 12 Schools.
MU has established single-season school records in 3-pt. field goals made (309) and blocked shots (148).
Clarence Gilbert is the Big 12 Conference's active leading career scorer (1,655 points), and ranks 3rd on the league's alltime scoring list. He also ranks 7th alltime at MU in scoring and is the school's career leader in 3-pt. field goals (327). He set a Big 12 and MU record this season at Colorado when he nailed 12 threes in a 40-pt. effort.
Junior Kareem Rush was named an honorable-mention All-American and 1st-team All-Big 12 recently for the 2nd straight season. He ranks 2nd in the Big 12 in scoring (19.9 p/g), 3rd in 3-pt. field goals (3.1 p/g) and 10th in 3-pt. accuracy (40.4%).