Tigers Round Out `02 vs. Valpo
12/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2002
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Tigers Round Out '02 vs. Valpo
The University of Missouri men's basketball team (6-1) plays its final game of the year (of 2002 that is) on Monday when it welcomes Valparaiso (5-5) to the Hearnes Center for a 7 p.m. tip. Just over a quarter of the way through the regular season, the Tigers check in at #17 in the Associated Press Poll and #16 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Mizzou dropped its first contest of the season on Sat., Dec. 21 in the Busch Braggin' Rights game against Illinois, 85-70 and will take the court for the first time in nine days on Monday. Mizzou holds a 2-0 advantage in the series with Valaparaiso. The last meeting between the two was on Nov. 24 of 2000 (Rickey Paulding, Travon Bryant and Arthur Johnson freshman year) at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska. Mizzou topped the Crusaders, 77-61 in the opening-round contest.
About the Valparaiso Crusaders
The Crusaders are coming off of a tough trip to Purdue on Saturday as they fell to the Boliermakers, 87-55. They enter Monday's matchup with a 5-5 overall mark with all five of their losses coming on the road.
Despite the tough road mark, Valpo has won three of their last four contests heading into their clash with the Tigers.
First-year head coach Scott Drew leads the Valpo attack which features two of the top players in the Mid-Continent Conference, Raitis Grafs and Stalin Ortiz. Scott is the son of Valparaiso coaching legend Homer Drew, who led the Crusaders to seven Mid-Con regular season and conference tournament championship and is Valpo's All-Time winningest coach with 236 wins.
Grafs earned First Team All-Mid Con honors for the second straight year last season and led the Crusaders to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to Kentucky in the first round.
After averaging 12.6 points per contest last season, Grafs has taken his game to a higher level in 2002-03 averaging a team-best 18.5 points and 6.6 boards per contest.
After starting the first six games, Ortiz has come off of the bench and is averaging 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
It's Time to Kick the Tires and Light the Fires
After playing just seven games in the first five weeks of the season, Mizzou enters a stretch of their schedule where they will play eight games in the next 30 days including three games over the next nine days. Within that three-game whirlwind will be the Tigers first game on the road when they travel to Iowa City, Iowa to take on Iowa.
In comparison, Mizzou had played 11 games last year heading into their Dec. 29 match up with De Paul. The seven contests played prior to the final game of December is the least amount of games played since the 1993-94 season when that team played just seven games in the first two months of the season. In a hopefully related note, that squad went on to a 28-4 mark and a Big 8 Championship regular season championship.
Paint it Orange and Blue
One of the keys to the Tiger's success so far this season has been the inside presence of Arthur Johnson. Heading into the contest against Illinois, Johnson had scored 11 or more points in every game and four double-doubles in six games.
Illinois was able to neutralize the Tigers in the paint holding Johnson to a season-low eight points and three rebounds after he picked up two early first half fouls.
The Tigers lack of an inside presence is reflected in the fact that they scored 30 (of 70) points via the three and 20 (of 70) points via free throws. That being said, the Illini also had 30 (of 85) points via the three, 21 (of 85) points via free throws, but outscored the Tigers in paint, 30-20. The also claimed a 42-32 rebounding advantage in the 85-70 win over the Tigers.
Welcome Back Jimmy Mac
While the Tigers took it on the proverbial chin against the Illini, freshman Jimmy McKinney made the most of his return to his home town of St. Louis and the Savvis Center.
McKinney poured in a career-best 15 points and handed out two assists in 27 minutes off of the bench in the contest. He was 4-of-10 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
The 15-point outing marked the second straight contest McKinney has recorded a career-high as he went for 13 points against Memphis on Dec. 14.
He has reached double figures in scoring in four of the six contests he has played in so far this season and is Mizzou's leading free-throw shooter, hitting at a 91% clip (20-of-22). He also leads the team in assist/turnover ratio weighing in with a 4.3 dime per pastry mark.
Still Staunch on D
Mizzou allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40% for the first time this season against the Illini when they shot 45% (27-of-60).
So far this season, good shooting against the Tigers has been the exception to the rule. Mizzou has held opponents to shoot only 37% from the field while forcing them into 120 turnovers (17.1 per game). The loss to the Illini also marked the first time Mizzou had been out-shot in a game this season. Illinois registered a 45% field goal percentage while Mizzou could manage only a 38% mark.
Ricks Squared
1980's rock icon Huey Lewis, who I met once in the San Francisco airport, had a hit single with "Its Hip to be Square" back in 1986 on his "Fore" album.
While they may share the same first name, the play of back court mates Rick(y Clemons) and Rick(ey Paulding) has been anything but square so far this season. In fact its been pretty hip daddy-o.
Paulding has led the Tigers in scoring in two of their seven games and is averaging a team-best 18.0 points per contest while pulling down 6.3 boards per contest. He has also committed larceny (stealing) 14 times this year to lead the Tigers.
He is shooting just under 40% from three point land and is averaging 2.3 three point field goals per contest.
You can forget the "squared" term when you are talking about Clemons game. "Quadruple" would probably be more fitting lately as he has scored 16 points in each of Tigers last four contests. The lightning quick guard from Raleigh, N.C., is averaging 4.7 assists per contest and has hit a team-best 21 three pointers. He has also been solid from the free throw line putting in 18-of-21 so far this year.
A New Addition to the Tiger Family
Owen Redwine Snyder was born to Quin and Helen Sndyer on Christmas day here in Columbia. He weighed in at 5 pounds 12 ounces and was measured at 19 inches tall. He was born at 2:31 p.m. and is rumored to have a sweet mid-range jump shot. Congrats Coach and Helen!
Quin Snyder Agrees to Contract Extension
Length of Agreement Runs Until April, 2008
University of Missouri Head Basketball Coach Quin Snyder has agreed to a contract extension, as announced today by Director of Athletics Mike Alden.
The agreement, effective January 1, 2003, runs through April 30, 2008, and extends his current contract that expires March 31, 2006. The contract is valued at slightly over $1 million dollars per year over the next five years.
Exactly 106 games into his tenure at Missouri, Snyder, 36, sports a 68-38 record, and stands as the 4th-winningest coach in Mizzou history and has won the more games in his first three seasons than any former Tiger coach had won in their first three years at MU.
He has led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons, with his squads progressing one round further every year. Mizzou has also excelled in the classroom under Snyder's guidance, as all six of his student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility have received a degree.
Snyder led MU to a 24-12 run in 2001-02 that resulted with an appearance in the Elite Eight, MU's first trip to the round of eight since 1994.
