Jan. 27, 2003
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The University of Missouri basketball team (11-4 overall, 2-2 in the Big 12) plays its fourth road game in the last five contests on Wednesday when it travels to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-9, 1-4 in the Big 12).
The Tigers hung onto the 25th spot in both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and the Associated Press poll on Monday. Mizzou is coming off of a 76-55 loss at No. 3 Texas.
Mizzou wraps up the month of January on Wednesday, and it can't come soon enough. After winning their first three games of '03, Mizzou has dropped three of its last four contests, all of which have been to teams that have been ranked in the Top 25.
The game will shown on the Mizzou Sports Network with Chris Gervino and Missouri coaching legend Norm Stewart calling the action. The game can be seen in Columbia on KOMU.
About the Nebraska Huskers
The Huskers enter Wednesday's contest with a 9-9 mark and a 1-4 in the Big 12 conference. They are coming off of a 71-61 loss at the hands of the Iowa State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa. In that game, Iowa State blocked 17 shots as a team, setting a new Big 12 mark for most shots blocked in a game.
The Huskers were dealt a tough hand earlier this season when they lost starting point guard and floor leader Jake Muhleisen after 14 games for the rest of the season to injury. He was averaging 11.3 points per game, which still ranks third on the team, and he still leads the squad in assists with 47 (3.4 per contest). Since losing Muhleisen, the Huskers have dropped four of their last five.
Nebraska's lone Big 12 win is a big one, however. They grabbed an 80-77 overtime win against Colorado on Jan. 18 in Lincoln, so they are capable of getting big wins in the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Nate Johnson and Andrew Drevo have been the steadiest offensive contributors for the Huskers averaging 13.6 and 12.8 points per game respectively. Drevo leads the squad in rebounding averaging 7.5 boards per contest. Head coach Barry Collier is in his third year at the helm of the Husker ship. He is 36-40 overall and 1-3 against the Tigers.
A Look at the Old Record Books
Junior Arthur Johnson, continues to make major progress in the Missouri record books. He has already jumped into the top spot on the MU All-time blocked shots list with 162 career swats.
After his 10-point, seven-rebound outing against Texas on Saturday, Arthur now has 989 career points and 690 career rebounds. When he reaches the 1000 point and 700 rebound mark, which could happen on Wednesday, AJ will become only the 11th player in Missouri history to record 1,000 points and 700 boards in a career.
He will become the 34th Mizzou player to reach the 1,000 point club and needs just 58 boards to make his way into the MU career rebounding Top 10.
Road Warriors
Being away from the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center is not easy for the Tigers. Heck, nobody likes being away from their home court very bad. Mizzou sports a 1-3 mark on the road so far this season and a 14-19 mark away from home under coach Quin Snyder.
Despite those struggles, the Tigers' backcourt tandem of Ricky Clemons and Jimmy McKinney has been strong in the Tigers' four road games so far this season.
Ricky's scoring average has actually gone up away from Columbia as he is averaging 23.0 points and 3.5 assists per game compared to 15.1 points per game at home.
Jimmy Mac has been the cheesiest on the road going for 10.8 points per game (compared to 8.4 points per outing in Columbia), including 13 points in each of the Tigers' last two games away from the Show Me State.
Orange Crush
Like Superman has his kryptonite, rendering him helpless to the powers of the world's evil, the Tigers have been hapless against squads wearing the color orange. All four losses this season have come to teams that sport the color on their uniforms including an 85-70 loss to No. 13 Illinois, back-to-back losses to No. 24 Syracuse (76-69) and No. 9 Oklahoma State (76-56), and their latest setback, a 76-55 loss at No. 3 Texas.
But have faith, people of the Tiger nation. The Tigers do not face another squad that wears the color orange the rest of the season, so naturally the Tigers should finish the season on a 12-game winning streak heading into the Big 12 tournament.
Facing Off with the Corn
Here's how all active Tigers have fared against the Cornhuskers during their career:
Arthur Johnson Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 8.0 5.5 Rickey Paulding Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 7.5 3.3 Travon Bryant Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 4.5 4.0 Josh Kroenke Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 1.3 1.5 Jeffrey Ferguson Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 1 2.0 0.0
Noting Texas
A couple of notes of note from the Texas game:
* The Tigers had one of their worst offensive outings of the year against Texas. They scored the least number of points (55), made the second least offensive field goals (23), registered the second worst field goal percentage (.365), made and attempted the least free throws (3-of-8) and handed out the least assists in a game (5).
* Ricky Clemons led the Tigers in scoring for the fourth time this season, pouring in 16 points and junior Arthur Johnson led the Tigers in rebounding with seven boards.
* After trailing by 14 points at halftime (36-22), the Tigers went on a 21-12 run the first 9:26 of the half to pull within five points at 48-43 at the 10:43 mark.
* The loss marks the 12th straight time the Tigers have lost to a ranked team on the road.
* The Longhorns took 22 more free throws than the Tigers did. Ironically, the final margin of victory for UT was 21 points.
Big 12...Big Man...Big Numbers
While junior center Arthur Johnson (6-9, 259 lbs.) has been great all year for Mizzou (16.9 ppg., 9.8 rpg.), the early stages of Big 12 play have shown AJ is ready to move his play to a whole new level.
The flamboyant big fella is averaging 20.3 points and 11.8 boards in four Big 12 contests against Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Texas.
In the BU game, he was phenomenal, registering a career-best 30 points and 15 boards. He was equally as impressive against Oklahoma State, going for 20 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
AJ continued to dominate in the paint in the Tigers' win over Iowa State as he scored 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. He was perfect from the free throw line for the first time this season against ISU, going 5 of-5 from the charity stripe. He has now recorded double-doubles in six of the Tigers' last seven contests after scoring 10 points and pulling down seven rebounds at Texas.
Valuing the Rock
Mizzou has been up and down this season when it comes to turnovers and utilizing each possession. The last four contests are prime examples of the this trend. After committing 20 turnovers at Syracuse and 15 at Oklahoma State, the Tigers clamped down against Iowa State, committing only nine turnovers while forcing Iowa State into 19 miscues. Mizzou converted those turnovers into 24 points.
However, the turnover bug bit the Tigers once again against Texas as they turned the ball over 16 times, 11 of which came in the first half.
One of the major factors in the Tigers efficiency on offense is the play of junior Ricky Clemons
He committed only two turnovers against Iowa State and scored 15 points. ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said that Clemons is "a solid all-around performer who can make 3s and pass the rock" and "has come through big-time. He had 27 points (6-of-11 on trifectas) and seven assists in a win at Iowa. He has given Missouri quality time right away," on ESPN.com last Thursday.
The Man Without the Mask
Remember the old Scooby Doo cartoon when Scoob and the gang took the mask off of the character that had been haunting everyone the entire episode?
Freshman Jimmy McKinney pulled off an unmasking of his own on Saturday at Texas when he played without a protective mask for the first time during the regular season. After scoring just two points in the opening half, McKinney had a great second stanza pouring in 11 points going 6-for-11 from the field for 13 points on the day.
The amazing freshman was unfazed by the mask during the healing process and will continue to be a major factor in the Tigers offensive game plan.
With 11:49 left to play in the first half of the Tigers' matchup with Austin Peay, Mizzou's own version of a masked avenger, freshman McKinney, made his much awaited comeback and regular season debut for the Tigers.
Sporting a plastic mask to protect the area over his right eye where he suffered a fractured frontal sinus, the talented freshman came into the game to quite the ovation. He did not disappoint the fans that gave the ovations either. He scored eight points on 2-of-3 3-pt. shooting while handing out three assists in 16 minutes of playing time.
He was equally impressive in his second game as a Tiger putting in 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field in 22 minutes of playing time against Sacramento State.
McKinney saved his best for the second half in the Tigers' come-from-behind win over USC on Dec. 7. He registered a career-best 12 points in the contest, 10 of which came during Mizzou's second half flurry in which it went from down 11 at the 15:41 mark to tied with 9:00 minutes left in the game.
Jimmy continued to showcase his well-rounded game against Wisconsin-Green Bay . While he finished the night with only five points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field, he handed out a career and game-high nine assists in the Tigers' 88-67 win.
The McKinney adventure continued against Memphis as the silky-smooth freshman recorded a then career-best 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
The Braggin Rights game against Illinois in St. Louis offered McKinney his biggest stage so far, and he did not disappoint the hometown faithful as he scored a career-best 15 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and a 6-of-6 effort from the free throw line.
McKinney started the first game of his career against Valpo. He was solid going for eight points while handing out four assists in the contest. He started the second game of his career against Iowa and scored eight points in only 16 minutes due to early foul trouble.
McKinney started the first game of his career at point guard against Oklahoma State and was solid, scoring 15 points and handing out four assists while playing a career-high 40 minutes against the Cowboys.
He scored six points, pulled down six boards and handed out six assists against the Baylor Bears in his first Big 12 contest and then put in seven points against the Orangemen on Jan. 13.
And the saga continues...
Tickets Go on Sale for Big 12 Tournament
Tiger fans can now purchase tickets for the 2002-03 Big 12 Men's and Women's basketball tournaments. The three-day event, which will take place on Mar. 13-16, will be played for the first time in league history, in Dallas, Texas at American Airlines Arena.
For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT PAWS or 884-PAWS or log on to www.mutigers.com.
Tickets Still Available for Tigers' Home Games with Nebraska and Oklahoma
Tickets are still available for Mizzou's contests with Nebraska on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. and Oklahoma on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call 1-800 CAT PAWS or 884-PAWS in Columbia.