Feb. 26, 2003
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Tigers Hope Win Over OU Comes Sooner Rather than Later
The University of Missouri basketball team (16-7 overall, 7-5 in the Big 12) welcomes the Sooners of Oklahoma to the Hearnes Center for its second-to-last home game of 2002-03. The game, which will tip at 8:00 p.m. CST, will be broadcast on ESPN+ (KMIZ in Columbia) with Doug Bell and Jon Sundvold calling the action.
The Tigers are coming off of a tough loss at Colorado and are glad to make the return trip to the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center. They are a gleaming 13-0 at home this season (2-6 on the road) and 1-1 in neutral court tilts. More can be found on the Tigers' home-court domination later in this publication.
Mizzou continues to fight for positioning in the very tough Big 12 Conference. With a 7-5 mark, the Tigers are in fifth place in the standings, just 1 1/2 games behind Oklahoma State for the No. 4 spot. Meanwhile, OU owns the top spot in the league with a 10-2 Big 12 mark.
About the Oklahoma Sooners
The red-hot Sooners enter Wednesday's contest as the No. 3 ranked team in the country and the No. 1 team in the Big 12 after their win over Kansas in Norman.
OU will be the highest-ranked opponent Mizzou has faced this season and the highest-ranked regular season opponent the Tigers' have faced since they took on No. 1 Kansas in the regular season finale last year.
They are 19-4 overall, 10-2 in the conference and have won three straight contests. Senior Hollis Price is the heart and soul of the Sooner lineup as he is averaging 19.3 points and 3.0 assists per game. He is shooting an amazing 43% from three-point land and he has became even more lethal in the Big 12 season, shooting a remarkable 49% from beyond the arc.
The Sooners have been amazingly balanced in scoring in Big 12 games as four players are averaging better than 10.0 points per game (Price, 20.1, Ebi Ere, 11.2, Quannas White, 11.0, and Kevin Bookout, 10.9). Bookout, (who is a true freshman) Ere and senior Jabahri Brown lead the Sooner rebounding efforts, making up 43% of the team's total rebounds.
While its offense has been solid, OU's defense has been their backbone, holding oppoents to a league-best 60.0 points per game
The Tigers are definitely due against the Sooners, as they have lost nine straight to OU dating back to March 8 of 1997. Mizzou faced the Sooners twice last season, dropping a regular season contest 84-71 in Norman and then ending the Tigers' season in the NCAA West Region Finals in San Jose, Calif., 81-75.
Head Coach Kelvin Sampson is in his ninth year at the helm of the Sooners. He led them to the Final Four last season and currently sports a 206-78 mark at OU and a 382-226 record in 19 seasons as a head coach.
Clemons Out Indefinitely Due to Injury to Left Hand
Guard fractured bone in left hand against Colorado.
Columbia, Mo.-University of Missouri guard Ricky Clemons will be out of the Tiger lineup indefinitely due to an injury to his left hand, it was announced on Monday by Missouri Head Coach Quin Snyder.
Clemons, who is averaging 16.0 points and 4.3 assists per contest for Mizzou, fractured the second metacarpal in his left (non-shooting) hand on Saturday against Colorado when he collided with CU guard Michel Morandis in the second half of the game. He did not practice on Monday after the Tigers took Sunday off.
Noting Colorado
* Mizzou falls to 2-6 on the road this season (1-5 in the Big 12).
* The Tigers did not connect on a 3-point attempt in the first half of the contest, marking only the second time they have failed to connect from three in a half this season.
* Junior Rickey Paulding scored a team-best 22 points
* This marks the seventh time Paulding has eclipsed the 20-point plateau in 2002-03.
* Mizzou was out-rebounded in the contest, 50-44, only the seventh time they have been out-boarded in a game this season.
* Junior Arthur Johnson had 17 points and nine rebounds in the contest
* He now has 1,113 career points, surpassing former Tiger All-American and coaching legend Norm Stewart for 26th spot on the all-time Missouri scoring charts
* He also has 763 career rebounds and needs five rebounds to move into 10th place on the all-time MU rebounding charts
* The loss marks the first time Mizzou had lost to CU since Jan. 16, 1999 (eight straight contests).
"Clark...that there is an RV"
Pardon the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation reference, but some element of humor needed to be injected into this not-so-funny situation.
For the first time this season, the Tigers have fallen out of both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. However, they are still in the RV (receiving votes) category heading into their matchup with No. 3 Oklahoma. Mizzou is receiving 29 votes in the AP poll and 20 votes in the ESPN USA Today Coaches Poll.
The M?tley Cr?e Factor Revisited
1980's glam-rock icons M?tley Cr?e had a hit single from their '85 album "Theater of Pain" called "Home Sweet Home." While the writer of these notes was only eight years old at that time, he can still recall dancing at junior high dances to this classic, heartfelt ballad.
Anyway, the Tigers have really embraced the idea of home sweet home this season, claiming a 13-0 mark at the Hearnes Center so far in 02-03.
This marks the first time Mizzou has been undefeated at home through 13 games since the 1995-96 when that team went undefeated (15-0) at home.
Mizzou has been amazing at the Hearnes shooting 47% from the field and 40% from 3-point land. The Tigers are outscoring their opponents by an average 17.1 points per game and are out-rebounding opponents by 9.2 boards per game.
Feeling Right At Home
While Detroit is home for juniors Arthur Johnson and Rickey Paulding, the dynamic duo has claimed the Hearnes Center as their home away from Motown. Both have been electrifying at home this year.
Paulding is averaging 18.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest at home this year. AJ has been equally as impressive just missing a double-double average with 16.4 point and 9.6 boards per contest. He had the best game of his career against Baylor to kick off the Tigers' Big 12 schedule at Hearnes with a career-best 30 points while pulling down 15 boards.
Johnson and Paulding Earn NABC All-District 12 Honors
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced the NABC Division I All-District Teams recognizing the country's best men's collegiate basketball student-athletes. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, these student-athletes represent the finest basketball players across the country. The 150 student-athletes, from 15 districts, are now eligible for the NABC Division I All-American Team to be announced at the conclusion of the 2002-2003 NCAA men's basketball season. Below are the District 12 selections:
District 12 First Team Nick Collison Kansas Kyle Korver Creighton Hollis Price Oklahoma Kirk Hinrich Kansas Arthur Johnson Missouri>District 12 Second Team Victor Williams Oklahoma State Rickey Paulding Missouri Tony Allen Oklahoma State Jake Sullivan Iowa State Michael Watson UMKC
O-U Have Got to Be Kidding Me!
Here's how all active Tigers that have played at least two games against OU have fared against the Sooners during their careers:
Arthur Johnson Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 7.3 5.5 Rickey Paulding Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 9.8 3.0 Travon Bryant Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 4.5 4.8 Josh Kroenke Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 2 0.0 1.5
On the Rebound
Its a true and simple fact that if the Tigers hope to be successful this season, they need to dominate the rebounding charts, (once again the obvious rears its ugly head). Mizzou has been out-rebounded in five of its seven losses this season and has only been out-rebounded eight times all year.
Despite being out-rebounded, 50-44 by Colorado, the Tigers have still outrebounded their opponents by an average of 6.5 boards per contest over the past four games.
"See the Three ... Be the Three"
It appears as if the Tigers have taken up that mantra made popular by ESPN's SportsCenter personality Rece Davis this season as Mizzou continues to be active from beyond the arc.
Mizzou has hit the second most three-point shots in the Big 12 (181) and is also second in three-point field goal attempts (493). Junior Ricky Clemons is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals per game (3.18) while Rickey Paulding is ninth in the category with exactly 2.04 tri-fectas per game.
Clemons is on pace to jump in to the Tiger record books for most 3-point field goals made in a season very soon. He needs just 10 more threes to move into the top 5. If he can maintain his 3.18 three-point FG's per contest pace, he will finish the regular season with 84 threes, the fifth most in a single season in school history. Here is a look at the top five single-season three-point producers in MU history
# Name 3-pt. FGs 1 Clarence Gilbert (01-02) 118 2 Kareem Rush (01-02) 111 3 Clarence Gilbert (00-01) 102 4 Clarence Gilbert (99-00) 88 5 Mark Atkins (92-93) 81 10 Ricky Clemons (02-03) 70
News and Random Thoughts
Mizzou is the only team in the Big 12 to have three players ranked in the Top 10 in points per game (8th-Rickey Paulding, 16.7, 9th-Arthur Johnson, 16.4 and 10th Ricky Clemons, 16.0) ... the Tigers are also the only team to have two players ranked in the top 10 in 3's per contest (2nd, Clemons, 3.18, 9th, Paulding, 2.04) ... junior Arthur Johnson now ranks 26th on the MU all-time scoring list with 1,113 career points ... he needs just three rebounds to jump into the all-time top 10 in boards ... fellow junior Rickey Paulding became only the 35th player in school history to reach the 1,000-career points mark at MU against Nebraska; he now has 1,032 career points putting him in 31st place on the all-time scoring list ...yada-yada-yada.