Feb. 28, 2003
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Tigers Continue Their Trek Toward the Big 12 Tournament
The University of Missouri basketball team (17-7 overall, 8-5 in the Big 12) travels to Manhattan, Kan., on Saturday to take on the Wildcats of Kansas State. The game can be heard across the state of Missouri on the Tiger Radio Network with Mike Kelly and Gary Link with the call and can also be seen on ESPN+ (KMIZ in Columbia with Fred White and Paul Splittorff calling the action.
Mizzou is coming off of its biggest win of the regular season so far on Wednesday when it took out No. 3 Oklahoma at the Hearnes Center, 67-52. The Tigers improved to 14-0 on the year at home and 17-7 overall. However, the road has presented a whole new set of problems for Mizzou as it is looking for only its third road win of the year (2-5) and second road Big 12 win (1-5). MU is currently in fifth place in the league with an 8-5 conference record, putting them just a game behind Oklahoma State for the fourth place spot. If Mizzou can overtake the Cowboys and finish in fourth, they would be guaranteed a bye in the first round of the Big 12 tournament in two weeks.
About the Kansas State Wildcats
When the Wildcats and Tigers faced off on February 15, (just two weeks ago), KSU was coming off of a big 62-54 win over Colorado at home. The Tigers were able to stop that mini-winning streak, dropping the Wildcats, 71-63. Since then, KSU has dropped three straight contests and has lost eight of their last nine overall.
They enter Saturday's contest with a 12-14 mark overall and a 3-10 mark in the Big 12. They have been very tough at home sporting a 10-4 mark at Bramlage Coliseum with wins over the likes of Saint Louis, Texas Tech and Colorado.
Senior Gilson DeJesus continues to lead the extremely balanced KSU scoring attack with 11.0 point per contest. Four of the five Wildcat starters average between 11.0 and 10.0 points per contest including senior Pervis Pasco, who also leads the squad in rebounding with 7.9 boards per contest. He is also their leading shot blocker, rejecting 1.6 shots per contest.
While the Wildcats rank near the middle in most offensive categories in the Big 12 standings, they have struggled mightily from the free throw line, shooting at a 61% clip, the lowest percentage in the Big 12.
Jim Woolridge is in his third year at KSU and posting a 36-48 mark.
Noting Oklahoma
* Clemons, McKinney, Young, Paulding, and Johnson started the game ... Missouri is now 2-1 with that lineup
* Freshman Kevin Young made Missouri's first basket with a dunk at the 19:44 mark, Missouri's 1st possession
* Freshman Kevin Young fouled out of the game with 5:37 left in the second half, he grabbed 4 rebounds and had the game's opening dunk
* Junior Travon Bryant fouled out of the game with 1:22 to go in the game, he finished with 14 points, his career-high is 15 against Kansas State on February 15th
* The Tigers are now 9-2 against Oklahoma at home when the Sooners are ranked ... The win also broke MU's nine-game winless streak against Oklahoma, the last time Missouri beat Oklahoma was in the 1997 Big 12 Tournament (the first year of the Big 12) ... this is also the first time Quin Snyder has recorded a win against OU.
The Wildcats Meow
Here's how all active Tigers who have played at least two games against KSU have fared against the Wildcats during their careers:
Arthur Johnson Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 5 13.8 10.0 Rickey Paulding Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 5 12.0 4.2 Travon Bryant Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 5 6.2 6.4 Josh Kroenke Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 5 2.4 0.8 Jeffrey Ferguson Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 3 0.0 0.0
Down Right Defensive
Mizzou played some of its best defense of the season on Wednesday against Oklahoma. The Tigers held the Sooners to just 27.3% from the field and 21.7% from three. The last time an opponent shot this low against Missouri was on December 9, 1998, when the Tigers held Arkansas-Pine Bluff 11-of-60 (18.3%). The Sooners could manage only 15 field goals against the staunch Tiger defense.
One of Mizzou biggest concerns was OU's backcourt of Hollis Price, Quannas White and Ebi Ere. The talented group was averaging 42.7 points per game between them, but the Tigers were able to hold them to 27 points and just 7-of-35 shooting form the field.
The Tigers held OU to the second fewest points (52) that a Big 12 opponent had scored against MU and the fourth fewest points an opponent had scored overall this season against MU.
Motown Mojo
There is no question that when Mizzou is in need of some instant offense, the ball goes to either juniors Rickey Paulding or Arthur Johnson. The talented twosome rank one and two respectively on the Tiger squad averaging 16.6 and 16.5 points per contest.
The two talented natives of Detroit, Mich., had huge nights against Oklahoma as they combined for 34 of Mizzou's 67 points. Johnson recorded his league-leading 15th double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Paulding scored 10 of his 14 points on Wednesday during the second half, six of which came during a 1:04 stretch from 9:02-7:58.
Give that Man a Hand
Junior Ricky Clemons played 38 gritty minutes against Oklahoma scoring 13 points, despite battling a fractured bone in his left, non-shooting hand.
Despite sporting a soft cast on the hand, He ripped the Sooners with three huge three-point shots and was 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Clemons also handed out three assists and committed no turnovers.
In a related note, Mizzou had by far its best outing as far as taking care of the ball, committing only five turnovers as a team. That is the fewest turnovers a Quin Snyder-coached team has committed over the past four years.
Travon's Tearing It Up
Junior Travon Bryant continues to come off of the bench and provide a major spark for Mizzou. In the five games he has come off of the bench, he is averaging 11.0 points and 6.6 boards per contest. He has also recorded nine blocks and is shooting 46% from the field in those games. In the games that he has started, he is averaging 7.8 points and 5.9 boards per game.
Bryants latest noteworthy effort came against Oklahoma when he went off for 14 points (just a point shy of his career best of 15) and pulled down six boards, while blocking two shots. He was a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point land and had two huge dunks in the second half to bring the Tiger faithful to their feet.
"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 14-0 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 16.9 points per game and are out-rebounding opponents by 8.2 boards per game.
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 MissouriDistrict 12 Second Team Victor Williams Oklahoma State Rickey Paulding Missouri Tony Allen Oklahoma State Jake Sullivan Iowa State Michael Watson UMKC
"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 (188) and is also second in three-point field goal attempts (508). Junior Ricky Clemons is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals per game (3.17) while Rickey Paulding is ninth in the category with exactly 2.04 tri-fectas per game.
Clemons jumped into the Top 10 at MU in threes made in a season as he has 73, which ranks 7th on the all time charts. He needs just eight more threes to move into the top 5. If he can maintain his 3.17 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 7 Ricky Clemons (02-03) 73
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, 16.6, 9th-Arthur Johnson, 16.5 and 10th Ricky Clemons, 15.9) ... the Tigers are also the only team in the conference to have two players ranked in the top 10 in 3's per contest (2nd, Clemons, 3.17, 9th, Paulding, 2.04) ... junior Arthur Johnson now ranks 26th on the MU all-time scoring list with 1,133 career points ... he had 11 boards against OU and now ranks 10th on the MU rebound charts with 774 career caroms ... 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 1,046 career points putting him in 31st place on the all-time scoring list ...yada-yada-yada.