March 3, 2003
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Road Warriors
The University of Missouri basketball team (18-7 overall, 9-5 Big 12) journeys north to sunny Ames, Iowa on Wednesday for its final road contest of the regular season. Mike Kelly and Gary Link will be calling all of the action on Tiger Radio Network and Chris Gervino and Tiger coaching legend Norm Stewart will be live on the Mizzou Sports Television Network (KOMU in Columbia) with tip set for 7 p.m.
The Tigers enter Wednesday's contest winners of four of their last five and two in a row following their 77-70 win over Kansas State on Saturday in Manahattan. That win combined with Oklahoma State's loss at Kansas catapulted the Tigers into a tie for the fourth place spot in the Big 12 as both teams sport a 9-5 mark. However, OSU still holds the tie-breaker with the Cowboys having defeated the Tigers on Jan. 18 in Stillwater, Okla.
Despite their two wins last week over then-No. 3 Oklahoma and at Kansas State, Mizzou remained on the outside looking in at the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll for the second straight week, recieving votes in both polls.
About the Iowa State Cyclones The Cyclones enter Wednesday's contest with Mizzou with a 14-11 overall mark and a 4-10 record in the Big 12. After picking up wins against Kansas State and Colorado at home last week, the Cyclones dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday at Nebraska, 69-63.
While the Cyclones have struggled away from Hilton Coliseum (2-7 on the road) they have continued the league-wide trend of being extremely tough at home. They are 12-4 in Ames this season. Included in those 12 victories are the Cyclones four Big 12 Conference victories putting them in a tie for 9th place after last Saturday's game.
Senior Jake Sullivan continues to be one of the top scorers in the league averaging 18.2 points per contest. He is also one of the Big 12's premier free throw shooters, as he is shooting 89 percent from the charity stripe.
Junior guard Tim Barnes has also stepped up his play significantly over the past 18.7 points per contest over the past three games compared to just 10.4 points per game for the season.
Jackson Vroman continues to anchor the ISU inside game, averaging 11.8 points and 9.2 boards per contest. He is also ISU's second leading shot blocker with 38 blocks and leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 55.3 percent from the field. He recorded his ninth double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds against Nebraska.
Noting Kansas State
* Mizzou recorded its third win on the road this season with the victory over the Wildcats.
* The Tigers shot above 43 percent from the field for the second straight contest (48 percent against KSU).
* Junior Rickey Paulding scored a game-high 23 points (8-of-13 from the field), marking the eighth time he has reached the 20-point plateau this season.
* Mizzou was outstanding from the free throw line going 17-for-20 against the Wildcats.
* MU was also hot from three-point line, going 8-of-20 from beyond the arc.
* Four Tigers reached double figures in scoring for the second straight game.
*With the win, Mizzou moves into a tie for fourth place in the Big 12 with Oklahoma State at 9-5 in the conference ... however, OSU owns the tie-breaker for the spot.
* The Tigers are now 18-7 overall.
* Head coach Quin Snyder has won 18 games or more in each of his first four season at the helm of the Tigers.
Rick and Roll
As the Tigers get deeper and deeper into the season, junior Ricky Paulding has gotten deeper and deeper into the zone. The junior wingman is coming off of an awesome performance against Kansas State on Saturday when he scored 23 points, 18 of which came in the second half.
On Wednesday, Paulding scored 10 of his 14 points in the second stanza as he led Mizzou to a 65-52 win over then No. 3 Oklahoma.
Over the Tigers' past three contests, Rick has averaged 19.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest and is shooting a blistering 56.8 percent from the field. He has knocked down 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) three-point attempts and 10-of-12 (83.3 percent) free throw attempts during that span.
Charity at the Stripe
Find the nearest piece of wood and knock on it a couple of times because a subject that probably shouldn't be touched is about to be broached. After a bismal 11-for-24 performance at the free throw line against Colorado, Mizzou has been ... well ... really solid from the free throw line the last two games.
The Tigers made 29-of-34 (.853) free throws in the their two wins last week. They have been awesome at crunch time ,especially as they connected on 10-of-12 free throws in the second half of the win over Kansas State and 12-of-12 free throws in the second half to clinch the win over No. 3 Oklahoma.
Cyclone Warning
Here's how all active Tigers who have played at least two games against ISU have fared against the Cyclones during their careers:
Arthur Johnson Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 6 12.7 10.3 Rickey Paulding Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 6 9.5 2.8 Travon Bryant Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 6 4.3 3.3 Josh Kroenke Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 4 1.5 0.5 Jeffrey Ferguson Gms. Ppg. Rpg. 3 1.3 0.7
Last Time Against ISU
No. 21 Missouri Tops Iowa St., 64- 59
Ricky Clemons nets 17 points for the Tigers.
Jan. 21, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Ricky Clemons found his scoring touch just in time to lead a late spurt as No. 21 Missouri beat Iowa State 64-59. He finished the game with 17 points.
Arthur Johnson had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Missouri (11-3, 2-1 Big 12), which lost by 20 at Oklahoma State on Saturday without Clemons. It was the sixth straight double-double for Johnson and 10th overall. The 54 percent free-throw shooter even went 5-for-5 from the line.
Rickey Paulding added 15 points and stopped a shooting slump, going 5-for-11 after hitting only 6-of-24 the previous two games.
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.
Clemons continued his solid play on Saturday against Kansas State scoring 17 points and committing only two turnovers while equaling a career-high with one block.
In a related note, Mizzou had by far its best outings the past two games as far as taking care of the ball, committing only 14 turnovers as a team.
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 10.8 points and 6.7 boards per contest. He has also recorded nine blocks and is shooting 47.1 percent 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 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. He was also awesome against Kansas State scoring 10 points and pulling down seven rebounds.
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 16.9 and 16.2 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.
"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 second straight week, Mizzou remains on the outside looking in at both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll. However, they are still in the RV (receiving votes) category heading into their matchup with Iowa State. Mizzou is receiving 98 votes in the AP poll and 36 votes in the ESPN USA Today Coaches Poll.
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, 16.9, 9th-Arthur Johnson, 16.2 and 10th Ricky Clemons, 16.0) ... 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, 3.13, 9th, Paulding, 2.08) ... junior Arthur Johnson now ranks 26th on the MU all-time scoring list with 1,140 career points ... he had seven boards against KSU and now ranks 10th on the MU rebound charts with 781 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 1,069 career points putting him in 30th place on the all-time scoring list ...yada-yada-yada.
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 14 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 (196) and is also second in three-point field goal attempts (528). Junior Ricky Clemons is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals per game (3.13) while Rickey Paulding is ninth in the category with exactly 2.08 tri-fectas per game.
Clemons jumped into the Top 10 at MU in threes made in a season as he has 75, which ranks 7th on the all time charts. He needs just six more threes to move into the top 5. If he can maintain his 3.13 three-point FG's per contest pace, he will finish the regular season with 81 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) 75