March 18, 2003
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Let's Dance!
After an amazing run in last week's Big 12 Conference Tournament to a runner-up finish, the University of Missouri basketball team shifts its focus to the NCAA Tournament on Thursday as it takes on the Southern Illinois Salukis (24-6 overall, 16-2 MVC) out of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Tigers (21-10 overall, 9-7 Big 12) played their way into a #6 seed last weekend after defeating two ranked opponents (No. 20 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Kansas) and making a run late against the No. 1 seed in the East, Oklahoma.
This marks the fifth straight year the Tigers have been invited to the NCAA Tournament and the fourth straight year with Head Coach Quin Snyder at the helm. This marks only the second time in school history Mizzou has qualified for the tournament in five straight seasons, the other being a stretch from 1986-90.
About the Southern Illinois Salukis
For the second straight year and for only the second time in school history, the Salukis received an at-large bid into the field of 64 after posting a 24-6 overall mark and a 14-2 MVC record and despite falling to Creighton in the MVC Championship game two weekends ago.
They enter the tourney as the No. 11 seed and have had a lot of experience in the role of Cinderella. After receiving the school's first-ever at-large bid last year, SIU took full advantage of the opportunity, picking up a first-round win over Texas Tech and a second-round win over Georgia to advance to the Sweet 16.
They were amazing in Carbondale this season, going 14-0, and were a respectable 10-6 mark away from their home digs (8-5 road, 2-1 neutral courts). After opening the season with a 5-3 mark, SIU has won 21 of its last 24 contests and eight of their last nine.
Four Salukis average better than 10.8 points per game and are led by Kent Williams, who averages 15.3 points and shoots 47.6 percent (70-of-147) from three. Jermaine Dearman ranks just behind Williams on the scoring charts averaging 14.4 points and 6.5 boards per contest. Dearman is shooting a blazing 53.5 percent from the field.
Bruce Weber is in his fifth year as head coach of the Salukis and boasts a 103-53 mark.
A Little Place Called 'You'll See'
In what is one of the best Seinfelds (is that redundant?) of all time, a car salesman asks Kramer exactly where they were headed as they took a car on a test drive.
In typical Kramer fashion, he responds with "A little place called 'you'll see.'"
In what has been typical Tiger fashion the past three years, the Tigers are playing their best ball of the season in March and earned a No.-6 seed in the NCAA Tourney, the best seed a Tiger squad has earned since 1994, when that team was the No. 1 seed in the West.
After dropping its final two regular season contests, Mizzou went on a tear through the Big 12 Tournament, coming up just three points shy of becoming the first Big 12 squad to play four games in four days and win the Big 12 tourney title. While we are not quite sure where Mizzou will end up when all is said and done, you can be sure it will be quite a ride wherever it is.
Good D in Big D
The Tigers entered the Big 12 Conference tournament in Dallas, Texas, last weekend as the No. 5 seed in the tourney. The task ahead of them was daunting as they would have to play four games in four days in order to claim the Big 12 Conference Title.
While Mizzou had been known for its offensive firepower during the regular season, the Tigers continued to form their identity as one of the top defensive teams in the Big 12 as well.
After giving up nearly 69 points per contest heading into the tournament, Mizzou clamped down in a major way over the four-game span, allowing opponents to average only 57.8 points per contest. They allowed their opponents to shoot only 34.1 percent on the weekend and only 30.7 percent from three.
The Tigers held all four opponents under 65 points and two opponents under 60 points. Mizzou is 7-0 this season when they hold an opponent under 60 points and is 17-3 when they hold the opposition to under 45.0 percent from the field. Below is a breakdown of some key statistical categories heading into the tourney compared with how Mizzou performed defensively in the tourney.
Pre-tourney Big 12 Tour Opp. PPG 67.8 57.8 Opp. FG % 41.1% 34.1%
OU Have Got To Be Kidding Me
Things did not look so good for Mizzou with 15:05 left in the Big 12 Championship game with Oklahoma, who is the No. 1-seed in the East region of your bracket. OU guard Hollis Price nailed his fourth three pointer of the day, extending what had been a 19-point halftime Sooner lead to 22.
Then Mizzou seemed to decide that they had enough. The Tigers would go on a 23-3 run the rest of the way, not allowing the Sooners (who had shot a blistering 54 percent in the first half) to score a field goal in the final 15:05 of the contest. The Sooners would go 0-for their next 15 shots and would shoot only 15.0% from the field, including 10.0% (1-of-10) from three.
Despite Mizzou's best efforts, the Sooners would hold on to the 49-47 win with some clutch free throw shooting.
Mizzou split the season series with OU, 1-1, but the Tigers proved they could play with some of the best competition in the country, holding OU to just 32.0 percent shooting ( Mizzou shot 42.0% in those games) and outscored the Sooners, 66-49 in the second half of those two games.
News and Random Thoughts
The Tigers are the only team in the conference to have two players ranked in the top 10 in 3's per contest (3rd, Clemons, 2.87, 9th, Paulding, 2.10) ... junior Arthur Johnson now ranks 22nd on the MU all-time scoring list with 1,216 career points ... he had 11 boards against Oklahoma and now ranks 7th on the MU rebound charts with 830 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 1,165 career points putting him in 27th place on the all-time scoring list ... yada-yada-yada.
Rick is on a Roll
As the Tigers get deeper and deeper into the season, junior Rickey Paulding has gotten deeper and deeper into the zone.
Rickey had a great Big 12 Tournament averaging 16.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest over the four-game stint. He opened the festivities with 19 points and 11 rebounds against Nebraska, marking the first double-double of his career.
Paulding was huge against KU pouring in a game-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field as the Tigers defeated the Jayhawks for the first time this season.
After his outstanding efforts in the tourney, he was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team as a follow up to his All-Big 12 First Team selection by the Big 12 Coaches earlier last week.
Rickey has been Mizzou's most consistent scorer all season scoring in double figures in 30 of the Tigers' 31 games and has reached the 20-point plateau in ten games this season.
Travon's Turning it Around
After a roller-coaster ride through the months of November, December, January and February, junior Travon Bryant is playing some of the best basketball of his career right now.
March has come in like a lion for Travon, as he has averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 boards per game over the past four games, all of which have been played in March. He was a huge catalyst off of the bench for Mizzou in the four games prior to the Kansas game and found himself back in the starting lineup against KU. He had a monstrous follow dunk in the second half and scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field as well.
He came up huge in the Tigers' second-round matchup with Oklahoma State. With just over one second left on the clock, Bryant picked up a loose ball and bounced in a jump shot from nine feet out to beat the Cowboys.
Travon equaled a career-best with 18 points while pulling down seven boards and blocking two shots against Kansas.
On the Block with Doc
Junior Arthur "Doc" Johnson has been the straw that stirs the Tigers' Powerade this season in the post. After recording a career-best 11 double-doubles last season, AJ leads the Big 12 with 17 double-doubles. He is averaging 15.5 points per game (9th in the Big 12) and 9.3 boards per game (6th in the Big 12).
He had a terrific Big 12 Tournament averaging 15.8 points and 9.8 rebounds on his way to an all-tournament selection. He recorded his 16th and 17th double-doubles of the season and set a Big 12 Conference Tournament record for most blocks (11) in a conference tourney.
Downright Defensive
Mizzou played some of its best defense of the season on Feb. 26 against Oklahoma. The Tigers held the Sooners to just 27.3 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from three. The last time an opponent shot this low against Missouri was on Dec. 9, 1998, when the Tigers held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 11-of-60 shooting (18.3 percent). The Sooners could manage only 15 field goals against the staunch Tiger defense.
One of Mizzou's biggest concerns was OU's backcourt of Hollis Price, Quannas White and Ebi Ere. The talented group was averaging 42.7 points per game among them, but the Tigers were able to hold them to 27 points and just 7-of-35 shooting form the field.
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 16.7 and 15.5 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 15th double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Paulding scored 10 of his 14 points against OU during the second half, six of which came during a 1:04 stretch from 9:02-7:58.
"We are Taking That RV with us When We Leave Next Month" (Another National Lampoons Christmas Vacation Reference)
The Tigers have returned to the polls after a three week hiatus, and are no long living in the RV. The Tigers are ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
"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 (232) and is also second in three-point field goal attempts (650). Junior Ricky Clemons is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals per game (2.87) while Rickey Paulding is ninth in the category with exactly 2.10 tri-fectas per game.
Clemons jumped into the Top 10 at MU in threes made in a season as he has 86, which ties him for 5th on the all-time charts. He needs just two more threes to move into the top four. 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 Ricky Clemons (02-03) 86 6 Mark Atkins (92-93) 81
Johnson Joins the 1,000-700 Club
With his basket just 33 seconds into the second half at Nebraska, junior big man Arthur Johnson became the 34th player to record 1,000 career points at Mizzou. He now has 1,146 points after his 20 point outing against Oklahoma.
He also became only the 11th player to reach both the 1,000 career-point plateau and the 700-career rebound mark with his 10th of 11 boards against the Huskers. The 18-point, 11-rebound effort was the 11th double-double of the season for AJ, equaling his total from all of last season. He now has 17 double-doubles on the season.
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. Four of the Tigers' ten 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 a 76-55 loss at No. 3 Texas.