Dec. 25, 2003
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Mizzou Treks to Memphis In Hopes of Taming Tigers
The University of Missouri basketball squad (4-2 overall, 0-0 in the Big 12) looks to get back on the winning track on Saturday, taking on the Memphis Tigers in Memphis. Mizzou is coming off of a nail-biting, 71-70 loss at the hands of Illinois in the Busch Braggin' Rights game in St. Louis on Tuesday. The Tigers, who have lost two of their last three contests, are in the midst of a three-game-in-seven-day stretch. Following their contest with Memphis on Saturday, Mizzou will return home to face another school from the state of Tennessee (Belmont) on Dec. 30.
Saturday's contest with Memphis will be carried on ESPN with tip set for 11 a.m. CST. Bob Carpenter will handle the play-by-play duties and Jimmy Dykes will bring his expert analysis to the table. The contest can also be heard on the Tiger Radio Network with the "Voice of the Tigers" Mike Kelly providing the play-by-play and former Tiger great Gary Link providing the analysis.
Mizzou is 1-0 so far this season on ESPN, picking up a come-from-behind win at Indiana, 63-58 on December 13. The Tigers will play on the world wide leader in sports three more times this season and two more times in the next three weeks (Jan. 12 in Columbia against Syracuse and Jan. 20 in Columbia vs. Texas).
Quick Hits
* Mizzou is 2-0 in true road games this year, 2-0 at home and 0-2 in neutral court battles.
* Mizzou has won four of its last six contests against Memphis including last years 93-78 win over the Tigers in Columbia. However, Memphis still leads the series, 6-4.
*Mizzou is 2-2 in their first contest after Christmas under Coach Quin Snyder.
* Coach Snyder is looking for win number 89 at Mizzou on Saturday.
* The Tigers are 46-22 under Coach Snyder against non-conference opponents.
* Freshman Linas Kleiza leads the Big 12 in rebounding heading into Saturday's action. He is averaging 10.0 boards per contest.
* Tiger seniors Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding and Travon Bryant combined for 56 of the Tigers' 70 points against Illinois and shot a combined 19-of-36 from the field.
* The four Tiger big men (Arthur Johnson, Travon Bryant, Linas Kleiza and Kevin Young) went 24-for-30 from the floor against UNCG last Sunday totaling 58 points and 22 rebounds.
*Junior transfers Randy Pulley (5 pts in 11 minutes) and Jason Conley (19 pts in 21 minutes) made their Tiger debuts last Sunday against UNC Greensboro.
* With his first of 10 rebounds against Illinois, senior Arthur Johnson became only the fourth player in Mizzou school history to record at least 1,300 career points and 900 career boards. The other three are Steve Stipanovich (80-83), Doug Smith (88-91) and Derrick Chievous (85-88).
A Look at the (Other) Tigers
Memphis enter Saturday's contest winners of six of their last seven and two of its last three. Its latest conquest was a 63-62 thriller at the Pyramid against Samford on Monday. Senior Antonio Burkes had a big night scoring a team-high 20 points while nabbing three steals in the win. Burkes ranks second on the squad in scoring averaging 15.5 points and 5.6 assists per game for the Tigers. Sophomore Rodney Carney has been their most potent offensive weapon averaging 16.4 ppg. Four Tigers average double digits in scoring while Sean Banks paces UM's rebounding efforts with a 7.9 rpg mark.
John Calipari is in his fourth season as head coach of the Tigers and sports a 270-104 overall mark. He led Memphis to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his three year tenure last year and has led six of his twelve collegiate squads into NCAA Tournament play.
Last time Out Against Memphis
Mizzou jumped out to an early 15-0 lead and did not look back as the No. 11 Missouri Tigers took out Memphis, 93-78 in Columbia on Dec. 14. Arthur Johnson scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down 11 boards while Rickey Paulding pitched in with 22 points. Travon Bryant also had a great outing as he dumped in 14 points and pulled down six boards in 14 minutes off of the bench for Mizzou.
Facts, Figures and Other Points of Interest Following the Illinois Contest
+ The Tigers fall to 4-2 on the year
+ Mizzou has now dropped four straight contests to Illinois.
+ Senior Travon Bryant had a spectacular night scoring a career-high 19 points and pulling down a career-best 12 boards. He was 8-of-14 from the field including a career-best three three-point field goals (3-of-4 from beyond the arc). Bryant also had two assists, two blocks and three steals.
+ Fellow senior Rickey Paulding tied with Bryant for game-high honors with 19 points. Senior Arthur Johnson also reached double figures with his second double-double of the year (18 points, 10 rebounds). AJ went 5-of-12 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
+ With his 19-point effort, Paulding moves into 20th on the all-time Mizzou scoring list with 1,307 points. He passes former Tiger great Kim Anderson (1974-77) and is just one point behind Nathan Buntin (1987-90) for the 19th spot. Johnson also moved up on the career scoring chart with his 18 point effort. He now is in the No. 15 spot with 1,361 points, just 26 points behind No. 14 on the list, Willie Smith (1975-76, 1,387 points).
+ Johnson remains in sixth place on the Tiger all-time rebounding charts with 909. He now needs just 144 boards to become Mizzou's all-time leading rebounder. If he continues his current pace of 8.3 board per contest, he will become the Tigers all-time leading board worker right around Feb. 21st at Baylor. He also became only the fourth Tiger in school history to score 1,300 points and pull down 900 career rebounds on Tuesday night.
+ The Tigers continue to dominate on the boards. They have out-rebounded all six of their opponents so far this season (41-35 against Illinois).
+ Mizzou continues to struggle in the turnover department. The Tigers issued 18 turnovers in the contest compared to Illinois' 11. The Illini turned those 18 Mizzou miscues into 21 points.
+ The Tigers had their best night at the free throw line since going 23-of-25 in their opener against Oakland. Mizzou went 22-of-29 from the free-throw line against the Illini (75.9 percent).
+ After falling behind by as many as 21 points in the first half (40-19 with 4:18 remaining) and allowing Illinois to shoot 47 percent in the opening 20 minutes, the Tigers clamped down on the Illini in the second stanza, holding them to 30.8 percent shooting while outscoring them 42-29 in the second half.
A Superior Effort from the Seniors
While the Tigers came up just short of a heroic comeback (from down 21 in the first half to losing by one) on Tuesday against Illinois, the contest was not without some very heroic efforts from a senior class that was playing in its final Braggin' Rights Game. Senior Travon Bryant had a brilliant game, scoring a 19 points including the three that tied the contest at 67 with 1:29 left while also pulling down 12 boards. Senior Rickey Paulding also put up some big numbers, scoring 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Arthur Johnson put up AJ-esque numbers with 18 points and 10 rebounds, collecting his second double-double of the season and the 38th of his career. All told, the three combined for 56 of the Tigers' 70 points against Illinois and shot a combined 19-of-36 from the field.
Thanks for the Memories ... Here's to Many More
The Tigers are playing their final year in the Hearnes Center and will be moving into a state-of-the art arena starting in October of 2004. Mizzou has called Hearnes home for 31 years now and has registered a mark of 397-68 there as of its 106-98 win over UNC-Greensboro. The 15,000 seat, $75 million new building will feature unbelievable player development facilities (weight room, practice gym, players lounge, film room) and will be the finest on-campus basketball facility in the country.
Tra is Taking Over
Through the Tigers six contests so far this season, no Tiger has shown as much improvement and explosiveness on both the offensive and defensive ends as senior Travon Bryant. The 6-9 power forward from Long Beach, Calif., has raised his scoring average from 8.9 ppg last season to 14.7 ppg through six games in 2003. His rebounding numbers are also up from 5.8 boards per contest in 02-03 to 7.5 per game this season. He has recorded career-highs in points (19 vs. Illinois), rebounds (12 vs. Illinois) and threes (3-of-4 vs. Illinois) this season and has already recorded his first double-double of the year. He is shooting a Big 12-best 68% from the field (36-of-53) and 80% from three (8-of-10).
Travon has worked unbelievably hard to improve on the defensive end as well. He currently ranks seventh on the Mizzou all-time blocks charts with 86 career blocks, 12 of which have come in the Tigers' first six contests this year.
Chairmen on the Boards
Mizzou's big men continue to impress early in the year. Freshman Linas Kleiza continues to dominate the 20.7 minutes he is in the ball game averaging a Big 12 best 10.0 rebounds and 11.7 points per game. Senior preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Arthur Johnson has also been solid averaging 15.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest while fellow senior Travon Bryant is shooing 67.9 percent from the field and averaging 14.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest.
Proof positive of the dominance the Tigers have displayed in the paint and on the boards lies in the fact that they have outrebounded opponents by an average of 12.8 boards per contest as of their loss against Illinois on Dec. 23.
The Somewhat Calm before the Storm
The Tigers will have played the fewest game prior to Christmas (6) since the 1987-88 squad. While the games the Tigers have played have been anything but calm (they have been decided by an average of 5.8 points per contest and one of those went to overtime), the Tigers schedule will definitely pick up after Dec. 25 ... right after Dec. 25 ... as Mizzou travels to Memphis on the 27th, welcomes Belmont on the 30th and then faces Iowa on Jan. 3 in Hearnes before beginning a whirlwind Big 12 schedule.
The Lithuanian Domination Tour
Coming to a Big 12 town near you in the not-so distant future will be the Lithuanian Domination tour starring National Freshman of the Year candidate Linas Kleiza. While it is a might early to be throwing around award nominations, Kleiza has certainly been impressive in his young four-game career for Mizzou. He is averaging 11.7 points (fourth on the squad) and amazing 10.0 rebounds, which leads the Big 12. The power forward from Kaunas, Lithuania has recorded double-doubles in three of his first six games as a Tiger. Lenny was unbelievable against UNCG, scoring a career-best 17 points while pulling down nine boards. He also had against Gonzaga, when he scored 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in 26 minutes before fouling out late in the contest.
While all of the those numbers and statistics are certainly impressive, the thing that has resonated the most with Linas has been the fact that he is putting up these numbers coming off the bench in only 20.7 minutes per game. Kleiza has also provided a huge emotional lift for the Tigers as he plays with a huge amount of fire and intensity.
Pontificating about Paulding
Senior Preseason All-American Rickey Paulding registered his best outing of the season, a 23-point outing against Gonzaga on Dec. 13. The high-flying swingman scored 18 of the 23 in the second half and overtime including a long three with a hand in his face with 11 seconds left to send the contest to the extra period.
Paulding is third on the squad in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per contest while breaking the 20-point barrier in two of the Tigers' five contests. He earned All-Big 12 second-team honors last season and was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team. He was named to both the Wooden and Naismith Awards this season and also earned a preseason All-American nod from the Associated Press. He ranks 20th on the all-time Mizzou scoring charts with 1,307 points following his 19-point effort vs. Illinois.
Paulding was awesome in his hometown going 6-for-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line sharing team-high honors with Jimmy McKinney with 21 points on the night against Oakland in Detroit on Nov. 29.
Rick is now seventh on the Mizzou all-time three point field goals made list with 149 career treys. He needs four more threes to pass former Tiger Mark Atkins (93-94, 152 threes).
Big Fellas Putting Up Big Numbers
I don't think I am telling any of the Tigers upcoming opponents anything they don't already know, (not that they or anyone else reads these things anyway!) but the key to the Tigers' success in the early stages this season has been the play of senior big men Arthur Johnson (15.5 ppg., 8.3 rpg.), Travon Bryant (14.7, 7.5) and freshman spark plug Linas Kleiza (11.7 ppg, 10.0 rpg). While it is very early for this sort of note, Kleiza led the Big 12 in rebounding at press time.
AJ, Tra and Lenny (thats what his teammates call him) rank one, two and four respectively in scoring for Mizzou and make up just under two thirds of the Tigers rebounding. They scored 46 of the Tigers' 63 points in their win over Indiana and pulled down 32 of their total of 46 rebounds. Johnson and Bryant have each recorded two double-doubles this year while the new kid in class (Kleiza) has three double-doubles to his credit.
32 Minutes and 45 seconds of Trepidation; 7 Minutes 15 Seconds of Triumph
After struggling mightily through the first 33 minutes of play at Indiana, the Tigers were able to put together a tremendous comeback in the final 7:15 of play. When Indiana sophomore guard Bracey Wright nailed a three with 7:14 left in the contest, the Tigers found themselves down by 14 at 56-42.
The next seven minutes was a crazy ride as Mizzou would go on a 21-2 run from that point on, getting seven points from Linas Kleiza, all six of Jimmy McKinney's points in the contest, six points from Travon Bryant and a layup from Rickey Paulding to give Mizzou a 63-58 win. After allowing IU to shoot 53.8% in the first half, the Tigers allowed the Hoosiers to score only 19 points on 21.7% shooting in the second stanza while holding IU's leading scorer (Wright) to only three points in the second half.
In Order to Be the Best ...
... you have to beat the best. The Tigers are definitely putting that adage to the test this year with one of the toughest schedules in the country. As of last Monday's Associated Press Poll, nine of the Tigers 2003-04 opponents are ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes.
You don't have to look to far down the Tigers schedule to see the toughest stretch (if the entire thing isn't tough enough) begins with the new year when the Tigers face (RV) Iowa at home on Jan. 3, go to Iowa State where they are 0-4 under coach Quin Snyder, welcome defending national champion #17 Syracuse to Hearnes, travel to #7 Oklahoma and face #18 Texas ... all in a 20-day span.
A Quick Check of the Polls
While the only poll that truly matters doesn't come out until the second week in April, its never to early to track how the Tigers are doing in the rankings.
Date USA Today Coaches Associated Press Poll Preseason #6 #5 Nov. 23-30 #6 #5 Dec. 1-7 #5 #4 Dec. 8-14 #4 #3 Dec. 15-21 #14 #10 Dec. 22-29 #14 #11
Lean, Mean and on the Scene
Since coming to Mizzou at over 300 lbs. his freshman year, senior Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Arthur Johnson's weight (which was a svelte 255 at the beginning of this season) has gone down while his numbers have gone up. The explosive big man with feather-soft touch around the basket already owns Mizzou's all-time shot blocking mark with 206 career swats. With his two block effort against Coppin State, he became only the fifth player to record 200 or more career blocks in Big 12 conference history. Here's a quick look at where he needs to go to grab that mark
Big 12 All-Time Blocked Shots Leaders
1. 264 Chris Mihm, UT-1998-00
2. 243 Nick Collison, KU, 1999-03
3. 242 Eric Chenowith, KU, 1997-01
4. 206 Arthur Johnson, MU, 2000-present
5. 202 Venson Hamilton, NU, 1997-99
If all goes according to plan, he will also become the Tigers all-time leading rebounder right around the middle of February. Johnson is averaging 8.3 boards per contest following his 10 board performance against Illinois. He needs just 144 more boards to pass former Tiger great Doug Smith on the chart.
He also currently ranks 15th on the all-time scoring charts with 1,361 points after his powerful 18-point performance against Illinois and has a good shot at moving into the top five on the chart. He will now be chasing No. 14 Willie Smith (74-76, 1,387).
Last season, Johnson became only the fourth Tiger since the 1949-50 season to lead the team in rebounding in three straight campaigns and can become the first Mizzou player to lead the squad in boards for four straight years if he can be the leader of the pack once again this year. Stay tuned.
More On AJ
And if you just can't get enough info on the big fella they call "Doc," he is also creeping up on the Big 12 career double-doubles mark. With his 18-point, 10 rebound effort against Illinois, he recorded his 38th career double-double, putting him alone in 5th place on the Big 12 All-Time Double-Double leaders list. A look at that chart follows:
Big 12 All-Time Double-Double Leaders
1. 47 Chris Mihm, UT, 1998-00
2. 46 Venson Hamilton, NU, 1997-99
3. 44 Drew Gooden, KU, 1999-02
4. 40 Raef LaFrentz, KU, 1994-98
5. 38 Arthur Johnson, MU, 2001-Present
Happy to Be at Home in the Hearnes
Mizzou began its 31st and final season at the Hearnes Center when it faced Coppin State. The Tigers have experienced great success at the Hearnes registering a 397-68 (.853) record since the 1972-73 season. Five Tiger squads have gone undefeated in the Hearnes Center and 14 teams have lost one game or fewer including last year's squad, which went 14-1 at home. From 1988-90, the Tigers went 31-0 at the Hearnes Center.
Next year, Mizzou will move into a new state-of-the art arena, which will be located just southwest of the Hearnes. The new 15,000-seat building is on schedule for completion on Oct. 1, 2004.
I Did Not Know That. Did You Know That Ed?
Pardon the tribute to Johnny Carson, but did you know that there have been 16 schools that have participated in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments? Five of the 16 are Big 12 schools - Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas. The other schools are Duke, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Arizona, Stanford, Kentucky, Cincinnati and Gonzaga.
In a related note, this year's senior class of Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding, Josh Kroenke and Travon Bryant have played in the most NCAA Tournament games of any Tigers in school history with eight post-season tilts under their belts.
Head Coach Quin Snyder
With a 2003-2004 team poised to be among the nation's elite, Quin Snyder has proven that success can come quickly with hard work and determination. On the brink of his fifth season as head coach of the Missouri Tigers, Snyder is leading a team that has been ranked as high as number three in the nation in preseason polls. Missouri's 15th head coach, Snyder has enjoyed impressive runs in the NCAA Tournament for four straight years. In fact, the 2002-2003 season was witness to a 22-win campaign that ended with an overtime loss in the NCAA Tournament to eventual Final Four contender, Marquette.
This season, Snyder's squad promises to offer even more excitement, with a powerful returning group, highlighted by the electrifying duo of Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson, along with a host of new recruits. Given the excitement Snyder has generated in such a short span of time at the helm, it is not surprising that many people are waiting with anticipation for this season to begin and predicting great things for the Tigers. It is easy to see why expectations are high when you consider all of the following ...
* Missouri returned four starters from last year's team, and in all, returns over 80 percent of its scoring, 98 percent of its blocked shots, and over 90 percent of its rebounding from last season.
* All of last season's impressive junior class, featuring Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding, Travon Bryant and Josh Kroenke will be returning for their senior campaign and will join a number of exciting newcomers.
* A fifth straight top-25 recruiting class has been added to the roster this fall.
* Mizzou continues to be a fixture on national and regional television broadcasts. With every game but one on television, Snyder's Tigers continue to create unprecedented exposure for the program.
* The program will be the direct benefactor of a new, state-of-the-art $75 million arena which athletic officials plan to have open in time for the 2004-05 season.
* Snyder signed a contract extension, which will keep him a fixture on the Tiger sidelines through at least the 2005-06 season.
* And while Mizzou's on-court achievements constantly grab the headlines, what takes place in the classroom remains at the top of Snyder's priority list. An academic All-American himself during his playing days at Duke, Snyder is quite proud of the fact that in his four years at MU, seven scholarship players have exhausted their eligibility and all seven have graduated. In addition, this past season saw the men's basketball team achieve the highest GPA in 15 years.