Jan. 19, 2004

Columbia, Mo. - Freshman forward Linas Kleiza has earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors for second time, Big 12 Conference officials announced on Monday. Kleiza also earned the honor for the week of Dec. 8 earlier this season. He has been a key component in the Tigers' efforts this season.

The 6-8, 245-pound big man averaged 11.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in the Tigers loss to No. 16 Syracuse and win over No. 11 Oklahoma in Norman. In the 79-75 overtime win at Oklahoma, Kleiza had 13 points and nine rebounds.

Earlier in the week, the Kaunas, Lithuania, forward scored nine points and pulled down 12 boards in the Tigers' 82-68 loss to Syracuse. Kleiza has recorded nine rebounds or more in 10 of the Tigers' 13 games so far this season and has reached double figures in boards four times. He has three double-doubles on the year and is third in the Big 12 in rebounding averaging 9.1 rpg, while also chipping in with 11.2 ppg off of the bench. If Kleiza can keep the 9.1 rebounds per game going, he will eclipse Arthur Johnson's Big 12 freshmen record of 7.8 boards per contest.

Kleiza and the Tigers will face their third straight ranked opponent on Tuesday night when they welcome No. 18 Texas (11-2, 2-0 in the Big 12) to Columbia with tip set for 8 p.m. CST on ESPN. Tickets to the contest are still available by calling 1-800 CAT PAWS, 573-884-PAWS in mid-Missouri or by logging on to www.mutigers.com.

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