Nov. 16, 2004
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m.
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Arena: Paige Sports Arena (15,061)
TV: Mizzou Sports Network. (Dan McLaughlin, play-by-play: Jon Sundvold, analyst)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play: Gary Link, analyst)
Rankings: Neither squad was ranked in the AP or ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Poll
Series: Houston leads, 3-2 Last Meeting: UH, 79-78 in St. Louis, MO
(NCAA West Regional)
Coaches:
Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 101-63 at MU and overall (6th season).
Houston: Tom Penders (UCONN '77) 1-0 at UH (1st season) and 527-361 (31st season) overall.
Coming off of a tough 68-60 win over the Brown Bears on Monday night, the University of Missouri basketball squad will take on the Houston Cougars in the second round of the Guardians Classic at the Paige Sports Arena on Tuesday night. If Mizzou can prevail over the Cougars on Tuesday, they will advance to the semifinals of the four-round tournament, with the final two rounds being played in Kansas City next Tuesday and Wednesday at Municipal Auditorium.
Mizzou is participating in the Guardians Classic for the second time in the last four years and hopes to duplicate the success they had last time they played in the tourney in 2001-02. After winning two games rather convincingly in Columbia, the Tigers would win two tough games in Kansas City over Alabama and Iowa to take home the tournament championship. Mizzou was led in the championship game by Clarence Gilbert who scored 27 points in the contest including the game-winning free throw with .8 seconds left on the clock to seal Mizzou's improvable late-game comeback.
On Tuesday, Mike Kelly and Gary Link will be calling all of the action on the Tiger Radio Network. The contest can also be heard on the web at www.mutigers.com. Dan McLaughlin and Jon Sundvold will team on the television broadcast, which can be seen on the Mizzou Sports Network.
Quick Hits
Head coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 102 at Mizzou ... He has reached the 100-win total faster than any coach in school history ... Mizzou is looking to advance to the second round of the Guardians Classic for the second time in four years ... the Tigers won their home opener for the 31st straight season ... The Tigers could play four games over the course of a eight day stretch from Nov. 16-Nov. 24 ... The Tigers look to even the series with Houston at three wins apiece on Tuesday ... if Mizzou can get past the Cougars, they will earn a spot in the Guardians Classic championship bracket, which will be played in Kansas City next Tuesday and Wednesday.
About the Cougars
Under the guidance of first year coach Tom Penders, the Cougars were able to get their season off on the right foot on Monday, defeating Sam Houston State, 72-69 at the Paige Sports Arena. After falling behind by as many as 10 points in the second half, Houston stormed back on the heals of 22 points and five rebounds from Lanny Smith in the win.
Entering his 31st year of coaching, Penders inherited a squad (who plays their basketball in Conference USA) that went just 9-18 on the year. Penders has registered a 527-361 mark during his career, which has included time with six programs including a 10-year tenure at Texas.
Series - UH leads, 3-2 - Last Meeting : UH, 79-78 in St. Louis, MO on Mar. 19, 1982.
A Look Back ... Mizzou vs. Brown
The Tigers jumped about the Thomas Gardner express on Monday night and did not look back. On the strength of Gardner's 19 points and 12 rebounds (his first double-double of his young career) the Tigers toppled the Brown Bears, 68-60. Mizzou held the Bears to 30 percent shooting from the field in the second half and extended a one-point halftime lead into the eventual eight-point win. Following are a couple of other notes about the contest ...
Missouri Team Notes from the Brown Game
* Before Monday's contest, Brown and Missouri hadn't met each other on the court since the Tigers dealt the Bears an 83-61 loss in Columbia on December 22, 1980.
* The Tigers now hold a 2-0 lead in the all-time series between these two teams.
* The first half of tonight's game featured five lead changes and four ties. Missouri held a 33-32 lead at the half.
Missouri Team Notes after the Brown Game
* After falling behind 9-7 with 14:55 left to play in the first half, the Tigers held Brown without a field goal for 5:36 and went on a 9-0 run to mount a 16-9 lead.
* Mizzou outscored Brown 10-5 over the last 3:59 of the first half, and held the Bears without a field goal for 4:41 of that stretch, to enter the locker room with a 33-32 lead.
* The Tigers forced 22 Brown turnovers, including nine steals, and scored 23 points off of those miscues.
* Missouri outscored Brown in the paint 26-10.
* The Tigers' bench contributed 32 points on the evening, led by freshman forward Marshall Brown' six, while Mizzou limited the Brown bench to 20 points.
Missouri Player Notes after the Brown Game
* Tonight's game was the first collegiate start for freshman guard Jason Horton.
* Monday's contest marked the 57th consecutive start for junior guard Jimmy McKinney, who hasn't started a game on the bench since the sixth regular-season game of his freshman year.
* At the 17:20 mark of the first half, junior guard Jimmy McKinney scored the first regular-season points for the Tigers in Paige Sports Arena history.
* Senior guard Jason Conley's three-point field goal with 16:58 remaining in the first half gave him at least one three-pointer in 12 of his last 13 regular-season contests.
* The first block of freshman forward Kalen Grimes' career came at 14:24 of the first half. The first points of his young career would come with 4:08 remaining in the first half.
* Sophomore guard Thomas Gardner ripped down a career-high 12 rebounds for the Tigers, including five on the offensive end of the floor, and dished off a career-best four assists.
* Tonight's 19-point, 12-rebound effort is the first double-double of sophomore guard Thomas Gardner's Mizzou career. His 19 points were only one shy of the career-best 20 he had last season in Mizzou's win over UNLV.
* Sophomore guard Spencer Laurie handed out four assists in tonight's contest, a new career high.
* Freshman forward Marshall Brown paced the Tigers from the free throw line tonight with a 6-for-8 effort, accounting for all of his points on the evening.
* Sophomore guard Thomas Gardner's 12 rebounds tie him for the Guardians Classic single-game record. He shares the record with Notre Dame's Jordan Cornette, Brown's Alai Nuualiitia and South Carolina's Carlos Powell.
Tigers Deliver in Second Half Against Brown
In UPS' latest advertising campaign, they pose the question "What can brown do for you?" I will tell you exactly what Brown did for the Tigers on Monday night ... and no postage is necessary. What the Bears did for the Tigers on Monday was give them their first look at an extended zone while also mounting a discipline, poised attack to climb within one point at 33-32 at halftime.
However, after allowing Brown to shoot over 50 percent in the first half, the Tigers held BU to only 30 percent field goal shooting in the second stanza. The Tigers were extremely active in the passing lanes, forcing the Bears into 22 turnovers (14 of which came in the first half) and scored 23 points off of those turnovers.
The Tiger offense also kicked into gear in the second half with Thomas Gardner scoring 13 of his 19 points in the contest. Gardner was 5-of-8 in the stanza and also pulled down eight boards on his way to recording a career-high 12 rebounds on the night.
Sizzling Sophomores
Thomas Gardner and Linas Kleiza are in the zone ... unconscious ... feelin' it ... on fire ... living lusciously in that special place ... OK, go ahead and insert any catch phrase to express that they have played really well in each of the Tigers last two contests. This duo shot a combined 18-of-24 (.750) with Kleiza knocking down 11-of-14 shots on his way to 23 points while pulling down nine boards against Northwest Missouri State. Gardner was equally impressive, hitting 7-of-10 field goal attempts including 4-of-7 three point attempts vs. the Bearcats.
Lenny and T continued to hit on all cylinders in the Tigers' regular season opener against Brown. Gardner recorded the first double-double of his career with 19 points and 12 rebounds, both of which were game highs. Kleiza scored 17 points and pulled down nine boards in a team-high 32 minutes.
Paint It Black and Gold
Mizzou was dominant in its two preseason contests, gabbing wins by 27 and 30 points over Central and Northwest Missouri State. Two major factors in the wins were the Tigers' ability to dominate paint and convert turnovers into points. Mizzou outscored its two opponents, 78-26 in the paint and forced 40 turnovers, converting them into 56 points in the two contests.
Living Large With Lenny
Linas Kleiza (otherwise known as Lenny to his teammates) has recovered fully from a shoulder separation he experience half way through last season and it looks as though he will be shouldering a major part of the Tiger offense this season. The All-Big 12 Honorable mention recipient was outstanding in Mizzou's two exhibition wins.
He averaged a team-best 21.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two contests while knocking down 18-of-26 field goal attempts, good for a 69.2 percent field goal percentage. He also blocked three shots and nabbed five steals in the contests and did all this damage while playing only 24.5 minutes per contest.
Kleiza did not disappoint in the Tigers' regular season opener either, scoring 17 point and just missing his first double-double of the year with 12 rebounds.
If it Feels Like Leather ... and Looks Like Leather ... and Smells Like Leather ... Pass It!
Coach Quin Snyder and his staff has preached throughout preseason practices that besides playing lockdown defense (the Tigers held their two exhibition opponents to only 37.3 percent from the field by the way), the key for Mizzou to be successful lies in the Tigers being unselfish with the basketball and getting their teammates shots.
While we know it is still unbelievably early in the year, it appears as though that the message has been received loud and clear. The Tigers recorded 44 assists on 70 field goals in the two exhibition contests, good for an average of 22.0 assists per contest (last year's squad handed out 14.4 assists per contest).
Five Tigers recorded six or more total assists in the two contests including senior Jason Conley and freshman Jason Horton, who both handed out eight assists a piece. Junior Jimmy McKinney was also in a generous mood, handing out seven assists in the two games.
Where Were You When ...
While we are not sure who ordered the first batch of nachos from the concession stand or who was the first to christen the men's room ... we do have a list of "firsts" that took place against Central Missouri State on Nov. 4.
* The first point and first free throw in Paige Sports Arena history came at 19:27 of the first half when sophomore forward Linas Kleiza knocked down his first shot from the charity stripe.
* The first field goal, a two-point shot, in Paige Sports Arena history came at 18:25 of the first half, courtesy of senior guard Jason Conley.
* The first dunk in Paige Sports Arena history came at 17:24 in the first half, when sophomore forward Linas Kleiza slashed through the lane and raised for a two-handed flush.
* The first points of freshman forward Marshall Brown's career came at 15:36 of the first half when he converted a layup after being fouled. The first free throw of his career came moments later as he completed the three-point play.
* The first opponent point in Paige Sports Arena history came at 16:40 of the first half, when senior forward Mike Suggs sank the second of two free throws. It was also the first points of Suggs' Mules career.
* The first opponent field goal in Paige Sports Arena history came 13:23 of the first half, by junior forward Dwight Williams.
* Thursday's game was the first 100-point effort in the history of the Paige Sports Arena.
A Peek at the Paige Sports Arena
On September 21, 2002, a new and exciting phase for Missouri Basketball began with the groundbreaking for a brand new, $75 million state-of-the-art facility. The new arena is an imposing place to play for opposing teams and provides unbelievable options for the Tigers when it comes to player development. In addition to more seating, with a capacity of 15,061, there are a host of other exciting additions:
Ø 26 Luxury Suites
Ø State of the art training room
Ø Expanded locker room facilities complete with film room and player lounge
Ø Practice gym
Ø Basketball office complex
Ø Box office and team store
Ø Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame
Paige Sports Arena houses all the up-to-date technologies desired in a modern sports facility. Both men's and women's basketball programs have video game film viewing theaters; all coaches offices and meeting rooms have cable TV hook-ups and both private (suites, clubs) and public (concession stands, retail store) areas throughout the arena have direct-game and cable televisions in place. Adjacent to the west side truck dock are dedicated and secured television production and satellite truck parking areas with permanent patch-in panels. The audio-video room within the arena is also linked to Missouri's two major sports venues - the Hearnes Center and Memorial Football Stadium. The arena contains a center-hung scoreboard-video board as well as 30" high video ribbon board located above the luxury suites where the lower and upper seating bowl transition occurs.
New Editions
No, I am not going to break into a rendition of "Cool it Now" or "Candy Girl" (as much as you all would enjoy that) but Mizzou has two members of its staff that are beginning new editions of their careers. And like the group "New Edition," you might say that the newest members of the Tiger coaching family are old school.
Associate Head Coach Melvin Watkins joined the Tigers in July after six years as head coach at Texas A&M and a two year stint as head coach at UNC-Greensboro. Watkins has brought a wealth of experience and energy to the Tiger bench. The other new face on the Tiger bench is assistant coach Jeff Meyer, who most recently was an assistant at Butler University for three years. Meyer brings 25 years of coaching experience to Mizzou including 16 years as a head coach at Liberty University. He also joined the Tiger bench in July.
Coach Quin Snyder
6th Year at MU
101-63
Entering his sixth year at the helm of the Mizzou basketball program is Quin Snyder. Missouri's 15th head coach, Snyder has built a program that has joined the upper echelon of college basketball. With a focus on developing players academically, physically, skillfully and socially, Snyder's squads have enjoyed trips to the post season in each of the last five seasons including four trips to the NCAA Tournament. Mizzou has averaged exactly 20.0 wins per contest during Snyder's five-year tenure at Mizzou. The intense competitor the Tiger players call "Coach Q" won his 100th career game last season when Mizzou defeated Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament. He became the fourth coach in Mizzou school history to reach the 100-win plateau and Snyder will have a great opportunity to add to that total with a contract that will keep him as a fixture on the Tiger bench through 2007-08.
Heading into 2004-05, Mizzou returns several of its top players from a year ago including senior Jason Conley, junior Jimmy McKinney and sophomores Thomas Gardner and Linas Kleiza. Snyder and his staff have also gathered a sixth straight Top 25 recruiting class to augment the already talented roster. Mizzou has moved to a new state-of-the-art home this season, the Paige Sports Arena, which holds around 15,000 rowdy Missouri fans and gives the Tigers an unbelievable opportunity to build on the foundation of success that has been established.
Given the success and excitement Snyder's squads have generated in his five years at the helm, it is not surprising that Tiger fans are looking for big things from Mizzou in 2004-05. In 2003-04, Snyder led the Tigers to wins over Top 20 teams such as Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. He also saw his second recruiting class of Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding, Travon Bryant and Josh Kroenke complete outstanding careers at Mizzou. Johnson and Paulding both jumped into the Top 10 on the Tiger scoring charts and Johnson finished his career as the Tigers' all-time leader in blocked shots and rebounds. That outstanding class also finished their career having played in the most NCAA Tournament contests of any class in school history with eight.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Snyder, 37, attended Mercer Island High School in the state of Washington. A two-time state player of the year, Snyder led the team to the 1985 state championship. During this time, Mercer Island achieved a No. 1 ranking in USA Today's high school polls. Snyder was named a McDonald's All-America player, being the first ever chosen from the state of Washington.
Snyder and his wife, the former Helen Redwine, a native of Charlotte, N.C, have one son, Owen Redwine Snyder, born on December 25, 2002.