Feb. 18, 2005
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Tip-off: 8:00 p.m. CST
Arena: Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,595)
TV: None
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play: Gary Link, analyst)
Rankings: Neither team was ranked in the polls
Series: MU leads, 118-84 : Last Meeting: MU, 80-70 on Jan. 22, 2004 in Columbia, MO
Coaches:
Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 112-76 at MU and overall (6th season).
NU: Barry Collier (Butler '76) 67-74 at NU (5th season) and 263-206 overall (16th season)
Tigers Face Huskers in Lincoln on Saturday
The University of Missouri basketball squad (12-13 overall, 4-7 Big 12) looks to win its third straight contest on Saturday when it travels to Lincoln, NE, to take on the Huskers in an 8 p.m., matchup. The Tigers have played their last two games at home defeating No. 16 Oklahoma 68-65 in overtime last Saturday and then taking out a pesky Baylor squad 60-53 on Wednesday night.
Mizzou is looking to sweep the season series from the Huskers for the third time in the last four years. The Tigers defeated the Big Red in Columbia on Jan. 22, 80-70 on the strength of a career-best 31 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore Linas Kleiza.
Kleiza continues to lead the Tigers in scoring averaging 15.5 points per game, but he has received a lot of help over the course of the last two games. Five different Tigers (including Kleiza) have broken into double figures in scoring during Mizzou's last two games and three Tigers have recorded nine or more rebounds.
Heading into Saturday's contest in Lincoln, the Tigers are in a four way tie for seventh place in the Big 12 with Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M at 4-7. If the Tigers want to make a run at a top six seed in March's Big 12 Tournament, they will have to do so away from home. Mizzou has not found a lot of success on the road (where they are 0-9) this season and they play three of their last five contests away from Mizzou Arena.
Mike Kelly and Gary Link of Tiger Radio Network fame will be calling all of the action in Lincoln for the 60 affiliates around the state. Saturday's contest will not be broadcast for television, marking only the third game this season that has not been shown on TV.
Quick Hits
The Tigers hold an 118-84 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools ... Mizzou is 12-4 at home, 0-3 in neutral court contests and 0-6 on the road ... Mizzou is 10-2 against Nebraska under Head Coach Quin Snyder ... They are 3-2 against the Huskers in Lincoln under Snyder ... Mizzou won the last meeting between the two schools on Jan. 22, 2005, 80-70 in Columbia, MO ... In that game, sophomore Linas Kleiza scored a career-best 31 points and pulled down a game-high 10 boards in the Tiger win ... The Tigers have won two in a row for the first time since American on Jan. 4 and Iowa State on Jan. 8 ... Mizzou is 39-52 all-time against the Huskers in Lincoln, NE ... Head Coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 113 at Mizzou ... Junior Kevin Young has averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during the Tigers last two contests ... Senior Jason Conley has been equally impressive averaging 12.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game during the Tigers' two-game winning streak ... Sophomore Linas Kleiza has led Mizzou in either scoring, rebounding or in both categories in 18 of the Tigers' 25 games so far this season ... Senior Jason Conley has scored in double figures in five of the Tigers' last seven games ... Freshman Jason Horton recorded 10 assists and only three turnovers against OU; that is the most assists in a game by a Tiger since Wesley Stokes handed off nine dimes against Coppin State in January of 2002 ... Horton also had a great game against Baylor, scoring a team-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field ... Mizzou is 17-5 during the month of February at home under Head Coach Quin Snyder during his six years at the helm and 25-16 overall during the second month of the year under his tutelage.
About the Huskers
Nebraska enters Saturday's contest having lost three of their last four including their latest contest, an 83-60 setback in Norman, OK, on Wednesday night at the hands of Oklahoma. In that game, freshman Joe McCray continued to impress folks around the Big 12 as he scored 21 points and pulled down seven boards in the loss. McCray leads the Huskers on the season averaging 15.1 points per game. While he is the only NU player to average in double figures in scoring, there are five players that are averaging better than 8.0 points per contest, giving them good scoring balance.
One of the Huskers' biggest strengths so far this season has been their rebounding. They are third in the league in rebounds per game (39.1) and rebounding margin (+6.4). Five NU players average better than 4.0 boards per game and they are led by freshman Aleks Maric, who is pulling down 6.5 boards per game while predominantly coming off of the bench for the Huskers.
Head Coach Barry Collier is in his fifth year as Nebraska and his 16th season as a head coach overall.
Series - MU leads, 118-84- Last Meeting: MU, 80-70 in Columbia, MO on Jan. 22, 2005 in Columbia.
A Look Back ... Mizzou vs. Baylor
The Tigers pulled down 16 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the Bears 37-25 overall as Mizzou recorded its first back-to-back wins since early January. Jason Horton led the charge with 15 points (10 of which came in the second half) while Kevin Young and Jason Conley scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Below are a couple other notes of note from the contest.
Missouri Team Notes after the Baylor Game
- Missouri is now 12-13 overall and 4-7 in the Big 12. It is 12-4 at home, 0-6 on the road and 0-3 in neutral court games.
- Head Coach Quin Snyder improves to 112-76 on the season and 5-1 against Baylor during his six-year tenure at Mizzou
- The Tigers have won two straight games for the first time since defeating American on Jan. 4, 2005 and then toppling Iowa State on Jan. 8.
- Mizzou outrebounded the Bears, 37-25 including 16-7 on the offensive boards.
- Junior Kevin Young and senior Jason Conley both pulled down nine boards on the night. The last time the Tigers had two players record nine or more boards in the same game was on Nov. 15, 2004 when Thomas Gardner pulled down a career-high 12 boards and sophomore Linas Kleiza grabbed nine in the win over the Bears.
Missouri Player Notes after the Baylor Game
- Freshman Jason Horton led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field against the Bears. He has led Mizzou in scoring in two of the last four games.
- Junior Kevin Young just missed his first career double-double with 11 points and nine boards on the night.
- Young has averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game over the course of the Tigers last two contests and has shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the field during that stretch.
- Senior Jason Conley also had another solid night, scoring 14 points while knocking down three threes. He also went crazy on the boards pulling down nine rebounds (he has averaged 8.5 per game during the Tigers' mini-two game winning streak) and grabbed a season-best four steals.
- Tiger bigs Kevin Young and Kalen Grimes combined to score 17 points, pull down 13 rebounds and were 6-of-9 from the field against Baylor.
- Mizzou outscored the Bears in the paint, 28-24. Over the course of the last two games, the Tigers have scored 76 of their 128 points in the lane.
Horton Has The Hot Hand
Tiger freshman Jason Horton just missed a career high on Wednesday night when he scored a team-best 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. It marked the second time in the last four games that he has led the Tigers in scoring this season. In those two contests (the other being the Texas A&M game where he scored 17 points), the talented freshman was 10-of-13 from the field (76.9 percent) including 7-of-9 from three-point land (77.8 percent).
Horton also sandwiched in a 10-assist, three-turnover game against No. 16 Oklahoma as he led the Tigers to the exciting overtime victory in Columbia. On the season, Horton has handed out 92 assists in 25 games played, just five shy of eclipsing the Tigers' assists leader from last season (Jimmy McKinney - 97 assists in 30 games).
The Young and the Restless
Kevin Young has played two of the best games of his career over the course of the last two games. The hard working big man from Kingston, Jamaica, scored a career-high 11 points and pulled down nine boards (seven of which were offensive) against Baylor, just missing his first career double-double.
He has averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game over the last two contests and continues to play solid post defense for the Tigers. He has also been using his pump fakes effectively as he has scored three `basket and 1' plays during this two-game sample.
A Repeat Performance (Part 4)?
The Tigers played one of their most complete games of the season last time out against Nebraska. They shot a season best 53.4 percent from the field including 21-of-32 from inside the three point arc and cracked the 80-point barrier for the third time this season.
Sophomores Linas Kleiza and Thomas Gardner both had great outings. Kleiza scored 31 points and pulled down 10 boards while Gardner scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field in the win.
Although its been only two games, Kleiza has averaged 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds for his career against Nebraska. Gardner has also enjoyed his time when facing off with the Huskers averaging 12.7 points per game in a three-game sample.
Over the Table and Dreaming
The University of Missouri marketing staff, headed up by marketing guru Frank Cuervo, is kicking around the idea of a new promotion for Tiger men's basketball games. Besides the `Nothing-but-Noodles Kiss Cam' and the Chevy's Fresh Mex `Tiger Trivia' promotion which are both wildly popular, there has been some thought to a promotion that the winner gets to have Tiger senior guard Jason Conley land in their lap after one of his patented leaps over Tiger Row.
Conley ended up amongst the people twice during the Oklahoma contest, running headlong over the table while attempting to create another Sooner turnover. The Tiger faithful were very appreciative of the effort put forth by Conley as he earned a standing ovation both times he sacrificed life and limb.
So keep your eye out for `Crashing into Coop' brought to you by the Missouri Basketball Team.
A Tale of Two Halves - the Bizzarro Edition
The Tigers reversed a trend and then reversed their fortunes against Oklahoma. After leading each of their previous three games and then dropping all three, Mizzou trailed by 11 points at half time before mounting an amazing second half comeback to take down the Sooners. After trailing by as many as 15 points, Mizzou used excellent second half defense, holding OU to just 36.8 percent shooting (7-of-19) from the floor while out-rebounding Oklahoma by 13 boards. The Tiger's used staunch interior defense in the second stanza, holding OU's Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout to just eight points and three rebounds between the two of them in the second half and overtime periods.
Mizzou had gotten off to great starts in their previous three games, grabbing leads after the first 20 minutes in all three contests. They outscored Kansas, Texas A&M and UNLV by a combined total of 107-93 and have shot 48.2 percent (41-of-85) in the opening stanzas.
However, Mizzou struggled mightily in the second half of each contest and has been outscored by a combined total of 144-87 while allowing the Jayhawks, Aggies and Rebels to shoot a combined 59.0 percent from the field (49-of-83).
Tigers Set School Record for Team GPA in Fall Semester
The University of Missouri men's basketball team continues to achieve both on and off th e court this season
With final grades et for the 2004 fall semester at Mizzou, the reports show that the men's basketball team has established a record for its team grade point average. Bryan Maggard, MU's Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services, says that the Tiger men's team came in with a cumulative team GPA of 2.91 this past fall - which was the highest single semester mark in recorded history for an MU men's basketball squad.
According to Maggard, four Tiger cagers had GPAs of over 3.0 on the standard 4.0 scale, and two will earn a place on the coveted Dean's List.
The achievement comes on the heels of the 2004 NCAA Graduation Report, which shows that the Missouri men's basketball team led the Big 12 Conference in graduation rates, at 67%. The next-best rate in the league belonged to Colorado (40%), followed by Texas Tech and Kansas (33%) and Nebraska (20%). The rates represent students who enrolled in 1997-98 and graduated within six years.
Shouldering the Load
Linas Kleiza has recovered fully from a shoulder separation he experienced half way through last season and he has shouldered a major part of the Tiger offense this season. The All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention recipient has been amazing offensively so far this season and continues to improve on defense.
Kleiza had a huge day against No. 16 Oklahoma, tying Thomas Gardner for team-high honors with 18 points while also pulling down 13 boards in the win.
He returned to the Tiger starting lineup after a three-game hiatus against UNLV. He scored a game-high 24 points and also pulled down eight rebounds against the Rebels and knocked down 9-of-17 shots.
He registered his fifth double-double of the season against Kansas State in Columbia, scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds on the night .
Kleiza put together an amazing effort against Nebraska in Columbia, scoring a career-best 31 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. He also knocked down 15-of-17 free throws against the Huskers on his way to his fourth double-double of the season.
Despite four turnovers against Texas Tech, Kleiza was able to record his third double-double of the season against the Red Raiders, scoring 10 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
After struggling to just four points in the first half against Kansas State, Kleiza scored 10 of his team-high 14 points while also pulling down eight rebounds against KSU. The offensive juggernaut reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this season against Oklahoma State when he dumped in 24 points while going a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. Kleiza scored 25 (of Mizzou's 64) points, pulled down seven rebounds and handed out three assists against Illinois.
After scoring just three points in the opening half against Indiana, Kleiza poured in 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half including 12 free throws in the win.
He had one the best offensive game of his career against Montana, scoring a then career-best 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. He broke out of mini-scoring funk with 13 points, nine boards and nine assists against Oakland while turning the ball over just one time, something he has been focusing on improving all season. He is definitely Mizzou's most versatile player as he leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg.), rebounds (7.2 rpg.) and is fourth on the squad in assists (44).
The Youth of the Tiger Nation
The freshmen on the Tiger roster have started to really assert themselves on the court for Mizzou. Over the course of the last 18 games, Marshall Brown, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Glen Dandridge have combined to score 26.7 percent of the Tigers points (342-of-1279) and all four of them have set or equaled career highs in points during that stretch.
Horton was clutch in the Tigers' contest against Baylor as he poured in 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Grimes registered six points in 11 minutes in the Mizzou win ... Horton had the best floor game of his career against No. 16 Oklahoma, handing out 10 assists while committing only three turnovers in 42 minutes of playing time. He was also amazing at Texas A&M, knocking down 5-of-6 three point shots on his way to 17 points against the Aggies.
Brown and Dandridge both started their second straight games at Kansas and combined to score 12 points on the night. Dandridge made his first career start in the Tigers' home contest against Kansas State. He knocked down a three and equaled a career best by playing 16 minutes in the contest. He has now hit a three in three straight contests for Mizzou and has nine threes on the season.
Brown was outstanding against Colorado, knocking down 3-of-3 three point attempts and pulling down eight rebounds against the Buffs. He scored a career-best 12 points in the Tigers loss to Texas Tech. He knocked down two threes and was also 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Horton equaled a then career high with 12 points for the second straight game against Iowa State. He and Brown had great outings against American. Horton scored a career-best 12 points while Brown chipped in with nine as the Tigers took out the Eagles. The foursome was great against Gonzaga, combining for 16 points and 10 rebounds. Horton scored six points and handed out three assists and recorded no turnovers in 37 minutes while running the Tiger offense. Dandridge and Grimes also had solid nights. Dandridge scored five points on 2-of-3 shooting while also recording a steal, a block and an assist in seven minutes of playing time while Grimes set a career-best with six rebounds.
A Peek at the Mizzou 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
Mizzou 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-Charlotte. 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
112-76
In 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.
In 2004-05, Mizzou returns several of its top players including senior Jason Conley, junior Jimmy McKinney and sophomores Thomas Gardner and Linas Kleiza. Snyder and his staff 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 Mizzou 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.