Feb. 28, 2005
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Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. CST
Arena: Hilton Coliseum (14,092)
TV: Mizzou Sports Network (Chris Gervino, play-by-play; Norm Stewart, analyst)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play: Gary Link, analyst)
Rankings: Neither team is currently ranked
Series: Tigers lead 140-78 : Last Meeting: MU, 62-59 in Columbia, MO on Jan. 8, 2005
Coaches:
Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 114-77 at MU and overall (6th season).
ISU: Wayne Morgan (St. Lawrence '72) 35-23 at ISU (2nd season) and 126-107 overall (7th season)
Tigers Travel to Ames for Final Road Contest of the Regular Season
The University of Missouri men's basketball squad makes its final road trip of the 2004-05 regular season on Wednesday to Ames, IA, to take on the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum. Mizzou checks in with an overall record of 14-14 and a 6-8 mark in the Big 12 Conference while ISU is 15-10 and 7-7 in the league. Both squads are looking to improve their seeding prospects heading into next weeks Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, MO. If the season ended today, the Tigers would be the No. 8 seed while the Cyclones would finish the regular season as the No. 7 seed.
Mizzou is coming off of a tough loss at Texas on Saturday, 63-51, after winning four straight over a 10 day span. Senior Jason Conley broke into double figures in scoring for the sixth time in the last eight games with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting including three 3-pointers. He also pulled down seven boards in the loss. Sophomore Linas Kleiza was also solid with 12 points and 10 rebounds, good for his eighth double-double of the season which ranks third in the Big 12.
The ISU-MU contest, which is set for a 7 p.m., tip on Wednesday, will be broadcast on the Tiger Radio Network with Mike Kelly handling the play-by-play duties and former Tiger great Gary Link providing the analysis. The game can also be seen on the Mizzou Sports Network with Chris Gervino and Tiger coaching legend Norm Stewart handling the broadcast duties. Mizzou is 8-7 this season on MSN.
Quick Hits
Mizzou leads the series between the two schools, 140-78 ... The Tigers dropped their last contest at Hilton Coliseum, 70-65 on Jan. 7, 2004 ... In that contest, freshman Thomas Gardner scored a team-high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point land ... Mizzou is 13-4 at home, 0-3 in neutral court contests and 1-7 on the road ... Mizzou is 6-6 against Iowa State under Coach Quin Snyder ... The Tigers are 6-2 at Mizzou Arena in 2005 ... Coach Snyder is looking for win number 115 at Mizzou ... Sophomore Linas Kleiza has led Mizzou in either scoring, rebounding or in both categories in 21 of the Tigers' 28 games so far this season ... Senior Jason Conley has scored in double figures in six of the Tigers' last eight games ... With his four assists against Texas, freshman point guard Jason Horton surpassed last year's assist leader, Jimmy McKinney (97) with 98 assists ... He will become the first freshman to lead a Tiger squad in assists since Keyon Dooling led the Tigers with 113 dimes during the 1999-2000 season ... Horton had a team-high 14 points against Colorado, all of which came in the second half ... He recorded 10 assists and only three turnovers against OU; that is the most assists in a game by a Tiger since Wesley Stokes handed out 11 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 ... The Tigers are 8-7 in games broadcast on the Mizzou Sports Network and 4-3 against teams from the Big 12 North ... Four Tigers reached double figures in scoring last time the two squads faced off in January with Jason Conley leading the way with 13 points ... Cyclone broadcasting legend Gary Thompson will retire from the on-air chair following Wednesday's game ... Thompson started his broadcast career in 1971.
About the Cyclones
The Cyclones were the hottest team in the Big 12 two weeks ago having won seven straight league games including upsets of Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas. However, the last week in February was not kind to the Cyclones as they dropped games at Texas A&M and at home vs. Nebraska on Saturday to fall to 15-10 overall and 7-7 in the Big 12.
Curtis Stinson leads the Cyclones efforts averaging 17.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He also leads the team in steals (59) and is second on the squad in assists (105) heading into Wednesday's game with the Tigers. Senior Jared Homan and Sophomore Will Blalock also average in double figures in the scoring column. Homan is the team's leading rebounder at 7.8 boards per game and Blalock leads the team in assists with 114 on the year. The three-headed monster has combined to score 1,064 of the Cyclones' 1,705 points (62.4 percent) so far this season.
Wayne Morgan is in his second year as head coach at ISU and is 35-23 during his time there.
Series - MU leads, 140-78 - Last Meeting: MU, 62-59 in Columbia, MO
A Look Back ... Mizzou at Texas
Mizzou is now 2-4 against Big 12 South schools and 10-4 on the season when leading the game at halftime. Below are a couple other notes of note from the Tigers' contest with Texas.
Missouri Team Notes after the Texas Game
- The Tigers fall to 14-14 on the year and 6-8 in the Big 12 Conference.
- The loss ends the Tigers' four-game winning streak and drops them to 4-3 during the month of February.
- They are 13-4 at home, 1-7 on the road and 0-3 neutral court games.
- Mizzou is now 10-4 on the year when leading at halftime as they carried a 25-24 lead into the second half.
- The Tigers fell to 7-1 in day games, 1-1 in games broadcast on ABC and 2-4 against teams from the Big 12 South on the year.
- Mizzou is now 27-17 in February games under Coach Quin Snyder (18-5 at home, 9-12 on the road) during his six-year tenure.
- Snyder is now 114-77 in six year at Mizzou.
- The 51-point output was the Tigers lowest total of the season and their lowest overall point total since they fell to Oklahoma, 49-47 in the 2003 Big 12 Championship game in Dallas, TX, on Mar. 16, 2003.
- The Tigers held the Longhorns 16 points under their season average of 79.3 points per contest.
- Mizzou held UT to their second lowest scoring half (24 points) and worst shooting half (18.8 percent) of the season on Saturday in the first half of the contest.
- However, the Longhorns bounced back in the second half scoring 39 points on 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) shooting from the field.
- After leading by one at the half, Mizzou was hit with a 13-0 run the first 5:15 of the second half to give the Longhorns a 37-25 lead.
- Trailing 47-33 with 9:51 left in the contest, Mizzou would go on a 9-2 run with three straight 3-point baskets to pull within seven at 49-42 with 7:35 left in the game, but would get no closer as UT closed the game on a 14-9 run.
- The Tigers and Longhorns both recorded 18 field goals on the day, but Texas was 21-of-30 from the free throw line while Mizzou went to the line only 11 times and hit seven of those attempts.
- The Longhorns outrebounded the Tigers, 38-35. Mizzou is now 5-8 on the year when they have been outrebounded.
- The Tigers had their biggest lead of the day with 6:04 left in the first half when they took a 20-14 lead on a jumper by junior Kevin Young and would lead the rest of the first half.
Missouri Player Notes after the Texas Game
- Senior Jason Conley led the Tigers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field including three 3-pointers.
- Conley also pulled down seven boards marking the 18th time he has pulled down five or more rebounds in a contest this season.
- Conley reached double-figures in scoring for the seventh time in the last 10 games and has averaged 11.8 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game over the course of the Tigers' last five games.
- Sophomore Linas Kleiza recorded his eighth double-double of the season with a 12-point, 10-rebound effort against the Longhorns.
- Kleiza now has 11 double-doubles for his career.
- He has recorded a double-double in three of the Tigers' last five games and has reached double figures in scoring in 23 games.
- Freshman Marshall Brown returned to his home town of Austin, TX, and registered five points and five rebounds against the Longhorns in 20 minutes of playing time.
- Junior Jimmy McKinney was 2-of-2 from the field, 1-of-1 from three and 2-of-2 from the free throw line while also picking a team-high two steals in the contest.
Tigers Hope to Recapture Some of that Mizzou Arena Magic
While much has been made of Iowa State's success at home (and rightfully so, they are 12-3 at home this season) and the `Hilton Magic' that they feed off of when they are in Ames, the Tigers hope they can take the mojo they had working against the Cyclones in the second half at home with them on Wednesday. The Tigers trailed by as 12 points on that January day with 4:35 left in the contest after a pair of Will Blalock free throws to give the Cyclones a 57-45 lead.
However, the Mizzou Arena Magic, if you will ... or even it you won't, kicked in as Mizzou went on a 17-2 run the final 4:35 to take the contest, 62-59. Four Tigers were in double figures in scoring with Jason Conley scoring a team-high 13 points and Linas Kleiza and Jason Horton scoring 12 a piece. The Tigers also recorded their second-best shooting day of the season against Iowa State shooting 51.2 percent on 21-of-41 shooting from the floor.
Horton Has The Hot Hand
The development of freshman point guard Jason Horton has certainly been an encouraging sign for the Tigers during the course of the 2004-05 season. He led Mizzou in scoring for the second time in the last three games against Colorado, scorning 14 points on a scorching 4-of-4 shooting to run the Tigers' winning streak to four in row.
Horton hit a huge running jump shot with just 1:15 left in the game to give Mizzou a three point lead in its win over Nebraska. He just missed a career high on against Baylor when he scored a team-best 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. In the three contests Horton has led the Tigers in scoring (Texas A&M, Baylor and Colorado), the talented freshman has gone 14-of-20 (.700) from the field and leads the team in minutes played at 33.0 per game. He has averaged 15.3 points per game in those contests and has knocked down 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) three point attempts.
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 98 assists in 28 games played and surpasses last season's assist leader, Jimmy McKinney, who had 97 assists on the year. The last time a freshman led the Tigers in assists was during the 1999-2000 season when then-freshman Keyon Dooling handed out 113 helpers to lead the Tigers in head coach Quin Snyder's first year at Mizzou
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' roller coaster play was never more evident than in their loss at Texas on Saturday. After holding UT to only 18.8 percent shooting in the opening stanza, Texas went off in the second half scoring 39 points on 70.6 percent shooting while holding the Tigers to just 26 points as Mizzou dropped its seventh road game of the season.
Mizzou continued its up and down play from half to half against Colorado. After scoring just 18 points and shooting just 27.3 percent in the first half, Mizzou was on fire in the second half knocking down 13-of-25 (52.0 percent) including five three pointers while outscoring the Buffaloes 45-30 to win the contest 63-54.
After shooting just 41 percent in the first half against Nebraska, the Tigers trailed at halftime, 27-21. However, Mizzou was able to turn the switch on once again, shooting 54.2 percent in the second half as they outscored the Huskers 35-26 in the second stanza to grab its first road win of the season.
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 outrebounding 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.
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 the 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 registered the 11th double-double of his career against Texas with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He moved into third on the Big 12 double-doubles list against Colorado when he scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against the Buffs. The native of Kaunas, Lithuania continued to have his way with Nebraska, scoring a game-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Kleiza also 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. 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 (15.2 ppg.), rebounds (7.4 rpg.) and is fourth on the squad in assists (47).
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 21 games, Marshall Brown, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Glen Dandridge have combined to score 26.7 percent of the Tigers points (387-of-1449) and all four of them have set or equaled career highs in points during that stretch.
Horton was amazing in the second half against Colorado. He knocked down three straight three-point field goals and scored 14 points in the second half as the Tigers took the game over. Horton and Brown combined to score 12 of their 14 points against Nebraska in the second half. 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.
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.
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
114-77
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.