Nov. 14, 2005
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
Missouri vs. Sam Houston State - NIT Season Tipoff First Round
Norm Stewart Court at Mizzou Arena - Columbia, Mo.
November 14, 2005
Game Notes
This game marked the official opening of the 100th season of intercollegiate basketball at Mizzou.
With their win over the Tigers, Sam Houston State evened the all-time series at 1-1.
This year's Preseason NIT is the third in which the Tigers have been a participant, and the first since the 1998-99 edition.
With this game, Mizzou became the second Big 12 team to take the court in regular-season action in 2005-06. Texas Tech picked up a pair of wins in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic over the weekend.
This game was the season in a row that Sam Houston State played their first game in Mizzou Arena, but the first in which they faced the Tigers. The Bearkats led off the 2004-05 campaign in Columbia with a first-round loss to Houston in the Guardians' Classic before beating Brown in the second round.
Missouri Team Notes
The Tigers' 46.0 percent (29-of-63) effort from the floor is their highest shooting percentage in a loss since they knocked home shots at a 46.2 percent (24-of-52) rate last season at Kansas.
Mizzou fell to 79-21 all-time in season openers, and 5-2 in the Quin Snyder era, with the loss.
Mizzou dropped their all-time record to 85-15 in home openers, and hadn't lost since a 77-73 dropping by Southern Methodist on Dec.1, 1973 - a streak of 32 consecutive wins. They had also won their only home opener in Mizzou Arena before the loss.
The Tigers had a five-game winning streak in season-opening contests snapped with the loss. Their last loss in a season's inaugural game in head coach Quin Snyder's first game at the helm, a 66-56 defeat at the hands of Wisconsin in the NABC Classic.
The game with Sam Houston State was the first of two contests with a Southland Conference opponent - they'll face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 10. Entering the game, the Tigers record is 8-2 all-time against the Southland conference following their loss to Sam Houston State.
Mizzou trailed the Bearkats 32-27 heading into the locker room, and are now 4-14 over the last two seasons when trailing at the half.
Mizzou shot 0.0 percent (0-of-3) from the free throw line in the first half, their lowest first-half output since hitting only 37.5 percent (3-of8) of their free throws in the first half against Murray State last season. The Tigers shot 0.0 percent from the line in the first half against Colorado on Jan. 26, 2005, but didn't attempt a free throw before halftime.
After falling behind by six point in the beginning of the second half, the Tigers went on a 12-4 run from 18:05 to 13:33, to take a 41-39 lead with just over 13 minutes to play.
Mizzou forced 20 Bearkat turnovers in the game, the most they've caused since forcing Montana into 20 miscues in a Tiger win last season.
The Tigers turned the ball over 18 times vs. Sam Houston State, marking the 10th time in the last 11 games they've given the ball away at least 10 times, though they own a 6-5 record over that span.
Mizzou scored more than half (46 of their 77) points in the paint against the Bearkats.
Missouri Player Notes
From the 8:57 mark of the first half until the 1:48 mark, junior guard Thomas Gardner scored eight points - all of the Tigers' tallies during that span - to keep the Mizzou deficit under 10 points. He ended the half scoring 10 out of the Tigers' final 15 first-half points.
Junior forward Marcus Watkins' 3-point field goal to beat the first half buzzer were the first of his Mizzou career and cut an eight-point Bearkat lead down to five at the intermission.
Senior guard Jimmy McKinney scored his 800th career point Monday night against Sam Houston State.
Sophomore forward Marshall Brown's 20 points are a new career best. His previous career high came on Jan. 19, 2005, when he had 12 against Texas Tech.
With seven field goals made, sophomore forward Marshall Brown set a new career high, eclipsing the mark of five he set on Feb. 5, 2005 against Texas A&M.
Junior guard Thomas Gardner tied his career high in points with 23, marking the third time he's hit that mark over the last two seasons.
Senior guard Jimmy McKinney scored the first points of the season for the Tigers, a jumper in the lane at the 19:20 mark of the first half.
Freshman forward Leo Lyons made his first career appearance for the Tigers at the 16:04 mark of the first half. He picked up his first career rebound at the 14:20 mark of the opening frame, and notched his first career points on a dunk with 13:00 minutes left in the half.
Junior forward Marcus Watkins entered his first game for the Tigers at the 13:35 mark of the first half.
Junior guard James Douglas made his first career appearance for the Tigers at the 12:04 mark of the first half.
Sam Houston State Team Notes
With their win over the Tigers, Sam Houston State snapped a two-game road losing streak.
At the 12:32 mark of the first half, the Bearkats went on a 9-2 run over 3:13 to turn an 11-10 deficit into an 18-12 lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the frame.
Sam Houston State shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the first half, becoming the second consecutive Mizzou opponent to make at least half of its field goals in the opening the frame. DePaul converted at a 53.1 percent (17-of-32) clip in the first half of their defeat of the Tigers in the first round of last season's Postseason NIT.
All but two of the 10 players that saw action for Sam Houston State in the first half found their way into the scoring column.
Sam Houston State Player Notes
Sophomore forward Ryan Bright notched a career-high 28 points for the Bearkats.
Junior guard Jejuan Plair scored 14 points for the Bearkats in his first game since transferring to Sam Houston State from McLennan (Texas) Community College.
Junior forward Kelvin Williams is a former prep teammate of Mizzou sophomore guard Jason Horton, both of whom played at Cedar Hill High School in Dallas, Texas.
Playing in his first game for the Bearkats, junior John Gardiner, a transfer from Grayson County (Texas) Community College, recorded two blocks in the Tigers' first four possessions en route to a 11-point, 14-rebound night.
Freshman forward Reggie Rawlings made his first collegiate appearance at the 8:24 mark of the first half.