Nov. 18, 2005
Columbia, Mo. -
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Tip-off: 2:05 p.m. CST
Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061)
TV: Mizzou Sports Network. (Chris Gervino, play-by-play: Jon Sundvold, analyst)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network. (Mike Kelly play-by-play; Gary Link analysis)
Rankings: Neither squad is ranked in the AP or ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Poll
Series: First Meeting
Coaches:
Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89); 116-81 at Mizzou (7th season)
Northwestern State: Mike McConathy (Louisiana Tech '77);
87-94 at Northwestern State (7th season)
For Openers
Mizzou looks for its opening win of the 2005-06 season following an 80-77 loss to Sam Houston State in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off ... The Tigers were solid offensively in the debut, scoring 77 points on 46 percent shooting (46.2 percent from three-point range), but a strong three-point shooting performance from Ryan Bright (28 points) helped the Bearkats deal Mizzou its first home-opening loss since 1973 ... That defeat isn't necessarily a bad omen however ... The last time Mizzou had a home-opening defeat, the Tigers went on to claim the Big Eight Holiday Tournament crown (Dec. 26-29, 1973) in Kansas City, Mo., topping Oklahoma (73-70), Colorado (89-83) and Iowa State (80-78) ... Like current Tiger head coach Quin Snyder, that season was also Norm Stewart's seventh in Columbia ... If you want to know more about that squad, talk to Tiger Radio Network color analyst Gary Link who was a senior captain on that hardwood quintet.
More Quick Hitters
The Tigers will be facing their second Southland Conference opponent in as many games ... You don't have to look far to find the last time Mizzou played teams from the same conference during the non-conference season in back-to-back outings ... The Tigers faced Indiana (Dec. 19) and Illinois (Dec. 22) in consecutive contests last season ... Both schools are members of the Big Ten Conference ... Mizzou will look to avoid its first 0-2 start since the 1961-62 season ... The Tigers lost at home to Southern Cal (Dec. 1) and then at Arkansas (Dec. 4), before rattling off four consecutive victories ... The last time the Tigers lost consecutive home games to open a season was 1960-61, with losses to Arkansas (Dec. 3) and Minnesota (Dec. 5) ... Thomas Gardner (23 points) and Marshall Brown (20 points) led the Tigers in the season-opener ... The last time Mizzou had two players pour in 20 points in the same game was a 72-68 win over No. 7 Kansas on March 6, 2005, in Mizzou Arena ... Technically, the Tigers have a stretch of two straight home games with at least two players scoring 20 points ... The 23 points by Gardner tied a career high (third time scoring 23), but the 20 by Brown easily eclipsed the 12 he poured in on Jan. 19, 2005, against Texas Tech at home, which previously stood as his career best ... Jimmy McKinney stands just four games shy of playing his 100th career game at Mizzou and needs just two more three-point makes to reach the century mark in that category as well.
Getting To Know Today's Foe
Northwestern State is the overwhelming favorite to win the Southland title this season, which would be the program's second consecutive crown ... Only Jim Les' Bradley Braves have a higher percentage of its offensive production returning in 2005-06 than the Demons ... Northwestern State has better than 90 percent of its scoring and rebounding back from last year's 21-12 club and returns all-five starters from that unit ... The Demons could be playing their first of three games vs. Big 12 opposition ... Following tonight's game with the Tigers, Northwestern State will travel to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State on Dec. 5 and could play Iowa State in the second round of the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii on Dec. 22 ... NSU opens its regular season on Friday (Nov. 18) with a home contest against East Texas Baptist.
What You May Not Know About Northwestern State University
Northwestern State is located in Natchitoches, La, a town founded in 1774, making it the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase ... The town is also the filming site for the movie Steel Magnolias ... The University was founded in 1884 and currently owns an enrollment of 10,506.
Tigers Celebrate Century Of Basketball
The 2005-06 campaign marks the 100th season of intercollegiate basketball at Mizzou and the program will be celebrating its rich tradition by honoring a 30-member All-Century Team ... Missouri's 20 All-Americans have already been named to the squad, meaning fans will have the opportunity to vote in their favorite players for the remaining 10 All-Century slots ... Voting can occur either at Mizzou Arena or by mail ... Ballots will appear in Tiger Courtside game programs or can be printed off Mizzou's official website, mutigers.com, and mailed into the Mizzou Athletics Media Relations Office ...Voting runs through Dec. 31, 2005, and the team will be announced Jan. 16, 2006 during the Mizzou-Kansas basketball game at Mizzou Arena ... The team will then be honored in person at the Feb. 12 home game vs. Kansas State.
Mizzou Getting Familiar With Southland
Mizzou will play its second game against a member of the Southland Conference this afternoon when it takes on Northwestern State ... The Tigers faced Sam Houston State in the opener and will later face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 10 ... Although the Islanders are currently an Independent, the program will become a full member of the Southland on July 1, 2006 ... The Tigers are 8-2 all-time vs. the Southland, but today's match-up marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs ... Mizzou is 1-1 vs. Sam Houston State, 3-0 vs. Texas State (formerly Southwest Texas State), 1-0 vs. Texas-San Antonio, 1-0 vs. Nicholls State and 2-1 vs. Lamar.
The Ultimate Warrior
Coaches and teammates call sophomore forward Marshall Brown "The Warrior" for his hard-nosed style of play on the court ... Brown lived up to the monicker following a career high 20-point effort in the season-opener vs. Sam Houston State.
l The 6-foot-6 forward hit a career high 7-of-10 shots in the contest and buried 5-of-6 free throws in the personal-best effort ... The Austin, Texas, native also grabbed four boards and ripped away a career-high tying three steals in a career best 36 minutes.
l Prior to the SHSU game, Brown had played 30 minutes just once in his career ... The forward scored five points and grabbed four boards in 30 minutes of action at UNLV on Feb. 9, 2005.
Gardner Packing A Scoring Punch
The Tigers are barely into the 2005-06 campaign, but Thomas Gardner is showing why he can be counted on to provide the Tigers with some needed offensive firepower ... After averaging 20.5 points in the preseason, Gardner tied a career high with 23 tallies in the opener vs. Sam Houston State, including 10 points in the final 3:34 to keep Mizzou within striking distance.
l Gardner hit his final four shots in the game, including a pair of treys in the final 0:56 to cut into two separate Sam Houston State leads of five points.
l The Portland, Ore., native finished the game 10-of-17 from the floor with the 10 FG makes establishing a career best ... The 37 minutes played also tied a career high.
l The 23 points marked the fourth time Gardner has eclipsed the 20-point barrier in his career ... The forward topped 20 points twice as a sophomore, with 23 points at UNLV and 23 at home vs. Kansas ... He initially scored 20 as a freshman in a home win vs. the Runnin' Rebels.
Tigers Beat Early Signing Deadline, Ink Lithuanian Standout Vaidatos Volkus
Head Coach Quin Snyder continued to make waves on the recruiting front with the addition of touted junior college forward Vaidatos Volkus (pronounced Vah-dose) (Vole-kuss) ... The 6-8, 220-pound Lithuanian is averaging 11.2 points on 44 percent three-point shooting for Redlands Community College this season after recording norms of 9.2 points and 4.8 boards as a freshman.
The Long Way Home
It's been a long road for junior transfer Marcus Watkins ... After opening his career at Texas A&M, the 6-4 forward saw his first action as a Tiger in the opener, and scored nine points in 15 minutes of playing time ... The Charlotte native hit a last-second trey to close the first half and finished second on the squad with four rebounds ... The junior also showed a knack for getting to the free throw line and supplemented his scoring total with 4-of-5 shooting at the charity stripe.
Stop ... Thief ...
While Mizzou will continue to work on its defensive pressure, the Tigers did come away with 10 steals in the season-opener vs. Sam Houston State ... Last season, Mizzou reached double figures in steals just twice, recording 10 vs. Davidson and a season-high 13 vs. Arkansas ... Jason Horton paced the Tigers with a career-high tying four thefts, while Brown tied a career high with three.
Tigers Ink Lawrence, Morrison In Early Signing Period
Head Coach Quin Snyder and the Tigers made a splash in the early signing period when they inked one of the nation's premiere junior college players, Ty Morrison (Phoenix, Ariz. / Redlands CC / Trevor Browne HS), and rapidly rising high school star Keon Lawrence (Newark, N.J. / Weequahic) to national letters-of-intent on Wednesday (Nov. 9).
l A 6-7, 220-pound forward, Morrison is ranked No. 1 nationally among two-year players by Van Coleman and No. 3 nationally by Rivals.com ... A standout for Steve Eck at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., Morrison averaged 10.1 points and 5.6 boards as a freshman for Redlands after earning All-State honors four consecutive seasons in Arizona.
l Lawrence is a 6-2, 180-pound point guard that lit-up the Jersey Shore Summer League, scoring 48 and 43 points against competition that included Detroit Pistons reserve guard Horace Jenkins, Louisville's Taquan Dean and Villanova's Mike Nardi ... An All-Newark Pick by the Newark Star-Ledger, Lawrence has averaged better than 23 points each of the last two seasons and was listed among the Top Five Juniors in the state of New Jersey.
Playing Beyond Their Years
It was just the opener, but Mizzou's newcomers quickly dispelled any notion of early-season jitters ... Tiger rookies Marcus Watkins and Leo Lyons both made impacts in the game vs. Sam Houston State, with Watkins scoring nine points and grabbing four boards ... Lyons recorded three points, four boards and a block in 14 minutes of action.
Braggin' Rights Game Moved To ESPN2
The Dec. 21 Mizzou-Illinois Braggin' Rights Game has been moved from ESPN to ESPN2 ... The game time will remain at 7 p.m. (CT) ... This year's match-up marks the 25th meeting between the two foes in St. Louis, Mo., with Illinois owning a 16-8 series advantage.
Tigers Have Tough Slate
With the release of the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll it became clear just how difficult Mizzou's 2005-06 schedule is ... The Tigers have scheduled contests against four teams currently ranked in the Top 25 (No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 17 Illinois and No. 23 Iowa State) and will meet Southland Conference favorite today at Mizzou Arena ... The Tigers also have scheduled games against No. 29 Kansas, No. 31 Texas Tech, No. 35 Oklahoma State and No. 49 Texas A&M.
Returning Production Much Improved From One Year Ago
A year ago at this time, a number of question marks hovered around the Tigers as the loss of a talented senior group left Mizzou with just 39 percent of its scoring and 47 percent of its rebounding coming back ... Those numbers have flipped in favor of the Tigers at the start of the 2005-06 season however, as nearly 60 percent of Missouri's scoring (1306-of-2188) and rebounding (689-of-1148) returns for Quin Snyder's seventh season ... The Tigers also welcome back 65 percent of their steals (134-206), 67 percent of their assists (275-of-408) and 74 percent of their blocked shots (53-of-72) from last season's postseason-qualifying squad.
Televised Tigers: Every Mizzou Contest This Season On Television
The Tigers will have plenty of tube time this season as each of Mizzou's games this year will be carried live on the Mizzou Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+ and CBS ... Starting with the exhibition season, MSN will broadcast 18 Tiger contests, while ESPN will carry the Jan. 16 game at Kansas ... Mizzou could appear on ESPN2 five times this season, three of which could occur in the Preseason NIT ... The Tigers' Feb. 18 date at Kansas will be on CBS.
These Guys Have Seen It All
Head Coach Quin Snyder has assembled one of the Big 12's more veteran coaching staffs, as he, associate head coach Melvin Watkins and assistant coach Jeff Meyer have a combined 30 years of experience as head coaches at the collegiate level ... Snyder is entering his seventh season on the sidelines at Mizzou, while Watkins spent a combined eight years at North Carolina-Charlotte (1996-98) and Texas A&M (1998-04) ... Meyer is the most seasoned Mizzou coach having enjoyed 16 years as head coach at Liberty (1981-97).