Dec. 16, 2005
Columbia, Mo. -
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Mizzou looks to build momentum heading into the holiday season as it hosts Southern Conference representative Furman on Sunday Dec. 18 at Mizzou Arena ... The Tigers continue a home stand (began Dec. 10 vs. Texas A&M-CC) that will see them play six of their next seven games in Columbia ... The lone exception will be the Dec. 21 Busch Braggin' Rights Game vs. Illinois in St. Louis, Mo. ... The home stretch concludes with the Big 12-opener vs. Oklahoma State on Jan. 7 ... Mizzou is coming off an 82-81 home win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, in which senior Jimmy McKinney tipped home his own miss with :09 seconds remaining to lift the Tigers to the thrilling win ... Backcourt mate Thomas Gardner scored 30 points for the second consecutive game, becoming the first Tiger to repeat a 30-point effort since Anthony Peeler during the 1991-92 season ... No Tiger has scored 30 points in three consecutive games and just eight Tigers have scored 30 points in back-to-back contests, led by Peeler who did it twice during that 1991-92 season ... The last Tiger to score 30+ more than twice in the same season was Kareem Rush, who did it four times in 2000-01 ... Gardner's 60 points over the last two games are the since Clarence Gilbert poured in 65 in games vs. Colorado (22) and Iowa State (43 in 4 OT's) during the 2000-01 campaign ... McKinney tallied a season-high 19, including a career best 12-of-14 effort from the free throw line ... Mizzou is returning to action following an eight-day layoff for finals ... Mizzou is 66-40 in non-conference play under Quin Snyder ... Furman (4-4) is a member of the Southern Conference, the same league as previous Tiger foe Davidson ... The Tigers are 6-2 vs. the Southern Conference under Snyder ... Furman is 0-1 vs. the Big 12 this season with an 83-74 loss coming at Texas Tech on Nov. 23.
Tiger Trends (Team Quick-Hitters)
l Last Saturday's game vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was the 202nd of Quin Snyder's career ... Only three coaches, George Edwards (353), Wilbur Stalcup (374) and Norm Stewart (967) have coached more games on the Mizzou sideline than Snyder.
l Mizzou has made at least one three-point field goal in every game under Quin Snyder (202 games) ... The Tigers have made multiple treys in 199 of those 202 games, including double-figure triples (10+) 56 times.
l After ranking 11th in the Big 12 in three-point shooting percentage last season (30.6), the Tigers are third in the league this year (39.6), including a season-best 9-of-18 (50.0) effort at Arkansas on Dec. 2.
l Over the last three games Mizzou is shooting 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from beyond the arc.
l Mizzou continues to be a strong second-half club, outscoring its opponents by an average of 44.5-to-38.1 (267-to-229) over the final 20 minutes.
l Mizzou has shown much better ball-security over the last two games, committing just seven turnovers at Davidson and just 10 in the win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ... Conversely, Missouri has dished out 35 assists compared to the 17 miscues giving the team a 2.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
l The Tigers continue to be an outstanding club at getting to the free throw line ... Mizzou has shot 147 free throws compared to the 100 by its opponents and have scored 16 more points at the charity stripe despite 61.2 percent shooting as a club.
l Mizzou's defensive effort against UMKC had numerous record book implications ... The 42 points scored by the Kangaroos were the fewest by an MU opponent since a 45-42 win over DePaul on Nov. 24, 1997, in the opening round of the Maui Invitational ... UMKC's 15 first-half points were the fewest in the two-year history of Mizzou Arena ... The 15 total field goals by the Kangaroos were also the fewest in the history of the building and was the lowest total by Tiger opposition since Arkansas-Pine Bluff netted just 11 buckets on Dec. 9, 1998.
Tigers Tidbits (Player Quick-Hitters)
l Kevin Young continues to be one of the Big 12's top rebounders ... Young is nearly averaging a double-double with 9.0 points and 8.7 boards and ranks fourth in the league with his 8.7 caroms per game ... The Kingston, Jamaica, native also leads the Big 12 with 4.8 offensive rebounds per game.
l Young has also provided a consistent scoring presence and has topped double figures in points twice in six games... Entering the year, Young had just one career double figure scoring effort.
l Marshall Brown has also reached double figures in scoring three times this season, including a career high 20 points in the season-opener against Sam Houston State ... With his 10-point night at Arkansas, Brown reached double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
l Jason Horton continues to be one of the Big 12's top-four assist-men ... Horton is averaging 5.5 dimes a game and has a 2.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio ... The Dallas native also ranks seventh among Big 12 performers with 2.2 steals per game.
l Also, has there been a more improved perimeter defender in the Big 12 than Horton thus far? The sophomore held UMKC's Quinton Day (Southern Cal transfer) 20.5 points below his season average of 27.5 points in Mizzou's 60-42 win on Nov. 29 and held Arkansas point guards Eric Ferguson (1-of-5), Dontell Jefferson (1-of-1) and Sean McCurdy (0-of-0) to a combined 2-of-6 shooting and six total points.
l Thomas Gardner reached double figures in points for the 10th consecutive game following his career-high tying 30-point night vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ... Gardner has led the Tigers in scoring five times (out of six games) this season and 12 times over his career.
l Gardner currently leads the Big 12 with a pair of 30-point contests, including a 30-point night at Davidson on Dec. 7 ... Gardner hit eight treys vs. the Wildcats, the fourth-highest single-game total in the NCAA's this year and the third highest single-game total in school history ... He has now made at least one three-pointer in 14 consecutive games, the longest three-point streak of his tenure.
l Gardner leads the Big 12 with 4.0 three-point field goals per game and ranks ninth nationally in that category, while his three-point percentage of 49.0 ranks third in the Big 12 and 25th nationally.
l Gardner's 12 rebounds vs. UMKC tied a career high ... His 17-point, 12-rebound double-double was also the second of his career ... His first was a 19-point, 12-board effort against Brown in the 2004-05 season-opener.
l Freshman Matt Lawrence is near perfect from three-point range this season ... The St. Louis native is 4-of-5 from bonus distance, including a 2-of-2 effort in front of 17,427 screaming fans at Arkansas en route of a career high six points ... Lawrence made his first career trey vs. UMKC and added a fourth at Davidson.
l It's not just shooting where the 6-foot-7 freshman has been near flawless ... Lawrence also has four boards, two steals and an assist without committing a turnover in 7.4 minutes per game.
l Senior Jimmy McKinney is heating up offensively and is averaging 17.5 points over his last two games ... McKinney opened the run with 16 points at Davidson, before scoring a season high 19 vs. Texas A&M-CC on a career best 12-of-14 foul shooting.
l While the Tigers have struggled from the line as a team, McKinney sure hasn't ... The senior leads the Big 12 in free throw shooting at 88.5 percent (23-of-26).
l Nicknamed "Rock" by his teammates, the former Vashon High School standout missed his first game as a Tiger because of a fractured frontal sinus, but has been a "Rock" for Mizzou ever since, failing to miss a game.
l McKinney's hit his 100th career three-pointer vs. Texas A&M-CC ... Only 15 Tigers have more than 100 career triples, including teammate Gardner (109).
Getting To Know Today's Foe
Furman enters today's game 4-4 on the year following a 99-69 win over Sewanee (also known as the University of the South) on Dec. 15 ... The Paladins (which means a paragon of chivalry or a heroic champion) are one of the nation's top scoring clubs at 80.1 points per game and their team field goal percentage of 50.0 ranks No. 23 nationally ... Located in Greenville, S.C., Furman will be playing its second contest vs. Big 12 Conference competition after dropping an 83-74 decision at Texas Tech on Nov. 23 ... The Paladins and Red Raiders were tied at half time (30-30) and knotted with 8:27 remaining (54-54), but a 17-8 Tech run over the next 5:47 put the game out of reach ... Furman is led in scoring by junior guard Eric Webb ... The Grand Rapids, Minn., native is averaging 14.6 points on 47.9 percent (23-of-48) shooting from three-point range ... Robby Bostain (12.4 ppg.) and Moussa Diagne (12.3) round out the double figure scorers for Furman ... Bostain also leads the club in rebounding at 5.9 boards per game ... Furman is 1-3 on the road this year with losses at Vanderbilt (81-60), Texas Tech (83-74) and UNC Asheville (79-65) and a win at Campbell (79-78) in overtime.
Mizzou Vs. The Southern Conference
Today's game is Missouri's ninth meeting with an active member of the Southern Conference ... The Tigers are 6-2 all-time vs. the League, with the two setbacks coming to the Davidson Wildcats ... Mizzou is 2-0 all-time vs. Western Carolina and UT-Chattanooga, 1-0 vs. UNC Greensboro and 1-0 vs. Wofford.
Gardner Player of the Week
Thomas Gardner was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Co-Player of the Week after averaging 30.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals in games vs. Davidson and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
l Gardner became the first Tiger with back-to-back 30-point games since Anthony Peeler (1991-92) and was the first Tiger to earn Big 12 Player of the Week recognition since Rickey Paulding on March 1, 2004.
l Gardner hit 13-of-23 three-point field goals during the week, including a career best 8-of-14 effort from beyond the arc at Davidson on Dec. 7 ... He concluded the week with 5-of-9 three-point shooting vs. Texas A&M-CC.
Rock-Solid Play For McKinney
Teammates call him "Rock" and Jimmy McKinney has been just that for the Tigers over his 3-plus seasons in Columbia ... The selfless point guard has done it all for head coach Quin Snyder and the Tigers and now the former Vashon High School standout is providing career high scoring numbers (11.8 ppg) to go with his outstanding all-around play.
l McKinney ranks second on the team with his 11.8 ppg. average, bolstered by solid back-to-back games vs. Davidson (16) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (19).
l Against Davidson, McKinney hit 7-of-15 shots en route to 16 points ... Just to show how unselfish McKinney has been throughout his Mizzou career, those 15 field goal attempts were a career high for a player competing in his 100th consecutive game.
l The senior then responded with a 19-point game vs. Texas A&M-CC, including the game-winning tip-in with :09 seconds remaining and the Tigers trailing 81-80 ... While the last-second bucket proved to be the difference, it was his career-best 12-of-14 free throw shooting that kept Mizzou in position for the win.