Mizzou Faces Baylor on Wednesday Night in Columbia
2/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2005
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Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. CST
Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061) 1st season
TV: Mizzou Sports Network (Chris Gervino, play-by-play; Jon Sundvold, analyst)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play: Gary Link, analyst)
Rankings: Neither team was ranked in the polls
Series: MU leads, 8-6 : Last Meeting: MU, 70-66 on Feb. 21, 2004 in Waco, TX
Coaches:
Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 111-76 at MU and overall (6th season).
BU: Scott Drew (Butler '93) 17-33 at Baylor (2nd season) and 37-44 overall (4th season)
Mizzou Faces Baylor on Wednesday Night in Columbia
The University of Missouri men's basketball squad welcomes the Baylor Bears to Columbia on Wednesday night for a Big 12 tilt. The Tigers improved to 11-13 overall and 3-7 in the Big 12 on Saturday after defeating No. 16 Oklahoma in overtime, 68-65. The Tigers trailed by double digits two different times in the second half, but held the Sooners to 36.8 percent shooting and outrebounded them 24-10 en route to the second win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Tigers received major contributions from several folks including sophomores Linas Kleiza and Thomas Gardner who scored 18 points a piece in the contest. Kleiza also pulled down 13 boards and Gardner knocked down three of his four three-pointers in the final six minutes of the contest as the Tigers defeated the Sooners in overtime for the second straight year.
The Tigers' two Jasons (Horton and Conley) also stepped up huge in the game that featured five ties and four lead changes. Horton, who is a freshman, handed out a career-best 10 assists while committing only three turnovers and Conley, who is the Tigers lone scholarship senior, was everywhere (including over the scorers table twice diving after loose balls) as he scored 10 points, pulled down eight boards and handed out seven assists on the afternoon.
Wednesday's contest with the Bears will be broadcast on the Tiger Radio Network with Mike Kelly handling the play-by-play duties and former Tiger great Gary Link serving as the analyst. The game can also been seen on television on the Mizzou Sports Network. Chris Gervino will be providing the play-by-play and former Tiger All-American Jon Sundvold will be back in the saddle as the analyst.
The Tigers are 16-5 in the month of February at home during Coach Quin Snyder's six-year tenure at Mizzou and went 4-0 at home last season during the second month of the year.
Quick Hits
The Tigers hold an 8-6 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools ... Mizzou is 11-4 at home, 0-3 in neutral court contests and 0-6 on the road ... The Tigers are 4-2 at Mizzou Arena since the beginning of 2005 ... Mizzou is 9-3 when leading at halftime and 2-10 when trailing at the break ... Mizzou is 4-1 vs. Baylor under Head Coach Quin Snyder ... The Tigers won the last meeting between the two schools on Feb. 21, 2004 in Waco, TX, 70-66 ... In that game, senior Jason Conley scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field including 4-of-6 shooting from three point land ... The Tigers outrebounded BU, 34-22 on the afternoon ... Mizzou is 6-2 all-time against the Bears in Columbia including a 77-69 win over BU in their last meeting in Columbia on Jan. 11, 2003 ... Mizzou plays two of its next three at home ... Head Coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 112 at Mizzou ... Sophomores Linas Kleiza and Thomas Gardner have combined to score 83 of the Tigers' 142 points (58.5 percent) over the course of the last two games ... Kleiza has averaged 21.0 points and 10.5 rebounds during that stretch and has led Mizzou in either scoring, rebounding or in both categories in 18 of the Tigers' 24 games so far this season ... Since being reinserted in the starting line up prior to the UNLV game, Gardner has scored 18 and 23 points in the last two games and has knocked down eight three pointers during that stretch ... Senior Jason Conley has scored in double figures in four of the Tigers' last six 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 11 dimes against Coppin State in January of 2002 ... Mizzou is 7-7 on the year on the Mizzou Sports Network games ... Mizzou is 16-5 during the month of February at home under Head Coach Quin Snyder during his six years at the helm.
About the Bears
The Bears enter Wednesday's contest with a 9-12 overall mark and a 1-9 record in the Big 12 Conference. The game in Columbia will mark Baylor's fourth road game in six contests and the treks away from home have not been good to BU, who has registered a 1-6 mark away from home including an 0-5 record in Big 12 Conference play away from the Ferrell Center.
Four players are averaging in double figures on the season with sophomore Aaron Bruce leading the way, averaging 17.3 points (which ranks fourth in the Big 12) and 3.5 assists per game. Bruce has reached double figures in scoring in all but two of BU's games so far this season and has knocked down a team-high 47 three-point field goals. As a team, the Bears are second in the league in three point field goals made (161) and are shooting 37.3 percent from three-point land.
Scott Drew is in his second season at Baylor and has registered a 17-33 mark so far. He has been a head coach for four years and boasts a 37-44 record during that time. He has faced Mizzou twice (once as the head coach at Valparaiso and once as the head coach at Baylor) and is 0-2 against the Tigers.
Series - MU leads, 8-6- Last Meeting: MU, 70-66 in Waco, TX, on Feb. 21, 2004
A Look Back ... Mizzou vs. Oklahoma
The Tigers recovered from double-digit deficits twice in the second half and scored 48 points in the paint on the day as they knocked off their second ranked opponent of the season. Below are a couple other notes of note from the thrilling overtime contest ...
Missouri Team Notes after the Oklahoma Game
- Missouri's win snapped a five game losing streak that dated back to Jan. 26 (at Colorado) and handed Oklahoma its third straight loss.
- The Tigers win in overtime marked the second consecutive game where MU was able to pull ahead and knock off OU in an OT game and was their second win of the season over a ranked opponent. They are now 2-3 on the season against ranked teams.
- At halftime the Sooners led the Tigers by a score of 37-26.
- The game was the first overtime game for either team this season and second consecutive between the two teams.
- Mizzou was 2-2 last season in overtime games.
- The last five meetings between the Sooners and Tigers have been decided by an average of 4.0 points per contest and two of those games have gone to overtime.
- The Tigers used their eighth different starting lineup of the season as Jason Conley, Thomas Gardner, Jason Horton, Kevin Young and Linas Kleiza took the court for the opening tip.
- Entering the second half down by 11 points, Missouri went on a 19-5 run starting at 19:01. During the 9:55 run, the Tigers regained their second lead of the game at 9:06 after a Thomas Gardner's layup.
- Missouri, as a team, shot 41 percent from the floor in the first half, improving to 52 percent in the second half and 75 percent in overtime.
- The Tigers dominated the paint on the afternoon, scoring 48 of their 68 points in the lane while outrebounding the Sooners, 35-30, after being outrebounded, 20-11, in the first half.
- Mizzou handed out a season-high 20 assists on their 29 field goals. 17 of those dimes were dished by freshman Jason Horton (10 assists) and senior Jason Conley (seven assists).
Missouri Player Notes after the Oklahoma Game
- Senior Jason Conley tied his career high mark of seven assists in a game he set last Feb. 15, 2004 against UNLV
- Freshman Jason Horton shattered his previous career high of eight assists after tallying 10 assists while turning the ball over just three times against the Sooners. Horton's 10 assists marked the most assists a Tiger has handed out in a game since Wesley Stokes registered 11 dimes against Coppin State on Jan. 2, 2002.
- Sophomore Thomas Gardner connected on back-to-back three pointers in overtime, tying his career-high mark of four three pointers in a game.
- Sophomore Linas Kleiza recorded his sixth double-double of the season and was the only player of the game to record a double-double with his 18 points and 13 rebounds.
- Junior Jimmy McKinney was not in the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 30, 2001. He had started 79 straight contests before Saturday's game with the Sooners.
Its As Easy as 1,2,3
Point guard (or the 1 position) Jason Horton, shooting guard (or the 2 position) Thomas Gardner and small forward (or the 3 position) Jason Conley all had monster games for the Tigers on Saturday.
Horton ran the Tiger offense masterfully handing out 10 assists while committing only three turnovers. He played a career-and team-high 42 minutes in the contest and also scored four points.
Thomas Gardner pulled off some late-game heroics for the Tigers, knocking down three of his four threes over the course of the last minute of regulation and during the overtime period. He was 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-9 from three on the afternoon.
Conley was solid in every faze of the game against the Sooners, scoring 10 points, pulling down eight boards and handing out seven assists, which tied a career high for the senior.
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 promotions 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 last three games at halftime 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 was 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).
A Repeat Performance (Part 3)?
The Tigers are looking to duplicate their gritty win over Baylor in Waco last season. In that game, senior Jason Conley had a career day, scoring 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting while knocking down 4-of-6 attempts from three-point range. The Tigers outrebounded the Bears 34-22 on the afternoon and extended their winning streak to four games.
What Can Brown Do for You? (The Remix)
I guess we could have gone with `there's a new Marshall in town,' or something Clarence Gilbert-esque like that, but we will stick with what has worked so far in the notes this season. Much like UPS, who uses the slogan of `What can brown do for you?,' freshman Marshall Brown continues to deliver for Mizzou. He leads the Tigers in three-point field goal percentage (43.6 percent - 17-of-39) and is averaging 17.1 minutes per contest. He has scored seven or more points in eight of the Tigers' last 15 games.
Brown knocked down 5-of-7 shots on the night including two highlight reel dunks in the first half against Texas A&M on his way to 11 points in the fifth start of his career.
Making the fourth start of his career, Brown had a solid outing at Kansas going for seven points while also pulling down five boards. Brown showed off his outstanding leaping ability early in the second half when he took an ally oop from fellow Texan Jason Horton on a baseline-out-of-bounds play that put Mizzou up by eight over KU.
Brown was amazing against Colorado, knocking down 3-of-3 shots from the three point line. He also pulled down a career-best eight rebounds in only 16 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble
The super-athletic forward scored a career-best 12 points in 22 minutes of action to lead Mizzou in scoring for the first time in his career against Texas Tech.
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.
At the Line with Linas
At the risk of totally jinxing the progress the Tigers made from the free throw line of late, we offer this intriguing analysis of the Tigers' free throw shooting, in particular in regard to sophomore Linas Kleiza. The Tigers knocked down a season-high 90.0 percent (18-of-20) from the free throw line against OSU after entering the contest shooting just 64.1 percent on the season.
They were spurred by Kleiza's remarkable 13-for-13 shooting from the stripe, setting a then career best for free throws made in a game. Linas has made a living at the free throw line this season, getting to the charity stripe 152 times already. Kleiza has hit 110 of those attempts, good for 72.4 percent accuracy. He has been particularly impressive the past 15 games, knocking down 84-of-108 attempts (77.8 percent) and has averaged just under seven trips to the line per game during that stretch.
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. That effort earned him his sixth double-double of the season and the ninth double-double of his career.
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.
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 17 games, Marshall Brown, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Glen Dandridge have combined to score 26.3 percent of the Tigers points (321-of-1219) and all four of them have set or equaled career highs in points during that stretch.
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.
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
111-76
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.
