Jan. 12, 2006

Columbia, Mo. -

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For Openers
Missouri looks for its third consecutive win against a team either ranked or receiving votes in the national polls on Saturday, when it hosts the Colorado Buffaloes (10-3, 0-2) at Mizzou Arena ... In addition to its back-to-back wins over Oklahoma State and at No. 22 Oklahoma, the Tigers carry a five game winning streak into Saturday's game (Tigers have also won seven of their last eight), which extends back to a Dec. 28 win over Eastern Illinois (68-56) in Columbia ... The five-game trend for Mizzou is the program's longest since the 2002-03 season (six in-a-row) and the 2-0 start in Big 12 play is the program's best since 2000-01, Quin Snyder's second campaign ... This is just the third 2-0 start in Big 12 play for Missouri all-time (1998-99 & 2000-01) and a win over Colorado would mark just the fourth 3-0 start for Mizzou in Big Eight/Big 12 play since the 1990-91 season ... The previous 3-0 starts were 1992-93 (3-0), 1993-94 (14-0), 1998-99 (3-0) and 2000-01 (3-0) ... Each culminated with NCAA berths for the Tigers ... Missouri is coming off a 71-69 victory at No. 22 Oklahoma on Tuesday ... The victory marked Mizzou's first back-to-back wins in Norman since the 1981-82 & 1982-83 seasons ... Mizzou got great efforts across the board in the win, with Thomas Gardner and Marshall Brown stepping to the forefront ... The duo tied for game-high scoring honors of 21 points (career high for Brown), with Brown burying 2-of-3 free throws with just 1.8 seconds remaining and the score tied at 69-69 ... The charity tosses capped an 8-of-12 shooting night for Brown, who went toe-to-toe with Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Taj Gray (19 points, seven boards) to help the Tigers to the win ... Missouri has now defeated Oklahoma in four consecutive regular-season games ... No other Big 12 school can boast an active streak like that vs. the Sooners.

3-0 Conference Start Would Be A Good Omen
Mizzou heads into a huge Big 12 Conference tilt today against Colorado, looking for its third-ever 3-0 start in Big 12 play ... Mizzou has started conference play with a 3-0 record 10 times since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975 and the Tigers have qualified for the "Big Dance" eight times during that run ... Mizzou's most recent 3-0 start in Big 12 play came during the 2000-01 season when the Tigers defeated Georgia and fell to No. 1 Duke in NCAA Tournament play ... Below is a list of Missouri's 3-0 conference starts since 1975, the team's final record and its postseason outcome:

Year Final Record Postseason
2000-01 20-13 NCAA
1998-99 20-9 NCAA
1993-94 28-4 NCAA
1992-93 19-14 NCAA
1990-91 20-10 No Postseason
1989-90 26-6 NCAA
1982-83 26-8 NCAA
1981-82 27-4 NCAA
1976-77 21-8 No Postseason
1975-76 26-5 NCAA

Gardner Validating Non-Conference Exploits
With his 23 points against Oklahoma State and 21-point effort at Oklahoma, Thomas Gardner became the eighth Tiger since 1973-74 and the first since Kelly Thames in 1997-98 to record back-to-back 20-point games to open Conference play ... Gardner joined the likes of Willie Smith (1975-76), Rickey Frazier (1980-81), Derrick Chievous (1986-87), Nathan Buntin (1989-90), Anthony Peeler (1991-92), Paul O'Liney (1994-95) and Thames (1997-98) to accomplish the feat ... Only Smith (six consecutive), Chievous (five consecutive) and Peeler (three consecutive) have started with three or more consecutive 20-point games to open League competition.

Getting To Know Today's Foe
Colorado enters today's game with a 10-3 overall mark (0-2 in the Big 12) following a 75-63 home loss to Kansas on Jan. 11 ... The Buffaloes are the Big 12's top scoring club at 83.9 points per game, but have averaged just 64.5 points in Conference losses to Texas and Kansas ... While all three CU set-backs have come away from the Coors Event Center, the Buffaloes do have a pair of road wins on the season, a 78-60 win at Penn on Nov. 29 and a 77-59 triumph at TCU on Dec. 20 ... Richard Roby paces Colorado with 15.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game ... The CU sophomore leads the club with 28 steals and ranks second with 35 assists in 13 consecutive starts ... Chris Copeland is second on the club with 13.3 points per game and poured in 22 points against Kansas on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc ... While Roby and Copeland are CU's lone players in double figures, the Buffaloes have six players averaging 8.8 points per game or better and actually lead the nation with 10 rostered seniors.

Mizzou Series With The Buffs
Saturday's game marks the 141st all-time meeting between Missouri and Colorado, with the Tigers holding a 90-50 all-time series advantage ... The Tigers have owned the series in Columbia, going 52-10 in 62 all-time contests, including an active stretch of eight consecutive wins ... Head Coach Quin Snyder is 9-3 vs. the Buffs and is a flawless 6-0 at home ... Colorado's last win in Columbia came Jan. 7, 1997, by an 87-78 margin ... Despite that win, Mizzou has won 33 of the last 34 games in Columbia dating back to the 1972-73 season and has a 52-17 (.754) record overall (regardless of venue) since the 1974-75 season.