Feb. 10, 2006
Columbia, Mo. -
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Missouri (10-11, 3-7 Big 12) will look to halt its season-long six game losing skid on Sunday when it hosts rival Kansas State on Feb. 12 at Mizzou Arena ... The contest marks Mizzou's Centennial Celebration, as the University's 30-member All-Century Team will be honored at half time ... The program's 20 consensus All-Americans and 10 at-large members, which were voted on by fans, will be honored along with numerous other performers from past Tiger squads ... Missouri hopefully snapped out of its recent offensive funk with a 43-point performance in the second half at Baylor ... Those 43 tallies were the fourth most by Mizzou this season and the most since the club scored 49 in the second frame at Davidson on Dec. 7 ... The last time Missouri lost six consecutive games was in 1992-93 ... That club rallied to win its final regular-season game vs. Colorado and went on to win the Big Eight Tournament in Kansas City, including a 68-56 win against K-State in the championship game ... Thomas Gardner was the catalyst for Missouri's improved second half effort at Baylor, scoring 19 of his team-high 25 points in the second period ... Gardner hit five treys over the final 20 minutes and finished the contest with seven triples ... The 20-point effort was his 12th of the season ... The last Tiger to score 20-plus points 12 or more times was Kareem Rush (2001-02), who accomplished the feat 15 times ... Rush scored 30 or more points five times that season ... Gardner has done it three times ... Speaking of Gardner, the junior needs just 59 points to reach 1,000 for his career ... The last juniors to top 1,000 tallies were Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson in 2002-03 ... With his team-high six rebounds at Baylor, senior guard Jimmy McKinney became the fifth player in Missouri history to record 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists ... The last Tiger to accomplish that feat was All-Century Team member Melvin Booker ... In fact, the only other All-Century honorees to enjoy that career milestone were Doug Smith and Anthony Peeler.
Having Fun With History
Sure it's just one game that occurred 93 years ago, but that single contest is the difference between a 112-110 series lead for the Tigers (which Missouri claims) and a 110-110 series tie (which Kansas State claims) ... The game took place on Feb. 12, 1913, in Manhattan, but oddly enough, both school's have box scores that support their historical claims ... Missouri calls it a 25-24 Tiger triumph, while K-State calls it a 26-25 Wildcat "W".
Gardner Named To Wooden Award Midseason List
College basketball's version of the FDA gave Mizzou junior guard Thomas Gardner its stamp of approval over the weekend when the John R. Wooden Award committee named the Portland, Ore., native to its midseason All-America listing.
l Gardner was one of three Big 12 players named to the grouping, along with Texas representatives LaMarcus Aldridge and P.J. Tucker.
l Gardner currently leads the Big 12 and ranks among national leaders in scoring (20.2) and three-point field goals per game (3.52).
l Gardner is the first Tiger to be selected to the Wooden Award midseason list since Kareem Rush in 2001-02.
McKinney Hits Mizzou Career Milestone
Jimmy McKinney's versatility has the Tiger senior listed among the school's all-time greats ... After scoring his 1,000th career point against Iowa State on Jan. 25, the former Vashon High School standout recorded his 400th career rebound at Baylor to become just the fifth player in school history to record 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists during his Mizzou playing career ... McKinney joined Doug Smith (1987-01), Anthony Peeler (1988-92), Melvin Booker (1990-94) and Greg Cavener (1981-85) as the only Tigers to accomplish the 1,000-point, 400-rebound, 300-assist feat.
Tigers Honor All-Century Squad
During today's contest against Kansas State, the University of Missouri will honor its 30-member All-Century Team ... The school's 20 consensus All-Americans were automatically selected to the squad, while fans were able to vote in the remaining 10 members ... Below is a look at the Mizzou All-Century grouping, separated by the First Team All-Americans and At-Large selections:
All-Americans (20): Melvin Booker (1991-94); John Brown (1971-73); Arthur Browning (1921-23); Herb Bunker (1921-23); Derrick Chievous (1985-88); Max Collings (1930-31); Marshall Craig (1928-30); Ricky Frazier (1980-82); Charles Henke (1959-61); John Lobsiger (1938-40); Anthony Peeler (1989-92); Craig Ruby (1918-20); Doug Smith (1988-91); Willie Smith (1975-76); Bill Stauffer (1950-52); Norm Stewart (1954-56); Steve Stipanovich (1980-83); Jon Sundvold (1980-83); Fred Williams (1915-16); George Williams (1920-21).
At-Large selections by fans (10): Kim Anderson (1974-77); Keyon Dooling (1999-2000); Larry Drew (1977-80); Al Eberhard (1972-74); Clarence Gilbert (1999-02); Byron Irvin (1988-89); Arthur Johnson (2001-04); Rickey Paulding (2001-04); Kareem Rush (2000-02); Kelly Thames (1994-98).
Getting To Know Today's Foe
Kansas State (13-7, 4-5 Big 12) enters today's contest looking to build on its impressive 66-63 home win over Iowa State on Feb. 8 ... The Wildcats battled back from a 28-24 deficit at the half and overcame 18 turnovers to get the win ... Cartier Martin led K-State with a 22-point effort on 6-of-12 shooting, including a 4-of-7 effort from three-point range ... Prior to that win however, the Wildcats suffered through a three-game losing skid, which consisted of road losses at Colorado and Baylor and a 63-61 home loss to Oklahoma State ... Those three defeats came by a combined eight points ... The status of Kansas State head coach Jim Wooldridge is still unknown for Sunday's game ... Wooldridge underwent successful neck surgery on Feb. 8 to remove a bulging disk in his neck and fuse the C3-4 vertebrae in the near two-hour surgery ... The bulging disk was creating pressure on his spinal cord, which ultimately caused numbness in his upper and lower extremities ... Assistant coach Jim Elgas is serving as interim head coach during Wooldridge's absence, which included the team's 66-63 win over Iowa State on Feb. 8.
Mizzou Series With Kansas State
Sunday's meeting marks the 223rd all-time between Kansas State and Mizzou with the Tigers holding a 112-110 series lead ... Kansas State has won three consecutive in the series following a two-game sweep in 2004-05 and a 79-64 win in Manhattan on Jan. 21, but Missouri is an impressive 8-5 vs. the Wildcats during Head Coach Quin Snyder's tenure ... Snyder is 5-1 all-time against K-State in Columbia with that lone defeat coming last season ... Overall, Missouri is 60-40 vs. the Wildcats in Columbia ... K-State hasn't won four consecutive games vs. Missouri since Jan. 19, 1974 through Feb. 5, 1975 ... The Tigers on the other hand had won seven consecutive meetings prior to last season, to regain the overall series lead.