Feb. 28, 2006
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Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - Columbia, Mo.
TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Mizzou Arena (15,061). Opened in 2004. MU is 298-111 (.729) all-time at home, including 18-9 (.667) at Mizzou Arena.
RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400/KLIK-AM 1240 (David Lile, play-by-play/Gary Link, color) and available to affiliates of the Tiger Network.
TV: None.
ONLINE: Live audio available via Yahoo! subscription; live video available via Mizzou All-Access subscription; both at mutigers.com.
RANKINGS: Mizzou is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls; Nebraska is not receiving votes.
SERIES: Nebraska leads, 32-28, yet Mizzou leads in Columbia by a 16-12 margin. The Huskers have won the last two games in Columbia, while Mizzou has won the last two overall.
COACHES:
MIZZOU: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 132-104 at MU (eighth season) and 197-129 overall (11th season).
NEBRASKA: Connie Yori (Creighton '86), 59-57 at NU (fourth season) and 254-197 overall (16th season).
SPECIAL PROMOTIONS: Senior Night with LaToya Bond, Cherice Mack and Christelle N'Garsanet
BOND, MACK, N'GARSANET TO PLAY FINAL HOME GAME WEDNESDAY VS. NU
On Wednesday, the Mizzou women's basketball team (20-7, 10-5 Big 12) sends its three seniors off in pre-game ceremonies before hosting Nebraska (15-11, 7-8) at Mizzou Arena. The 7 p.m. tipoff will determine the Tigers' final seeding heading into next week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Basketball Championship. Mizzou is already guaranteed its best-ever finish in the league, and has secured a first-round bye in the tournament.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
With a first-round bye secured, the Tigers are jockeying with Baylor and Texas A&M for the No. 2-4 seeds. Mizzou can earn the No. 2 seed with a win and a Baylor loss at Texas; the scenario is independent of Texas A&M's game at Oklahoma State because of how three-way ties are broken.
LAST TIME OUT: KANSAS 81, MIZZOU 71
Erica Hallman and Crystal Kemp combined to score 54 points, and Kansas made four of its five baskets in overtime to lead the Jayhawks to an 81-71 win over Mizzou in Big 12 Conference action Saturday afternoon at Allen Field House.
SERIES VS. NEBRASKA
Nebraska leads the overall series, 32-28, and have won the last two games in the series. Strangely, though, both of those have come in Lincoln, where Mizzou has won the last six meetings; likewise, the Huskers have won the last two in Columbia. Cindy Stein is 10-5 against Nebraska, and 4-3 in Columbia.
SCOUTING THE HUSKERS
Mizzou's win in Lincoln on Jan. 11 snapped an eight-game Husker winning streak, and started Nebraska on its current stretch of eight losses the last 13 games. NU is coming off of a short week, losing 73-45 at Oklahoma on Sunday.
Junior guard Kiera Hardy leads Nebraska with 16.8 points per game, and has taken nearly twice as many shots as any other Husker. Freshman Kelsey Griffin is having an excellent rookie season, and is second on the squad in scoring (13.9 ppg) while snaring a team-best 6.2 rebounds a game.
Nebraska has been playing all season without senior Jelena Spiric, the 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, after she suffered a knee injury in practice on Oct. 18. Spiric averaged 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and posted a double-double in NU's upset win over Baylor last season. She will be eligible to apply for a medical hardship and return for her senior season in 2006-07.
TIGERS EXCEED LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
Of all the measures of the success of this year's team, the most compelling might be this: With the win vs. Iowa State on Wednesday, Mizzou bumped its win total to 20 this season; the Tigers had 11 wins all of last year (11-18). In addition, the 10th Big 12 win of the season matches Mizzou's all-time Big 12 best, first set in the 2000-01 Sweet 16 season.
For the first time in the 10-year history of the Big 12 Conference, Missouri has clinched a top-four finish and a bye through to the tournament quarterfinals.
Mizzou has won 19 of its last 24 games. Mizzou's 20-7 start is just three games off the best in school history through 26 games; it trails only the 23-4 start by the 1983-84 Tigers and the 22-5 starts from the 1982-83 and 1977-78 squads. In addition, the Tigers' 10-5 conference start is the best in their 10 years in the Big 12, and just three games off the all-time team best set by the 1984 Big Eight squad. Mizzou had not reached 20 wins prior to the conference tournament since 1990, and just once since 1984.
HOME SWEET HOME
Part of the Tigers' about-face this season (see above) starts with their success at home. Mizzou is 13-1 in the friendly confines of Mizzou Arena this season, one year removed from a 5-8 mark at home. Its 11-game homecourt win streak was snapped Feb. 4 by Big 12 Champion Oklahoma. Mizzou has not lost at Mizzou Arena to an unranked team in over a year (Feb. 5, 2005, vs. Kansas).
The Tigers capped a school-record-tying eight-game homestand a perfect 8-0 to begin Big 12 play. Included in that homestand was a 64-61 win over then-No. 4 Baylor to end the defending NCAA National Champions' 30-game win streak.
The Tigers played five of their first six games on the road, and have fared relatively well away from Mizzou Arena this season, posting a 7-6 road/neutral record. Mizzou will have to wait until next year to post its 300th win all-time at home; the Tigers are 298-111 (.729) in Columbia.