Nov. 27, 2006
Columbia, Mo. -
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University of Missouri Tigers (6-0)
vs.
Coppin State Eagles (1-4)
Game 7 - Nov. 27, 2006 - Columbia, Mo.
For Openers
> Missouri continues a stretch of three games in five days when it hosts Coppin State at Mizzou Arena ... The Tigers are already playing their seventh game of the season ... Last season on this date Missouri had played just two games and was 1-1 on the year.
> The Tigers will look to remain unbeaten on the young season and join Oklahoma State as the lone 7-0 teams (thus far) in the Big 12 Conference ... The Tigers have started 7-0 just seven times since 1922-23 ... A win would also make Mike Anderson the first Tiger Head Coach to open his career 7-0 since Craig Ruby in 1920-21 ... Ruby opened his Mizzou coaching career with 17 consecutive wins.
> Mizzou will be looking for its 14th consecutive win at Mizzou Arena against non-conference opposition ... That's the longest non-conference winning streak in the history of Mizzou Arena and longest at home since winning 18 consecutive from 2000-03.
> Missouri has won seven consecutive regular-season games over the past two seasons (Big 12 Championship not included) ... A win on Monday would be the most for the Tigers since winning nine consecutive games to open the 2001-02 season.
> Despite returning just 37.6 percent of the teams scoring from last season (12-16 overall), Missouri is second in the Big 12 with 81.5 points per game ... The Tigers also rank No. 2 in field goal percentage (51.0) and three-point percentage (44.7).
> Not only is Mizzou's high-pressure style paying dividends offensively, but it's paying off in the NCAA defensive statistical rankings as well ... Missouri ranks No. 14 with 23.0 turnovers forced per game, No. 12 nationally with 69 total steals and No. 22 nationally with 113 total assists.
> Leading the way defensively is newcomer Stefhon Hannah ... Hannah ranks No. 2 nationally with 23 total steals and No. 6 nationally with 3.83 steals per game ... Matt Lawrence ranks No. 31 with 18 treys and Jason Horton ranks No. 32 with his 32 assists.
Getting To Know Today's Foe
Coppin State enters tonight's game following a 67-58 defeat at Kansas State on Saturday ... The Eagles and Wildcats exchanged six leads and had five ties, but Columbia's Lance Harris proved to be too much in KSU's 11-point win, scoring 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting ... Tywaine McKee led Coppin State (1-4) with 19 points against the Wildcats and currently boasts an 18.4 points per game scoring average ... Robert Pressey is the team's top rebounder at 5.2 boards per game ... CSU is playing its fifth road game of the season Monday in Columbia ... The Eagles have played at Virginia Tech (L, 94-43), Hawaii (L, 79-67) and Tennessee (L, 99-65), before hosting Winston-Salem State (W, 81-56) and traveling to Manhattan ... Coppin State is averaging just 62.6 points per game on the season and have just one player (Darryl Roberts) with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.
Mizzou Series History With Coppin State
Today's game marks the sixth all-time meeting between Missouri and Coppin State ... The Tigers currently lead the series 4-1 and have won two consecutive since dropping a 78-70 decision to the Eagles on Dec. 2, 1997, in Columbia ... The last meeting between the two programs came on Dec. 2, 2003, and Mizzou won that game 70-61.
With A Missouri Win
> The Tigers push their non-conference homecourt winning streak to 14 games.
> The Tigers will start 7-0 for the first time since 2001-02 and for just the seventh time over the last 84 years of college basketball (1922-23).
> The Tigers would join Oklahoma State as the only 7-0 teams in the Big 12 Conference.
> Mike Anderson will be the first first-year head coach at Missouri to start 7-0 since Craig Ruby in 1920-21, a stretch of 86 years.
> Mizzou will improve to 9-1 against active members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
> Mizzou will improve to 11-2 in November home games at Mizzou Arena.
> Will give the Tigers an opportunity to go 8-0 for the first time since 2001-02 ... The Tigers have started 8-0 just four times since 1982-83 and just six times since 1921-22 ... Ironically, that 1921-22 team was coached by Craig Ruby and started 13-0.
Instant Success
Very few junior college newcomers have made the instant impact on their new clubs like Mizzou's Stefhon Hannah ... The junior guard leads the Tigers in three categories, scoring (13.5), steals (3.8) and minutes (30.7) and has been the catalyst for the Tigers' 6-0 surge to open the season ... Hannah ranks No. 2 nationally with his 23 steals and his scoring, assists (4.8) and three-point shooting accuracy (44.0) all rank in the upper-eschelon of the Big 12 Conference.
Mizzou, Mike Anderson In Rare Company
There were 62 coaching changes made in NCAA Division I basketball last season and of those 62 head coaches starting new jobs, just six remain undefeated ... Mizzou's Mike Anderson is one of those half-dozen.
> In fact, the new coaches in the Big 12 Conference can puff out their chests a little, as Anderson is joined by Iowa State's Greg McDermott, Nebraska's Doc Sadler and Oklahoma State's Sean Sutton.
> North Carolina State's Sidney Lowe and Washington State's Tony Bennett are the only remaining unbeaten first-year head coaches.
400 Shots A Day, 400 Shots A Day
Matt Lawrence is the most improved player in the Big 12 ... period ... and that's not just SID speak, the numbers back it up ... After averaging 1.5 points as a freshman, the 6-foot-7 sophomore has seen his per-game scoring averages soar to a team-leading 13.0 points per game this season ... That's an improvement of 11.5 points per game, but more importantly, it's a 867-percent improvement from his 2005-06 totals.
> How did Lawrence improve so rapidly? Well, the St. Louis native remained in Columbia most of the summer and averaged 400 shots per day in preparation for play in Mike Anderson's system.
> Other notable improvements around the Big 12 include Oklahoma's Longar Longar (2.1 to 11.8, 562-percent improvement) and Austin Johnson (3.0 to 11.8, 393-percent improvement) as well as Texas' A.J. Abrams, who has seen his scoring average improve from 6.4 points to 19.6 (306-percent improvement).