Mike Anderson battles Bob Huggins for their first Big 12 Conference wins of their coaching careers.Mike Anderson battles Bob Huggins for their first Big 12 Conference wins of their coaching careers.
Men's Basketball

Tiger Men Try For First Big 12 Win vs. Wildcats

Jan. 12, 2007

Missouri Tigers (11-4, 0-2 Big 12) vs. Kansas State Wildcats (10-6, 0-2 Big 12)
Game 16 - Jan. 13, 2007 - Columbia, Mo.

 


GAME CENTRAL:
 


TIPOFF: 3:01 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Mizzou Arena (15,061).
TV: ESPN-Plus (Fred White, play-by-play: Jon Sundvold, analyst); game available to ESPN Full Court subscribers.
RADIO: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly play-by-play; Chris Gervino analyst); Sirius Ch. 119.RANKINGS:
   Mizzou: NR
   Kansas State: NR
SERIES: Missouri leads 113-110 overall; Tigers lead 61-40 in Columbia.
COACHES:
   Mizzou: Mike Anderson (Tulsa '82); 100-45 overall (5th season); 11-4 at Mizzou (1st).
   Kansas State: Bob Huggins (West Virginia '77) 577-204 overall (25th season); 10-6 at K-State (1st).

FOR OPENERS

  • Mizzou will look to bounce back from an 88-68 defeat in Austin, Texas, this Saturday, when it hosts Kansas State at Mizzou Arena at 3 p.m.
  • Mizzou is going for its 12th win in just 16 tries ... Last season, Missouri had just 12 wins in 28 games throughout the entire 2005-06 season and returns just 37.6 percent of its scoring and 66.5 percent of its rebounding from that club.
  • Here's a weird twist, each of the last three meetings between K-State and Missouri have come with different head coaches for both clubs ... In the first meeting of the 2005-06 season, Quin Snyder and Jim Wooldridge were head coaches for both clubs (79-64 K-State win) ... On Feb. 12, 2006, Interim Head Coach Melvin Watkins led Mizzou to a 74-71 win over KSU's Interim Head Coach Jim Elgas ... Now, Anderson and Huggins lead the way in the first meeting between the two rivals this season.
  • Junior guard Stefhon Hannah continues to lead the nation with 3.6 steals per game ... Hannah has topped five or more steals in a game six times this season ... Hannah now has 54 steals on the year and already ranks ninth on Mizzou's single-season Top 10 steals list ... FYI, the single-season record is 76 held by Lynn Hardy in 1986-87 ... The Big 12 record for steals in a season is 102 by Mexico, Mo., native Cookie Belcher (Nebraska) in 1998-99 ... Hannah also needs just 10 more steals to move into the Mizzou single-season Top 3.
  • As a team, Mizzou leads the Big 12 and ranks No. 2 nationally with 11.9 steals per game and has 178 total steals ... The Tigers only had 167 total steals during the entire 2005-06 season ... Missouri needs just 92 more thefts to move into the single-season Top Five and needs just 118 more steals to break the school record of 295 set in 1985-86.
  • Despite returning just 37.6 percent of its scoring from last season, Missouri is No. 3 in the Big 12 with 78.7 points per game ... The Tigers also rank No. 2 in three-point field goals (8.4) and No. 2 in three-point percentage (40.8).

MIZZOU QUICK HITTERS

  • Mizzou will look to snap its second two-game losing streak of the season when it hosts Kansas State on Jan. 13 at Mizzou Arena.
  • Both Mizzou and K-State are searching for their initial Big 12 wins of the year and both enter Saturday's contest under the direction of a first-year head coach.
  • Saturday's contest will be the fourth all-time meeting between Missouri sideline boss Mike Anderson and K-State coach Bob Huggins ... Each of the previous three meetings came when Anderson was Head Coach at UAB and Huggins was at Cincinnati ... Huggins and Cincy earned two wins over Anderson and the Blazers, but Anderson's crew claimed an 80-69 win over the 17th-ranked Bearcats in 2004-05, which halted UAB's eight-game skid to Cincinnati.
  • Despite a 66-65 loss to Iowa State in their most recent home game, Missouri has enjoyed great success at home this season and are 11-1 within the friendly confines of Mizzou Arena.
  • Mizzou will go in search of its first 12-4 start since the 2000-01 season.
  • Here's a weird twist, each of the last three meetings between K-State and Missouri have come with different head coaches for both clubs ... In the first meeting in 2005-06, Quin Snyder and Jim Wooldridge were head coaches for both clubs (79-64 K-State win) ... On Feb. 12, 2006, Melvin Watkins led Mizzou to a 74-71 win over Interim Head Coach Jim Elgas ... Now, Anderson and Huggins lead the way in the first meeting between the two rivals this season.
  • Head Coach Mike Anderson was named the No. 1 Immediate Impact Coach in America by Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis
  • Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl named Anderson one of his six most innovative coaches in America.
  • Anderson was also listed as the leading candidate for National Coach of the Year by Mike DeCourcy and the Sporting News.
  • ESPN's Jay Bilas paid equal props to Anderson, saying he was in fine shape to win Coach of the Year honors.
  • Prior to the start of Saturday's game, Head Coach Mike Anderson will be recognized for his 100th career win as a head coach ... Anderson's 100th win came vs. Mississippi State on Jan. 2.
  • With a win vs. K-State, Missouri would record its 1,400th victory as a program ... Missouri is 38th all-time in NCAA Division I Basketball wins and would join Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are the only other Big 12 schools to have reached the 1,400 win plateau.
  • Ole Mizzou ranks No. 2 nationally with 11.9 steals per game ... So far this season the Tigers have 178 total steals, which is already more than the 167 steals Missouri recorded during the entire 2005-06 season ... In case you were wondering, Virginia Military (VMI) leads the nation with 15.5 steals per game.
  • Those 11.9 steals per game would shatter the Big 12 record of 10.8 steals set by Iowa State in 2004-05.
  • At their current pace of 11.9 steals per game, the 2006-07 Tigers would shatter the school record of 295 set in 1985-86 ... Missouri is on pace for 357 steals.
  • Despite being labeled as undersized, Missouri is averaging 33.5 points per game in the paint, including a season best 50 tallies in the opener against North Carolina A&T.
  • Another improved area for the Tigers has come in bench production ... Missouri is averaging 27.1 points per game from its bench through 15 games, including a season high 49 points vs. Lipscomb ... Last season, Missouri's reserves averaged just 11.9 points per game.
  • If you simply take raw scoring numbers Mizzou's bench scored 334 point through 28 games last season ... So far this year, Tiger reserves have accounted for 406 points.
  • Missouri is scoring nearly 30-percent of its points (21.5-of-78.7) off of opponent turnovers ... The Tigers are forcing an average of 21.5 turnovers per game and scoring 21.5 points off of those opponent miscues.
  • As a team, Missouri is No. 22 nationally at 40.8 percent shooting from three-point range (126-of-309) ... The Tigers have topped double figures in three-point makes five times this season ... The Tigers topped double figures in three-pointers just twice all of last year (at Davidson and at home vs. Kansas).
  • Overall, the Tigers have topped 80 points in eight of 14 games and have won six of their 11 games by 20-plus points ... Over the previous two seasons combined (2004-05 and 2005-06), Missouri topped 80 points in scoring just six times ... Over the previous three seasons (2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06) Mizzou won just four (total) games by 20-plus point margins.

TIGER TIDBITS (Individual Notes)

  • Stefhon Hannah continues to be one of the nation's top newcomers and leads the country in steals per game at 3.7 ... He also ranks No. 4 in the Big 12 with 4.8 assists, No. 10 in scoring (16.0) and No. 8 in three-point makes (2.1).
  • Hannah has topped five or more steals in a game six times this season and has already joined the Mizzou single-season Top 10 ... In fact, Hannah needs just 10 more steals to move into the Mizzou single-season Top Three.
  • Hannah has been sizzling from three-point range over his last five games, shooting 13-of-28 (46.4) from bonus distance during that stretch.
  • Hannah and fellow newcomer Keon Lawrence rank No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12 with 5.0 steals per game and are the top steal tandem nationally among a pair of newcomers.
  • Marshall Brown has been Mizzou's top scorer in Big 12 play and ranks No. 4 in the Conference with 21.5 points per game, including a career high 24 points in his hometown return to Austin, Texas, on Jan. 10.
  • Brown scored 22 points in the second half vs. UT and has scored 43 points over his last two games combined, which is the best two-game stretch of his career.
  • Matt Lawrence continues to be one of the nation's top three-point shooters and ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 16 nationally at 51.2 percent.
  • Lawrence has been especially deadly over his last three games and is 13-of-23 (56.5) from beyond the arc during that stretch.
  • As the numbers show, Lawrence is the Big 12's most improved player this season and has upped his scoring average 813-percent from the 1.5 points per game he averaged as a freshman ... Lawrence is second on the club with 12.2 points per game and ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 32 nationally with 2.93 treys per game.
  • Lawrence leads the team with 44 three-point makes this year and has shot better than 50 percent from three-point range in 7-of-15 games this season.
  • Lawrence was named the nation's No. 1 Surprise Impact Player by ESPN's Stephen Bardo on College Game Night.
  • Like Matt Lawrence, Kalen Grimes is among the Big 12's most improved players and ranks No. 8 in the Big 12 with a scoring increase of 6.1 points per game this season ... Grimes has upped his season averages from 2.6 points and 2.6 boards as a sophomore to 8.7 points and a team-leading 6.4 rebounds, which also ranks No. 11 in the Big 12.
  • Jason Horton is on a run of 25 consecutive starts, which is the longest starting streak on the team this season ... Fellow junior Marshall Brown has started 23 consecutive game to rank second on the club.
  • Leo Lyons has made five consecutive starts and continues to play much-improved basketball during that stretch ... Lyons is also averaging an improved 19.8 minutes per game during that run, compared to the 15.9 minutes he averaged in his nine games as a reserve.
  • One reason for Lyons' increased playing time has been because of his defense ... Since joining the starting line-up on Dec. 19 vs. Illinois, Lyons has recorded at least one steal in each game and is averaging 1.8 steals per game during that stretch, which is second on the team.
  • Freshman J.T. Tiller has seen increased playing time over his last seven games and is averaging 16.0 minutes per game during that run, with increased averages of 5.3 points, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game.