Jan. 21, 2007
Columbia, Mo. -
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> Mizzou returns to action following an eight-day lay-off after an 80-77 loss at No. 5 Kansas on Jan. 15 ... The eight-day break between conference games is the longest for the Tigers since joining the Big 12 Conference ... In that contest with the Jayhawks, the two clubs exchanged 20 lead changes and enjoyed 11 ties.
> It's been a case of near misses lately for Mizzou, as the Tigers have had four of their six losses decided by four points or less ... In those four games, Mizzou has been outscored by a combined 11 points, 73-70 vs. Illinois, 66-65 vs. Iowa State, 85-81 vs. K-State and 80-77 at No. 5 Kansas.
> Missouri will look to snap a couple road losing streaks in Boulder, Colo. ... The Tigers have lost four consecutive games at CU, with their last win coming Feb. 23, 2002, by a 96-83 margin ... The Tigers will also look to snap a 12-game losing skid in games away from Mizzou Arena ... The last win for Missouri away from Mizzou Arena came Jan. 10, 2006, at Oklahoma.
> A key statistic for the Tigers will once again be rebounding ... Mizzou was outrebounded by a combined 45 boards through its first-three Big 12 games against Iowa State, Texas and Kansas State ... The Tigers bounced back by outrebounding No. 5 Kansas 43-42 and nearly upset the No. 5-ranked Jayhawks in Lawrence.
> Junior guard Stefhon Hannah continues to lead the nation with 3.3 steals per game ... Hannah has topped five or more steals in a game six times this season ... Hannah now has 56 steals on the year and already ranks ninth on Mizzou's single-season 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 eight 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 202 total steals ... The Tigers only had 167 total steals during the entire 2005-06 season ... Missouri needs just 68 more thefts to move into the single-season Top Five and needs just 94 more steals to break the school record of 295 set in 1985-86.
Mizzou Quick-Hitters
> Mizzou will look for its first win of the Big 12 season on Wednesday, when it travels to Boulder, Colo., to face the Colorado Buffaloes.
> The Tigers will look to snap a road / neutral court losing streak of 12 consecutive games ... The Tigers haven't won away from Mizzou Arena since Jan. 10, 2006, at Oklahoma.
> Wednesday's contest will be the first all-time meeting between Missouri sideline boss Mike Anderson and Colorado coach Ricardo Patton.
> Mizzou will go in search of its first 12-6 start since the 2000-01 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.
> With a win vs. Colorado, 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 202 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 16.2 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 returning just 37.6 percent of its scoring from last season, Missouri is No. 3 in the Big 12 with 78.8 points per game ... The Tigers also rank No. 3 in three-point field goals (8.2).
> Also labeled as undersized, Missouri is averaging 33.3 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 26.3 points per game from its bench through 17 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 447 points.
> Missouri is scoring nearly 30-percent of its points (21.6-of-78.8) off of opponent turnovers ... The Tigers are forcing an average of 21.4 turnovers per game and scoring 21.6 points off of those opponent miscues.
> Speaking of turnovers, Mizzou forces one turnover every four possessions ... Overall, Missouri has forced 364 turnovers in 1,287 total possessions for its opposition, that's a percentage of 28.2, which ranks No. 2 nationally ... The Tigers also record a steal once every six-plus possessions (15.8 percent), which is No. 1 nationally.
> As a team, Missouri is No. 34 nationally at 38.7 percent shooting from three-point range (139-of-359) ... 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 nine of 17 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 3.3 ... He also ranks No. 4 in the Big 12 with 4.8 assists and No. 11 in scoring (15.4).
> 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 eight more steals to move into the Mizzou single-season Top Three.
> Hannah and Jason Horton rank No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12 with 4.8 steals per game.
> Marshall Brown has been Mizzou's top scorer in Big 12 play and ranks No. 3 in Big 12 play 21.3 points per game.
> Brown recorded career highs in back-to-back games, initially scoring 24 points at Texas, before dropping in 28 against Kansas State, which is the highest scoring total by a Tiger this season.
> In Big 12 play, Brown is averaging 17.3 of his 21.3 points in the second half on 68.8 (22-of-32) percent shooting over the final 20 minutes ... Brown is also 19-of-21 (.905) from the charity stripe in the second period.
> It hasn't just been the second half where Brown has improved from the charity stripe ... Over his last four games, Brown is 27-of-31 (.871) from the line and has pushed his overall free throw percentage to .763, which ranks No. 11 in the Big 12 this season.
> Matt Lawrence continues to be one of the nation's top three-point shooters and ranks No. 3 in the Big 12 and No. 19 nationally at 49.5 percent.
> 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. 26 nationally with 2.9 treyss per game.
> Lawrence leads the team with 49 three-point makes this year and has shot better than 50 percent from three-point range in 7-of-17 games this season.
> Lawrence needs just 23 more treys to move into the Mizzou single-season Top 10 ... Jason Sutherland is 10th on that list with 72 treys ... His .495 three-point percentage would rank No. 4 in school history.
> Lawrence was named the nation's No. 1 Surprise Impact Player by ESPN's Stephen Bardo on College Game Night.
> Jason Horton is on a run of 27 consecutive starts, which is the longest starting streak on the team this season ... Fellow junior Marshall Brown has started 25 consecutive game to rank second on the club.
> Fellow junior Kalen Grimes made his return to the starting lineup at No. 5 Kansas and snared a career high 12 boards ... Grimes had been one of Mizzou's top reserves over the previous six games after starting the first 10 games of the season.
> Kansas City, Kan., native Leo Lyons has provided a big lift inside for the Tigers since the start of Big 12 play and is averaging 7.8 points and 4.3 boards during that stretch ... Lyons is also averaging an improved 21.5 minutes per game during league action after averaging 16.5 minutes per game in non-conference competition.
> One reason for Lyons' increased playing time has been because of his defense ... Over his last seven games, Lyons is averaging 1.9 steals per game, which is second on the club ... He has recorded multiple steals in each of the last five contests for the Tigers.
> Freshman J.T. Tiller has seen increased playing time since the start of Big 12 play and is averaging 6.0 points, 1.5 boards and 1.3 steals during that stretch.
> Tiller most recently dropped in 11 points in 17 minutes at No. 5 Kansas on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor.
With A Missouri Win
> Mizzou would stop its season-long four-game losing skid and improve to 1-4 in Big 12 play.
> Missouri would equal its win total from the entire 2005-06 season.
> Mizzou would have its 1,400th win in program history.
> Mizzou would snap its 12-game losing skid outside of Mizzou Arena ... Missouri's last win away from home came Jan. 10, 2006, at Oklahoma.
> Mizzou would snap a four-game losing steak at Colorado and would snap a two-game skid overall to the Buffaloes.
> Head Coach Mike Anderson would earn his 101st career victory.
> Anderson would also have his 12th win as head coach at Mizzou, which would be the sixth most for a first-year head coach in school history.
> Anderson will be the first first-year head coach at Missouri to start 12-6 since George Bond in 1922-23, a stretch of 84 years.
> Mizzou would be just four wins shy of securing its first winning record since the 2003-04 season ... The Tigers currently have 30 games on their schedule, counting the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City.
More About The Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado returns home after suffering a 71-50 loss at Nebraska on Jan. 20 ... The Buffaloes scored just 13 points in the first half and leading scorer, Richard Roby, took just two field goal attempts and was held to a season-low five points on 1-of-2 shooting from the floor ... Despite the five-point night, Roby leads CU with 17.3 points per game, but the talented junior is shooting just 36 percent from the floor and 26 percent from beyond the arc ... Dominique Coleman (11.0) and Xavier Silas (10.9) round out CU's double-figure scorers and Coleman leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game ... Overall, the Buffaloes are 5-10 on the season and 4-6 at home ... The Buffaloes are 1-4 in the Big 12, with that win coming at home against Iowa State by a 74-65 margin.
Mizzou Series With Colorado
Mizzou enters its Jan. 24 contest at Colorado looking for its first win inside the Coors Event Center since Feb. 23, 2003 ... Missouri has dropped three consecutive games in Boulder and is 26-33 all-time at CU ... The Tigers do own a 90-52 lead in the series, but Colorado has won five of the last seven meetings, including two consecutive thanks to last season's series sweep, a 74-71 win in Columbia and a 78-60 win in Boulder.
What Can Brown Do For You?
Junior Marshall Brown has been on a tear over his last four ball games and ranks among the Big 12's leaders with 21.3 points and 5.5 boards through four Big 12 games.
> While his 21.3 points per game is impressive, Brown is actually averaging 17.3 points in the second half alone, including 20-point efforts through the final 20 minutes in games against Texas (22 second-half points) and Kansas State (24 second half points).
> A native of Austin, Texas, Brown recorded career high scoring totals in back-to-back games vs. Texas and K-State.
> In his hometown return to Austin, Brown scored 24 points vs. the Longhorns on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and a career-high tying 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range ... After hitting a pair of free throws in the first half, Brown erupted for 22 second-half tallies to claim the career high ... The 6-foot-6 forward also narrowly missed a double-double with nine boards, while playing in front of more than 30 family members and friends.
> Brown broke that career high just three days later, scoring 28 points vs. K-State, hitting 9-of-13 field goals and all eight free throws ... Brown hit four first-half free throws, before hitting 9-of-12 shots in the second half vs. the Wildcats.
> Brown initially opened Big 12 play with a 19-point effort against Iowa State on Jan. 6 ... Brown hit 8-of-11 free throws and 5-of-9 shots to pace Mizzou.
> While offensive confidence has been key for Brown, a primary factor in his improved scoring punch has been his ability to get to the free throw line ... Over the last four games, Brown is a combined 27-of-31 (.871) from the charity stripe ... In the previous 13 games leading up to Big 12 play, Brown had made just 18 free throws all season.
Don't Get Caught Watching The Paint Dry
Mizzou has scored an impressive 566 points in the paint this season and is well on its way to surpassing the 690 points in the paint recorded by last season's club ... Overall, the Tigers are averaging 33.3 points per game in the lane and are being led by an unlikely tandem ... well, at least half of that tandem is unlikely.
> What's not surprising, is that junior forward Kalen Grimes leads the team in "paint points" with 112 tallies ... What may shock you, however, is that 6-foot point guard Stefhon Hannah is second on the club with 108 points in the paint ... Third on the club is Marshall Brown with 92, while Leo Lyons is fourth with 76.