Jan. 29, 2007

Missouri Tigers (13-6, 2-4 Big 12) at Kansas State Wildcats (15-6, 4-2 Big 12)
Game 20 - Jan. 31, 2007 - Manhattan, Kan.

	GAME CENTRAL: Game Notes  Yahoo! Live Audio
	TIPOFF: 8:05 p.m. CST. ARENA: Manhattan, Kan. (13,344). TV: ESPN-Plus/ ESPNU (Dave Armstrong, play-by-play; Chris Piper, analyst); game available to ESPN Full Court subscribers. RADIO: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly play-by-play; Chris Gervino analyst). RANKINGS:    Mizzou: NR    Kansas State: NR SERIES: Missouri leads 113-111 overall; Wildcats lead 55-44 in Manhattan. COACHES:    Mizzou: Mike Anderson (Tulsa '82); 102-47 overall (5th season); 13-6 at Mizzou (1st).    Kansas State: Bob Huggins (W. Virginia '77) 582-205 overall (25th season); 15-6 at K-State.

FOR OPENERS

• Mizzou goes searching for its third consecutive win on Wednesday when it travels to Manhattan, Kan., to face the surging Kansas State Wildcats on a dual broadcast between ESPNU and ESPN-Plus ... Combined, Kansas State (five consecutive) and Missouri (two consecutive) have won seven consecutive games and the Tigers will have an opportunity to top an upper-division Big 12 foe (K-State tied for fourth) in back-to-back contests.
• Mizzou will be looking for its first three-game winning streak in Big 12 play since the 2004-05 season ... Mizzou won four consecutive games during that stretch ... The Tigers are also looking for their first set of back-to-back road wins since the 2003-04 season they won at Baylor (70-66) and at K-State (79-69).
• As a team, Mizzou leads the Big 12 and ranks No. 2 nationally with 11.4 steals per game and has 216 total steals ... The Tigers only had 167 total steals during the entire 2005-06 season ... Missouri needs just 54 more thefts to move into the single-season Top Five and needs just 80 more steals to break the school record of 295 set in 1985-86.
• Junior guard Stefhon Hannah ranks No. 3 nationally with 3.2 steals per game ... Hannah has topped five or more steals in a game six times this season ... Hannah now has 59 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 five more thefts to move into the Mizzou single-season Top 3.
• With its win over Texas Tech, Mizzou eclipsed its win total from the entire 2005-06 campaign ... The Tigers went 12-16 last season through 28 games, but needed just 19 games (13-6) to surpass that win mark ... Mizzou joined Oklahoma State as the first clubs in the Big 12 (Baylor excluded) to outperform last season's win total, despite the fact it returned just 37 percent of its scoring from last season's club.

MIZZOU QUICK HITTERS

• Mizzou will carry its two-game winning streak into Bramlage Coliseum when it takes on K-State in a dual broadcast on ESPN--Plus and ESPNU.
• Including Wednesday's game, Mizzou will have now competed on each of ESPN's networks this season, ESPN (Illinois), ESPN2 (Arkansas), ESPN-Plus (K-State and Texas Tech), ESPNU (at K-State) and ESPN360 (at Purdue).
• Wednesday's contest will be the fifth all-time meeting between Missouri sideline boss Mike Anderson and K-State coach Bob Huggins ... Prior to K-State's 85-81 win over Mizzou this season, the previous three meetings between Anderson and Huggins came when the two were rivals in Conference-USA ... 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.
• The Tigers have dropped two consecutive games in Manhattan and will look for their first win at K-State since a 79-69 win on Feb. 28, 2004.
• The Tigers have been playing much-improved basketball over their last three outings and have enjoyed back-to-back wins by double-digit margins ... Mizzou won 79-65 at Colorado and 71-58 to Texas Tech at home ... The last time Mizzou won back-to-back Big 12 games by double figures was 2003-04, 77-65 to Colorado and 82-70 to Iowa State.
• Mizzou is looking for back-to-back road wins in the Big 12 for the first time since 2003-04.
• Mizzou's bench has outscored its opposition in 15-of-19 games this year and the Tigers are 13-2 in those games.
• Mizzou will go in search of its first 14-6 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 its 79-65 win at Colorado on Jan. 24, Missouri recorded its 1,400th victory as a program ... Missouri is 38th all-time in NCAA Division I Basketball wins and joined 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 11.4 steals per game ... So far this season the Tigers have 216 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 11.4 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 11.4 steals per game, the 2006-07 Tigers would break the school record of 295 set in 1985-86 ... Missouri is on pace for 342 steals.
• Despite returning just 37.6 percent of its scoring from last season, Missouri is No. 3 in the Big 12 with 78.4 points per game ... The Tigers also rank No. 2 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 26.7 points per game from its bench through 19 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 508 points.
• Missouri is scoring nearly 30-percent of its points (21.2-of-78.4) off of opponent turnovers ... The Tigers are forcing an average of 20.7 turnovers per game and scoring 21.2 points off of those opponent miscues.
• Speaking of turnovers, Mizzou forces one turnover every four possessions ... Overall, Missouri has forced 394 turnovers in 1,435 total possessions for its opposition, that's a percentage of 27.5, which ranks No. 2 nationally ... The Tigers also record a steal once every six-plus possessions (15.3 percent), which is No. 3 nationally.
• As a team, Missouri is No. 45 nationally at 38.6 percent shooting from three-point range (155-of-402) ... 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 19 games and have won six of their 13 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 ranks No. 3 nationally in steals per game at 3.1 per outing ... He also ranks No. 4 in the Big 12 with 4.7 assists and No. 11 in scoring (15.3).
• 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 seven more steals to move into the Mizzou single-season Top Three.
• Hannah and Jason Horton rank No. 7 nationally with a combined 4.6 steals per game.
• Marshall Brown has been Mizzou's top scorer in Big 12 play and ranks No. 7 in Big 12 action with 17.2 points per game.
• Brown recorded career highs in back-to-back games, initially scoring 24 points at Texas, before dropping in 28 in the first meeting with Kansas State, which is the highest scoring total by a Tiger this season.
• In Big 12 play, Brown is averaging 13.5 of his 17.2 points in the second half on 59.1 (26-of-44) percent shooting over the final 20 minutes ... Brown is also 23-of-26 (.885) 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 six games, Brown is 31-of-36 (.861) from the line and has pushed his overall free throw percentage to .766, which ranks No. 13 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. 18 nationally at 48.6 percent.
• As the numbers show, Lawrence is the Big 12's most improved player this season and has upped his scoring average 800-percent from the 1.5 points per game he averaged as a freshman ... Lawrence is second on the club with 12.0 points per game and ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 27 nationally with 2.84 treys per game.
• Lawrence leads the team with 54 three-point makes this year and has shot at least 50 percent from three-point range in 8-of-19 games this season.
• Lawrence needs just 18 more treys to move into the Mizzou single-season Top 10 ... Jason Sutherland is 10th on that list with 72 treys ... His .486 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 29 consecutive starts, which is the longest starting streak on the team this season ... Fellow junior Marshall Brown has started 27 consecutive game to rank second on the club.
• Fellow junior Kalen Grimes has made three consecutive starts and Mizzou is an impressive 11-2 with Grimes in the starting five.
• 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 8.0 points and 4.3 boards during that stretch ... Lyons is also averaging an improved 22.0 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 eight games, Lyons is averaging 1.8 steals per game, which is second on the club ... He has recorded multiple steals in six of Missouri's last seven contests.
• Freshman J.T. Tiller has seen increased playing time since the start of Big 12 play and is averaging 6.0 points and 1.2 steals during that stretch.
• Tiller has been especially sharp in his last two road games and is averaging 11.5 points, 2.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in games at Kansas and at Colorado.
• Throughout the year, Tiller is averaging 8.2 points in games away from Mizzou Arena, which is fourth on the club.

WITH A MISSOURI WIN:

• Mizzou would have three consecutive wins in Big 12 Conference play for the first time since the 2004-05 season ... The Tigers actually claimed four consecutive wins over Oklahoma, Baylor, Nebraska and Colorado during that stretch.
• Missouri would improve two games on its 2005-06 win total of 12 victories.
• Mizzou would have back-to-back road wins for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
• Mizzou would snap a two-game losing streak in Manhattan and improve to 2-2 on the road in Big 12 play.
• Anderson would also have his 14th win as head coach at Mizzou, which would be the fourth most for a first-year head coach in school history.
• Mizzou would be just two 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 RED WILDCATS
   Kansas State enters Saturday's contest 15-6 on the season and 4-2 in the Big 12 following a 61-45 home win against Nebraska over the weekend ... K-State opened the Big 12 season 0-2 following a home loss to Texas Tech on Jan. 8, but has since rattled off five consecutive victories, including an 85-81 win over Mizzou in Columbia ... K-State has been sharp at home this season and is 9-1 at Fred Bramlage Coliseum ... K-State's only home loss this year came in that aforementioned meeting with Bob Knight and Texas Tech ... Cartier Martin leads a balanced K-State scoring attack with 14.7 points per game, but David Hoskins has been KSU's go-to-guy in Big 12 action and paces the Wildcats with 16.3 points per night ... Overall, the Wildcats have three players averaging double figures, including CoMo native Lance Harris at 10.9 per game ... Senior Akeem Wright leads the Wildcats with 6.1 boards overall, including 7.8 boards per night in Big 12 play.

SERIES WITH KANSAS STATE
   Wednesday's meeting marks the 225th all-time between Kansas State and Mizzou with the Tigers holding a 113-111 series lead ... K-State won the most recent contest in Columbia, when the Wildcats shot a Mizzou Arena record 43 free throws and made a record 37 of them ... The 43 free throw attempts by K-State are the most in a Big 12 game this season and the 37 makes are among the most ever made by a club in Big 12 play ... Overall, K-State is 55-44 vs. Missouri in Manhattan and has won two consecutive meetings in Bramlage ... Before those wins, Mizzou had won three straight in “The Fred”.

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU REMEMBER …
   Sure it's just one game that occurred 93 years ago, but that single contest is the difference between a 113-111 series lead for the Tigers (which Missouri claims) and a 112-112 series tie (which Kansas State claims) ... The game took place on Feb. 12, 1913, in Manhattan, but oddly enough, both schools 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”.

IF YOU BUILD IT …
   Including its 71-58 win over Texas Tech, Head Coach Mike Anderson's Tigers will play to three consecutive sellouts at Mizzou Arena ... Mizzou officials announced a sellout crowd of 15,061 in the win over Tech and have already announced sold out games for the Feb. 3 meeting with Nebraska and the Feb. 10 game with Kansas.

• Mizzou enjoyed just two sellouts combined during its first two seasons at Mizzou Arena, the 2005 meeting with Kansas and the 2006 contest against the Jayhawks ... With the three sellouts this season, the Tigers have already surpassed that total.
• One final note about sellouts at Mizzou Arena, Mizzou improved to 3-0 in those games with Saturday's win over Tech ... Mizzou defeated Kansas 72-68 in 2005 and 89-86 in OT in 2006.

LET'S KEEP IT IN PERSPECTIVE
   With Mizzou's 71-58 win over Texas Tech, Head Coach Mike Anderson helped the Tigers join Oklahoma State (did it on the same day) as the first programs in the Big 12 to surpass their 2005-06 win total (Baylor is excluded since it didn't play a non-conference schedule last season) … Mizzou went 12-16 in 28 games last season, but needed just 19 games to secure win No. 13 this year.

• While Anderson isn't the lone first-year coach in the Big 12 to eclipse his program's win total from last season, his accomplishment could be considered more impressive than most … Consider this, Missouri returned just 37 percent of its scoring from last season, while Wednesday's opponent, Kansas State, returned 79 percent … Oklahoma State (17-16 last season, 18-3 this season) is just behind K-State, returning 76 percent of its scoring … Oklahoma (20-9 last year, 11-8 this year) returned 45 percent, while Nebraska (12-7 this season, 19-14 last year) returned 42 percent and Iowa State (16-14 last year, 11-9 this year) returned just 35 percent.