March 5, 2007
Kansas City, Mo. - Mizzou Basketball continues to reap the awards from a much-improved 2006-07 campaign, as the Kansas City Star honored a pair of Tigers on Monday, naming junior guard Stefhon Hannah (Chicago, Ill. / Hyde Park / Chipola C.C.) its Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, a Second Team All-Big 12 selection and a member of the league's All-Newcomer Team, while sophomore guard Matt Lawrence (St. Louis, Mo. / Lafayette) was named to the paper's All-Improved Team.
The awards for Hannah come on the heels of him earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Third Team All-Conference and All-Rookie Team honors from the Big 12 Coaches on Sunday.
Hannah, who averaged 15.6 points and 4.7 assists in his rookie campaign, was without question one of the Big 12's most valuable players to his team in 2006-07, leading his club in scoring 14 times, assists 20 times and rebounding twice. A native of Chicago, Ill., Hannah is among the nation's leaders in steals with 71 and needs just six more thefts throughout the remainder of the season to break the MU single-season record. Also fourth in the Big 12 with 135 assists, Hannah currently ranks No. 9 all-time in Mizzou single-season history and his career high 13 dimes vs. Coppin State on Nov. 27 are the most in a regulation affair. Melvin Booker also dished 13 assists for Mizzou in a triple-overtime win against Illinois in 1993.
One of the league's most versatile performers, Hannah is the lone player in the Big 12 Conference to record both a point-assist and point-rebound double-double this year. A three-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week honoree (a Mizzou record), Hannah had 12 points and 13 assists in a win over Coppin State and enjoyed 17 points and a career high 10 boards at Nebraska.
Lawrence's selection to the Star's All-Improved Team marks the second consecutive season a Tiger has landed on that unit. Last season, Thomas Gardner earned an All-Improved Team selection after seeing his scoring numbers jump 9.3 points per game (10.4 ppg to 19.7 ppg). Lawrence's improvement this season was even more significant, as he improved 9.7 points per game from the 1.5 points he averaged as a freshman to the 11.2 points per game he is currently registering as a sophomore.
Named the nation's No. 1 surprise impact player this season by ESPN's Stephen Bardo, Lawrence ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 12 nationally with a 44.8 percent shooting stroke from three-point range and his 2.69 treys per game ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 this season. Already No. 9 on Mizzou's single-season three-point list with 78 treys, Lawrence needs just 10 three-pointers through the remainder of the season to move into the MU single-season Top 5.
Lawrence and Hannah have been a driving force for a much-improved Missouri squad this year under the direction of first-year head coach Mike Anderson. Coming off a 12-16 campaign, Mizzou's worst since 1967-68, and returning just 37 percent of the team's scoring, the duo has helped Mizzou to an 18-11 regular-season record and a sixth-place finish in the Big 12 standings. The six-game improvement for MU was the most in the Big 12 this season and was the most for a first-year Missouri head coach in school history. In addition, the 18 overall wins for Anderson tied the MU record for wins by a first-year head coach and his next win this season will break the previous record of 18 set by Quin Snyder in 1999-2000.
The Tigers return to action on March 8 in the opening round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. The sixth-seeded Tigers face No. 11 Baylor at 8:36 p.m. on ESPN2. The winner of the Mizzou - Baylor opening-round game faces No. 3-seeded Texas at 8:20 p.m. on March 9.
Kansas City Star All-Big 12 Teams / Specialty Awards
Player of the Year:
Kevin Durant, Texas
Freshman of the Year:
Kevin Durant, Texas
Newcomer of the Year:
Stefhon Hannah, Missouri
Coach of the Year:
Bob Huggins, Kansas State
First Team All-Big 12
Kevin Durant, Texas
Acie Law IV, Texas A&M
Jarrius Jackson, Texas Tech
Julian Wright, Kansas
Cartier Martin, Kansas State
Second Team All-Big 12
Stefhon Hannah, Missouri
Aleks Maric, Nebraska
Mario Boggan, Oklahoma State
Brandon Rush, Kansas
D.J. Augustin, Texas
Third Team All-Big 12
David Hoskins, Kansas State
Joseph Jones, Texas A&M
Nate Carter, Oklahoma
Sherron Collins, Kansas
Mario Chalmers, Kansas
All-Freshman
D.J. Augustin, Texas
Darrell Arthur, Kansas
Sherron Collins, Kansas
Kevin Durant, Texas
Wesley Johnson, Iowa State
All-Newcomer
Charlie Burgess, Texas Tech
Stefhon Hannah, Missouri
Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, Colorado
Mike Taylor, Iowa State
Blake Young, Kansas State
All-Defense
Mario Chalmers, Kansas
Marcus Dove, Oklahoma State
Joseph Jones, Texas A&M
Dominque Kirk, Texas A&M
Russell Robinson, Kansas
All-Improved
Antanas Kavaliauskas, Texas A&M
Matt Lawrence, Missouri
Longar Longar, Oklahoma
Aleks Maric, Nebraska
Kevin Rogers, Baylor
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