March 20, 2009

Recap |  Box Score |  AP Gallery 

• The Tigers went on to a 78-59 win, improving Mizzou to 29-6 on the season. The win total ties the school record of 29, established by the 1988-89 squad that featured Tiger greats Doug Smith, Anthony Peeler and Byron Irvin, among others...
• Missouri also won its first round game for the fourth consecutive time, dating back to a 1999-2000 loss to North Carolina (84-70). This four-game opening round win streak is the longest in school history.
• Mizzou was credited with 19 assists on 28 baskets, and turned the ball over just 4 times on the day. The Tiger bench also outscored Cornell's bench by a 21-6 margin, with English accounting for 13 of the points by reserves...
• The Tigers' 4 turnovers committed is the lowest total in Mizzou's NCAA history, besting the previous mark of 8 miscues against New Mexico in an opening-round loss in 1999...
• Mizzou's 19-4 assist-to-turnover ratio of +15 is also a school record for NCAA Tournament play. Here's a look at the best games MU has had in the Tournament...

• The Tigers continued their outstanding defensive play of late, as Cornell was the fourth straight opponent to score 60 points or less. MU's last four wins have now come by scores of 78-59 (Cornell), 73-60 (Baylor), 67-59 (Oklahoma State), and 81-60 (Texas Tech)...
• The Tigers were rock solid from the foul line Friday, making 17-of-19 freebies, good for an 89.5% rate. Mizzou averaged just 66.8% from the foul line prior to the NCAA Tournament, but they are shooting better down the stretch, as they've shot 77.5% in its last 3 games (47-of-61 FTs combined vs. OSU, BU and Cornell)...
• Mizzou's 19-point win marked the largest margin of victory by MU in NCAA Tournament play since an opening-round 76-53 win over Navy in 1994. Mizzou was a #1 seed that year, and opened the tournament in Ogden, Utah...
• Leo Lyons scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds, marking the first double-double in an NCAA Tournament game since Arthur Johnson had 28 points and 18 rebounds in a 2nd-round loss to Marquette - also the last game that MU had played in the NCAA Tournament prior to today...
• Lyons' double-double was the 19th in Mizzou's NCAA history. Here's a rundown of all Tiger double-doubles in NCAA play (listed alphabetically after Lyons' entry)...

• Mizzou improved to 24-0 on the season when leading at halftime...
• Mizzou held a 29-25 lead at halftime, despite shooting only 37% from the floor (12-of-32 FGs), including just 16% from three-point range (2-of-12 3FGs). Mizzou's trademark defense forced only 4 Cornell turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, but the Big Red struggled shooting the ball as well, as they connected on only 31% of their shots (10-of-32 FGs)...
• Mizzou shot much better in the second half, connecting at a 57.1% pace, sinking 16-of-28 shots...
• Seven Tigers scored in the first half, with senior F Leo Lyons leading the way with 9 points. J.T. Tiller had 6 points and a team-best 5 rebounds in the 1st half, with Zaire Taylor adding 5 points. Leading scorer DeMarre Carroll was held to 2 points, but he contributed with a game-high 4 assists...
• Cornell played zone defense primarily in the 1st half, but the Tigers still managed to be effective in the paint, as they outscored the Big Red 18-8 in the points in the paint category in the opening half...
• The Tigers hit 6 of their first 8 shots in the 2nd half and quickly opened up a 42-31 lead at the 15:51 mark...
• Carroll became only the 5th Tiger in school history to score 1,000 points in their first two seasons at MU, on a lay-in with 13:48 left that gave MU a 49-35 lead. Other Tigers to achieve the 1,000-point feat were Willie Smith (1974-76), Malcolm Thomas (1983-85), Derrick Chievous (1984-86) and Byron Irvin (1987-89)...
• Carroll tied a season high with 5 dimes on Friday and trailed only J.T. Tiller (6 assists).
• Tiller also enjoyed a great all-around game with 11 points, 6 assists and 6 boards. With his 6 assists, Tiller moved into 10th on Missouri's single-season assists list with 127.
• Freshman Kim English had 10 points in the 2nd half alone prior to the 10-minute mark, giving him 13 for the game to that point. It marked English's first double-figure scoring game since he had 16 points at Iowa State on Feb. 7th - a span of 9 games in between double-digit scoring games...
• English has been shooting the rock well over his last two games, as he is a combined 5-of-8 from three-point range in wins over Baylor and Cornell. English missed 11 consecutive treys over five games before his 2-of-4 effort against Baylor and 3-of-4 day vs. Cornell.
• English is the first Missouri freshman to reach double figures in an NCAA Tournament game since Kareem Rush tossed in 10 tallies against North Carolina on March 17, 2000.
• Mizzou made its first 10 free throws Friday, before a miss by Zaire Taylor on the back end of a 1-and-1 opportunity with under 4 minutes to play.