Dec. 16, 2011
10/8 University of Missouri Tigers (10-0) vs. William & Mary Owls (2-8)
Tip-Off: 2 p.m. ET
Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061)
TV: MSN (Chris Gervino - Play by Play / Scott Highmark - Analyst)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly - Play by Play / Gary Link - Analyst)
Rankings: MU: #10/8; (AP / ESPN/USA Today Coaches)
Series: First meeting
Coaches:
Missouri: Frank Haith (Elon `88); 139-101 overall (8th); 10-0 at Mizzou (1st season)
Kennesaw State: Tony Shaver (UNC `76); 99-154 overall and at W&M (9th season)
For Openers...
> Mizzou looks to improve to 11-0 in 2011-12 as the team hosts William & Mary at 2 p.m. Sunday at Mizzou Arena ... The contest is the first-ever matchup between the two schools.
> A win over the Tribe will mark Mizzou's seventh-ever 11-0 start to the season ... The team last accomplished the feat during the 1981-82 season ... Mizzou is currently one of nine unbeaten teams in the nation and is one of nine teams nationally to boast 10 wins ... However, Mizzou joins Illinois and Syracuse as the only three 10-win teams among the ranks of the unbeaten ... Mizzou is the first Big 12 team to reach the 10-win mark this season and has defeated two BIG EAST teams and a Pac-12 school along way.
> Checking in at No. 10/8 in the AP and USA Today Coahes Polls this week, Mizzou is the highest-ranked team that is under the direction of a first-year head coach this season ... Staying on the topic of first-year head coach Frank Haith, his win over Kennesaw State on Thursday makes him the first Tiger coach to win his first 10 games since Craig Ruby in 1920-21.
> The Tigers are one of the nation's and Big 12's best shooting teams as the squad leads the league in field goal percentage (.519), free throw percentage (.769) and scoring (87.3 ppg) ... In the national rankings, Mizzou ranks third in points per game (87.3) while it has scored at least 81 points in every game this season ...MU ranks fourth nationally in FG percentage, 11th in FT percentage and 16th in 3-point FG percentage.
> On an individual level, senior Ricardo Ratliffe ranks second nationally and first in the Big 12 in field goal percentage (.765) ... Additionally, junior Michael Dixon ranks sixth nationally and first in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.951), Kim English is second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.525) and is seventh in field goal percentage (.541) and Marcus Denmon ranks second in free throw percentage (.917), third in 3-point percentage (.492) and sixth in field goal percentage (.550) in the Big 12.
> Marcus Denmon has scored at least 20 points in six of 10 games this season as he leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.9 while ranking 15th nationally and fourth among BCS schools.
> Sophomore Phil Pressey has dished 44 assists and committed just eight turnovers the last five games for an assist/turnover ratio of 5.5 ... He currently leads the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio (3.05) and steals (2.40) and ranks second in assists (6.10) ... Pressey is averaging 8.8 assists over his last five games and has three 10-assist game this season ... The last Tiger to do that in a season was Scott Sims in 1976-77 (he had four that season).
Mizzou Quick Hitters
> Next up, Mizzou will play in a possible battle of top-25 unbeatens against Illinois in the annual Busch Braggin' Rights game in St. Louis on Dec. 22 ... That game is set for an 8 p.m. tip on ESPN at the Scottrade Center.
> Overall, Missouri leads the Big 12 in seven different statistical categories: scoring offense (87.3), scoring margin (+26.7), free throw percentage (.773), field goal percentage (.519), assists (17.20), steals (10.20), turnover margin (+7.3) and assist-turnover ratio (1.77).
> The Tigers also commit the fewest turnovers among Big 12 teams at just 9.7 per game ... The mark ranks fourth nationally.
> Mizzou has been amazingly efficient this season, averaging 1.19 points per field goal attempt this season ... Ratliffe leads the team in that category as he is averaging 1.53 points per field goal attempt, while English averages 1.40 and Denmon 1.34.
> Senior Marcus Demon poured in a career high 31 points against Northwestern State on Dec. 2 thanks to a career-high seven treys ... The 31 points were the most for a Tiger since DeMarre Carroll had 31 against Iowa State on Feb. 7, 2009 ... He followed that with a 28-point outing against Villanova, making him the first Tiger since Thomas Gardner (2005-06) to score at least 28 points in back-to-back games.
> Entering Sunday's game against William & Mary, the Tigers have defeated their first 10 opponents by an average margin of 26.7 points (873-606) ... That is a new school record for largest scoring margin over the first 10 games of the season ... The previous mark was 26.1, set by the 1991-92 squad (860-599).
> Seniors Marcus Denmon and Kim English have combined to make 63 of the Tigers' 87 3-point field goals so far this season ... The duo rank one-two in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made at 3.20 and 3.10, respectively ... They are only the fourth and fifth players to ever have at least 30 3's in the first nine games of a season.
> Six different Tigers scored in double figures against Cal on Nov. 22, the first time that happened since a 116-63 win over Central Arkansas on Dec. 18, 2010.
> Mizzou had a similar performance against Kennesaw State on Thursday as it saw five players score at least 13 points, marking the 16th time in program history that that has happened. The last time it happened was Feb. 5, 2011 ... Mizzou scored 100 points in that game for the first time since Dec. 18 against Central Arkansas ... Mizzou shot a season-best 60-percent in that game.
> Mizzou has made at least 10 3-pointers in five of its 10 games so far this season ... The Tigers made 12 against Niagara, 11 against Mercer, 10 against Cal, 11 against Binghamton and 10 against Villanova ... All of last season Missouri had 10 or more treys in a game just seven times in 34 games.
> The Tigers lead the Big 12 with 10.2 steals per contest ... This continues a recent trend as over the past three seasons, Missouri has either led the nation or finished second in steals per game ... The team led the nation in 2009-10 with 10.94 and finished second in 2008-09 (10.56) and 2010-11 (10.94) ... The team is seventh nationally this year.
> Sophomore Phil Pressey is doing most of the damage in the steals department with 24 on the year ... He leads the Big 12 with 2.40 per game.
> With two blocks against Kennesaw State, Steve Moore moved into ninth place all-time at Mizzou with 78 ... He is seventh in the Big 12 at 1.40 per game.
> Seniors Marcus Denmon and Kim English continue to move up Missouri's all-time scoring list ... Denmon now has 1,365 in his career, which puts him 17th all-time at Mizzou ... Denmon needs 22 more points to tie Willie Smith for 16th ... English stands at 1,222 points, good for 26th place ... He needs nine more points to tie Leo Lyons for 25th ... The two surpassed the 1,000 point mark in 2010-11.
> Missouri has typically played some tough schedules over the years and that trend continues in 2011-12 ... After the release of the preseason polls, Mizzou will have 11 games against teams ranked receiving votes in the preseason AP top 25 and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll... Included in that list are #12 Baylor, #13 Kansas, #19/20 Texas A&M, #24 California, Texas, Illinois, and Notre Dame.
> Senior Laurence Bowers will be forced to redshirt the 2011-12 season after suffering a season-ending knee injury (ACL) in October ... Bowers averaged 11.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a year ago.
> This year's seniors mark the winningest class in Missouri Basketball program history...Heading into the year, the class' 77 wins over the last three-plus seasons mark the most in a three-year stretch at Mizzou...The Tiger clubs from 1980-83 and 1988-91 won 75 games over a three-year stretch ... The class now has a record of 87-27.
>The Tigers recorded 23+ wins in each of the last three campaigns for the first time in program history...Mizzou won 31 games in 2008-09 and went 23-11 in 2009-10 and 2010-11.