Missouri Travels To Kansas
2/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2011
Columbia, Mo. -
Game Notes (PDF)
#14 / #15
#2 / #2
Tip-Off: 8:10 P.M. CT
Arena: Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly - Play by Play / Gary Link - Analyst)
TV: ESPN (Brent Musburger, Bob Knight and Holly Rowe)
Rankings: Mizzou 14/15;
Series:
Coaches:
For Openers...
> Welcome to the rivalry that sets the standard for all rivalries ... Some rivalries are based on school proximity or same-state "Braggin' Rights", but name another contest that has its rivalry rooted in actual war, the Civil War ... That's what you get every time Missouri and Kansas lock-up in the M&I Bank Border Showdown.
> Missouri and Kansas compete in the M&I Bank Border Showdown, a competition between each sport at MU and KU ... The Tigers currently lead the 2010-11 series 10.5-to-3.5 ... Missouri has won the last four Border Showdown trophies and boast a 6-2 advantage overall.
> Rivalry aside, Missouri and Kansas players do share some great friendships ... Missouri juniors Marcus Denmon and Steve Moore, along with sophomore Michael Dixon, played with Kansas sophomore Travis Releford for the Kansas City Pump N' Run on the AAU circuit ... Each is a Kansas City native ... Kim English and Josh Selby also share a friendship dating back to their playing days in Baltimore.
> Missouri is coming off a dominating 89-73 victory vs. Colorado on Saturday ... Mizzou's strength this season is its balance and the Tigers had five players score in double figures, led by junior Kim English who came off the bench to drop in 21 points and grab six boards in 24 minutes of play ... Missouri ripped away 15 steals in the contest, including five from freshman Flip Pressey, three from Marcus Denmon and three more from Laurence Bowers.
> Pressey has started back-to-back games for
> There haven't been many more improved players across the league then Missouri's Marcus Denmon ... The Kansas City native ranks among the Top 9 in six Big 12 statistical categories, including scoring (16.7, 6th), field goal percentage (.491, 6th), steals (2.1, 2nd), free throw percentage (.779, 9th), three-point field goals made (2.4, 5th) and three-point percentage (.459, 2nd).
> The junior guard has been Mr. Consistent for Missouri, reaching double figures in 19 of his last 20 games ... He also boasts six 20-points efforts in his last 20 outings, but has taken 15 or more shots in a game just four times ... Oh and for good measure he has 32 dimes and just 14 turnovers during that stretch with 12 multi-steal games.
Mizzou Quick Hitters
> Missouri Basketball looks for its first win in
>
> Missouri is no stranger to being on the road ... The Tigers will spend Sunday and Monday away from Columbia ... Missouri was out of town Monday through Thursday afternoon last week due to heavy snow in the Midwest (17.5" in CoMo) ... Overall, MU spent 68 consecutive hours on the road during a trip to Stillwater, Okla. ... The Tigers left
> Missouri is now the Big 12's last remaining club to be unbeaten at home in 2010-11 ... Kansas ended Nebraska's home unbeaten streak on Saturday.
> A pair of childhood friends will meet on Monday ... Mizzou's Kim English and Kansas' Josh Selby grew up playing basketball together in Baltimore and remain close friends despite the fierce interstate rivalry.
> Two of the country's highest scoring teams meet on Monday ... Mizzou ranks #6 nationally at 83.3 points per game, while
> Flip Pressey is a strong candidate for the Big 12's All-Freshman Team in 2011 ... The rookie point guard leads all Big 12 freshmen in assists and steals this year and his seven games with 5+ assists at Missouri ranks fourth all-time in school history ... Pressey trails only Travis Ford (11), Melvin Booker (10) and Mike Sandbothe (9) on Missouri's list of five-assist games for freshmen ... However if you dial it up a notch, Pressey is already Missouri's freshman leader in games with 7+ assists (tied with Jimmy McKinney) with four and the leader with three 8+ assist games.
> Mizzou Basketball has 72 victories over its last three seasons ... The MU record for wins in a three-year stretch is 75 from 1988-91.
> Missouri has already blocked 129 shots this season and needs just five more swats to move into the single-season top five ... The school record for blocks is 160, which was set last season ... MU has never led the Big 12 in blocked shots, but currently paces the league at 5.6 per game.
> Balanced scoring has been key for the Tigers this year ... In fact
> With that great balance Missouri has used nine different starting lineups this season ... Of course it doesn't really matter who starts, it's about who finishes!
> Attendance has been up all season at Mizzou Arena, to the tune of 1,600 fans per game ... Missouri is on pace to break the Mizzou Arena-era attendance record, including three consecutive sellouts ... One factor that separates Mizzou is that the Tigers use actual attendance vs. tickets sold.
> Mizzou has been dominant at home over its last nine games ... The Tigers have enjoyed 15-point second-half leads in each of those contests, including a school record 40-point lead (57-17) at the half vs. Northern Illinois.
>
> Mizzou is also #11 nationally in assists at 17.1 per game, so not only can the Tigers score in bunches, but they do it with great efficiency, recording dimes on 60 percent of their hoops.
> Mizzou has been very good in non-conference games under Anderson ... The Tigers are 54-14 (.794), including four NCAA Tournament wins, since his arrival before the 2006-07 season.
> Missouri has been the ultimate team through 23 games ... The Tigers have had eight different players lead the team (or tie for the team lead) in scoring, seven different players in rebounding, six in assists and eight in steals.
> Mizzou Arena has been a terror dome for non-league opponents during the Mike Anderson era... In running their record to 50-0 (under
> Overall Missouri owns a 57-game non-conference home court winning streak, which dates back to the 2005-06 campaign (pre-Mike Anderson era) ... That 57-game run is a school record, topping the 29 consecutive non-conference home wins from 1979-83 ... That streak ended with an overtime loss to Marquette ... Missouri's last non-conference loss at home came against Sam Houston State in the 2005-06 season opener.
>
> Last season
> The Tigers have scored 498 points off of those 428 turnovers ... So far
> Bench production from the Tiger reserves is nothing new under Mike Anderson ... The Tigers ranked #2 nationally in bench scoring a season ago at 31.6 points per game and have averaged 27.1 points over Anderson's five years in Columbia!
> The Tigers are already averaging 26.2 ppg from their bench this season, including a season high 49 points vs. La Salle on Nov. 24 and 40 vs.
> Another critical stat for Missouri is field goal opportunities ... Missouri thrives on its defensive pressure creating extra scoring chances and so far this season Missouri has taken 166 more shots than its opponents and made 145 more buckets.
> It's early, but
> Mizzou blocked 10 shots at
> Missouri has typically played some tough schedules over the years and that trend will continue in 2010-11 ... Mizzou will have 13 games against teams ranked / receiving votes in the Top 25 ... Included in that list are some impressive non-conference games vs. Old Dominion and Vanderbilt at home, neutral site games vs. #19 Illinois, #14 Georgetown, Wyoming and La Salle and a road game at Oregon.
> Goodman also put the Tigers in his Final Four in his early season projections.
> Sports Illustrated thought highly of
Tiger Tidbits
#1 Flip Pressey, 5-10, 168 Pounds
>
> His 4.0 assists per game are the most for a Tiger freshman in school history.
> Big 12's top freshman for assists (4.0), steals (1.8) and assist/turnover ratio (2.0).
> Assist totals are up to 5.2 per game over his last 10 outings.
> Averaging 10.1 points with four double-figure scoring games over his last six outings.
> Ripped away five steals in Saturday's win over Colorado and hounded senior guard Cory Higgins into eight turnovers ... Had 13 points, three dimes, five steals and just one turnover in the start.
> Needs just three more steals to move into the Top 4 among
> Missed four games with a fractured right finger, which was suffered Dec. 19 during practice.
> Scored a career high 16 points at Texas A&M and hit a career-best 4-of-4 treys in the contest.
> Scored 12 points, dished five dimes and had three steals at
> Dropped in 13 points, three dimes and four steals vs. #24
> Enters the Missouri program as the highest-ranked recruit of the Mike Anderson era, rated as high as #16 nationally by 2K Sports.
> Recorded his first career double-double in that game as well with 15 points.
> Is the first
> His older brother Matt Pressey is a junior on this year's club and his father, Paul Pressey, is currently an assistant coach for Byron Scott and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
#2 Ricky Kreklow, 6-6, 195 Pounds
> Ricky Kreklow became the third consecutive Missouri Player of the Year to ink with the Tigers.
> Recorded his first career double-double in 20 minutes vs.
> Scored a career high 11 points on 4-4 FGs and 3-3 treys vs.
> Outstanding energy player off the pine and had a career high four steals vs.
> Hit 3-of-4 three-pointers in wins over
> The talented newcomer is the son of current Missouri Volleyball head coach Wayne Kreklow and is a local product that grew up watching the Tigers.
> He was named the MVP of the Demetrius Johnson All-Star game in
#3 Matt Pressey, 6-2, 185 Pounds
> Big 12 Rookie of the Week for Jan. 3 after averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in a pair of Tiger wins.
> Scored a career high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting vs.
> Enjoyed the best Big 12 game of his young career at
> Chipped in 15 points and five boards in the win over Old Dominion.
> Narrowly missed a double-double vs.
> The "Elmers Glue" of this year's club and is out of the same mold as a J.T. Tiller and Zaire Taylor with his blue-collar mentality.
> Has started eight games this season.
> Is 54-of-112 from the floor over his last 18 games (.482).
> Came off the bench to score nine points and dish three assists vs.
> Was a junior college All-American at
> His younger brother Phil Pressey is a freshman on this year's club and his father, Paul Pressey, is currently an assistant coach for Byron Scott and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
#10 Ricardo Ratliffe, 6-8, 240 Pounds
> Highly-coveted big man out of
> Has been named Big 12 Rookie of the Week twice this season.
> Has reached double figures in seven of eight Big 12 games this season, averaging 12.4 points on 64 percent shooting in league action.
> Just missed a double-double vs.
> Was a warrior at Texas A&M scoring 19 points on 9-of-11 FGs to go with a game high nine rebounds before fouling out.
> Oddly it was the first time Ratliffe has led or tied for the team lead in scoring this year ... He also added six offensive boards.
> Leads the club in rebounding (6.8) and double-doubles (3).
> His 14 boards vs. La Salle are the most since DeMarre Carroll grabbed 14 vs.
> Second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage (.588) ... Second on the squad in scoring (11.7).
> Fifth in the league in blocked shots at 1.5 swats per game and blocked four vs.
> Named to the Cancun Challenge All-Tournament team after averaging 11.0 points and 13.0 rebounds.
> One of only 13 players in NJCAA history to be named back-to-back first team All-American, which includes former UNLV standout Larry Johnson.
> Named the Big 12's Preseason Newcomer of the Year by the league coaches.
> Broke the
> Had his junior college jersey (#20) retired at the school's season-opener this year.
#11 Michael
> Quietly vying for Top Big 12 point guard honors, ranking #4 in the league in steals per game (2.0) and is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.0) ... Ranks #6 in dimes (4.1) and #7 in free throw percentage (.795).
> Had 55 dimes all of last season, but has 86 in 21 games played in 2010-11.
> Led Mizzou in scoring vs.
> Scored a career high 18 points in the win over Old Dominion thanks to 5-of-7 shooting, 3-of-3 treys and 5-of-5 free throws.
> Great all-around effort in his return home to Kansas City vs. Georgetown, scoring a career-high tying 17 points to go with four assists and four steals.
> Father (Mike Sr.) left
> Ripped a career high five steals vs.
> Top returning assist man from last season with 55 dimes and just 32 turnovers.
#12 Marcus Denmon, 6-3, 185 Pounds
> Tough, gritty guard that was a football standout in high school as a wide out and defensive back.
> Enjoyed his highest scoring Big 12 game with 27 points, 8-14 FGs and 5-7 treys vs. Nebraska ... Tied a career high in scoring.
> One of the Big 12's more underrated defensive players, ranking #2 in the Big 12 with 2.1 steals per game, including four rips at
> Joins former Missouri standouts Derrick Chievous (1987-88) and Doug Smith (1990-91) as the only Tigers to record 3+ steals in four of five league games ... Denmon has 15 steals in his last five games.
> Named by ESPN as one of the country's Most Improved Players for 2010-11.
> Named a Mid-Season 2nd Team All-American by Rivals.com.
> Mid-Season Co-Big 12 Player of the Year from ESPN.com.
> Mid-Season Wooden Award member.
> Ranked #6 nationally in three-point percentage.
> Twice named Big 12 Player of the Week.
> Reached double figures in 19 of his last 20 games.
> Has 158 career three-pointers in his tenure, which is ninth all-time.
> Leads the team in scoring (16.7) and three-point field goal percentage (.459) ... Is #2 in the Big 12 Conference with his three-point accuracy.
> Has hit 42 of his last 89 treys over the last 18 games and is 110-of-223 from the floor overall.
> Initially scored a career high 27 points on Nov. 30 vs.
> Scored 19 second-half / overtime points in the win vs. Vanderbilt, including the game-winner with five seconds remaining.
> Poured in 24 points in just 24 minutes vs.
> Has 10 career 20-point efforts and
> Cancun Challenge MVP after averaging 15.0 points on 8-of-16 treys in two wins.
> Classroom Champion in the Big 12.
> Big 12 All-Reserve Team last year as a sophomore.
> Is back to full strength after suffering a knee injury as a freshman ... He fought through soreness in that knee for much of his sophomore campaign.
#21 Laurence Bowers, 6-8, 210 Pounds
> Is finding multiple ways to help his club and ranks among Big 12 leaders in rebounding and blocked shots.
> Showed great toughness and leadership playing at Oklahoma State after missing most of the Texas contest with a head injury ... Played 15 minutes, but had seven points, five boards and two blocks.
> Second in the Big 12 in shot-blocking at 2.1 per game, including a school-record tying eight blocks at Colorado ... The eight swats were the most ever for a Tiger in a league game.
> Had a terrific all-around game at CU with 15 points, seven boards and those eight blocks.
> Scored a season high 20 points on 8-of-9 FGs in the win over
> Outstanding game vs. Oral Roberts with 17 points, 6 boards and five blocks.
> Has reached double figures in scoring 13 times.
> Has two double-doubles this season and five for his career, including 16 points and 11 boards vs.
> Sixth in school history with 110 career blocked shots and needs seven more to pass Jevon Crudup (1991-94) who had 116 in his career.
> Named to the Big 12's All-Reserve Team, but finished his sophomore year with six consecutive starts.
> Tore ligaments in his left wrist down the home stretch of the 2009-10 campaign, but is fully healthy ... He will wrap his wrist however as a precaution.
> Named Academic All-Big 12 last year, as well as All-Reserve.
> Was one of the Big 12's most improved players going from 3.2 ppg as a freshman to 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds as a sophomore.
#23 Justin Safford, 6-9, 230 Pounds
> Is healthy after undergoing off-season ACL surgery ... Injured his knee on Feb. 24 vs. Colorado, but worked incredibly hard throughout his rehabilitation and is back to near full strength.
> Tied a career high with 11 rebounds at
> Incredible run of nine consecutive
> Narrowly missed a double-double vs.
> Enjoyed an efficient day vs. Presbyterian, scoring a season-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 19 minutes ... Added six boards and a trey.
> Scored 11 points in the win vs.
> Is the club's lone senior and enters his fourth year with the program, which includes 88 wins during that stretch.
> Averaged 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds as a junior, but averaged 9.9 points in Big 12 play before his injury.
> Made a return to live action in the Black & Gold Game where he recorded a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double on 7-of-11 shooting.
#24 Kim English, 6-6, 200 Pounds
> Has reached double figures 16 times this season and in 14 of his last 19 games.
> Came off the bench vs.
> Scoring numbers are slightly down overall, but has become more well-rounded in his junior season, a focus of his off-season workouts ... His assist totals are up in 2010-11 ... Has 50 dimes in 2010-11 after having just 39 assists all of last season.
> Has 50 assists and 46 turnovers this year after having 39 assists and 71 turnovers last year.
> Scored 20 first-half points vs.
> Was very unselfish in the Georgetown contest ... Scored 11 points on 5-of-12 FGs, but dished four assists and had three steals ... Three of his four assists came to backcourt running mate Marcus Denmon.
> Came off the bench vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff to score a season high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
> Has 153 career three-pointers, 10th all-time in school history.
> Honorable mention preseason All-American by Sports Illustrated.
> Returning all-Big 12 Third Team from last year after pacing the club in scoring and tying for the team lead with 68 three-point makes.
> Named to the Preseason Top 50 for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award.
> Named to the Preseason Top 50 for the James Naismith Player of the Year Award.
> Named one of college basketball's top shooters by FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman.
> Named one of college basketball's Top 15 wing players by CBS's Gary Parrish.
> Is of course known for his tireless work ethic and wears #24 because he is thinking about the game of basketball 24 hours a day.
> Often sleeps in the locker room during the season, which allows him to workout during off-hours.
#32 Steve Moore, 6-9, 270 Pounds
> A native of
> Statistics don't tell the impact of Big Steve ... Is the team's resident "trash man", grabbing offensive boards, dishing assists and playing solid post defense with very little fanfare.
> Played 13 minutes at
> Solid game at Texas A&M, hitting 4-of-4 FTs to go with two rebounds in 13 minutes.
> Scored four points, grabbed four boards, blocked a shot and dished an assist vs.
> Career game in the season-opener vs.
> Scored seven points and blocked three shots vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
> Grabbed a career high seven rebounds vs.
> Third on the squad with 18 blocked shots this season.
> Spent a portion of the summer playing with
About
The nation's #2-ranked club hosts the Missouri Tigers on Monday following a resounding 86-66 road win at Nebraska on Saturday ... The Jayhawks never trailed in the road victory and had four players in double figures, led by senior Brady Morningstar's 19 points ... Kansas is one of the country's more balanced teams with six players averaging better than eight points a game ... Junior twins Marcus and Markieff Morris lead the way ... Marcus Morris is tops on the team with 16.7 points on 60 percent field goal shooting, while Markieff is second with 13.1 points and tops with 8.5 rebounds ... Freshman Josh Selby did not play at Nebraska with a foot injury, but could return to the lineup for Monday's game ... Kansas is 22-1 on the season and by virtue of its win in Lincoln made Mizzou the lone Big 12 club without a home loss this season.
Don't Deny Denmon's Defense
Marcus Denmon makes headlines with his clutch offensive play, but the junior guard currently ranks #2 in the Big 12 with better than two steals per game.
> The Kansas City native has had 10 games this season with three (or more) thefts, ranking #8 in school history for three-steal games in a single season ... Denmon is currently tied with former teammate Zaire Taylor and just passed another KC native (Anthony Peeler) on that exclusive list.
> The school record for three-steal games in one season is held by Lynn Hardy, who did it 15 times in 1986-87 ... Hardy also did it 14 times in 1985-86.
Pressey Among MU's Top Frosh Point Guards
Flip Pressey has made a huge splash for Mizzou early in his Tiger career and below is a quick look at how the
Tiger Year PPG APG TPG A/T
Flip Pressey 10-11 6.3 4.0 2.0 2.0
Michael Dixon 09-10 7.5 1.6 0.9 1.8
Keyon Dooling 98-99 8.7 3.0 2.0 1.5
Melvin Booker 90-91 8.3 3.5 2.7 1.3
Travis Ford 89-90 6.4 3.5 1.8 1.9
Lee Coward 86-87 6.5 1.7 1.4 1.3
Prince Bridges 81-82 6.8 3.3 2.2 1.5
Larry Drew 76-77 6.9 2.8 N/A N/A
Block Party
Laurence Bowers blocked a school-record tying eight shots at Colorado on Jan. 8, the most ever for a Missouri player in a league game and he tied Arthur Johnson's eight blocks in a Dec. 30, 2000, win over Stetson ... The previous Missouri high in a league game with six by Travon Bryant at Kansas in 2004 ... Johnson also had six in games vs. Texas (2004) and Iowa State (2002) ... Recently Ricardo Ratliffe joined that impressive list with six swats against the Cyclones on Jan. 22.
English Patience
Kim English came to Missouri known for his shooting prowess, but this season the junior has shown improved all-around play, while focusing less on scoring totals ... Last season the Baltimore native led the Tigers with 14.0 points per game, but also committed a team-leading 71 turnovers ... This year English is averaging 10.8 points per game, including double-figure scoring games in five of his last six contests, while ranking among team leaders in assists (50) and steals (31) ... The 50 assists are a career high and he owns a positive assist/turnover ratio (50-to-46) on the year.
> English continues to be a potent shooter however and recently scored a season high 21 points vs.
Denmon Named Mid-Season All-American
Marcus Denmon was named a mid-season Rivals.com Second Team All-American on Jan. 13 ... The Kansas City native has been one of the country's most efficient players this season and leads the Tigers in scoring and three-point percentage, while ranking among national leaders in both categories as well ... He was also named the country's Most Improved Player by ESPN and was Big 12 Co-Player of the Year by Jay Bilas of ESPN.
Top Shot-Blocking Tandems at Mizzou
Laurence Bowers and Ricardo Ratliffe are quickly becoming one of the top shot-blocking tandems in school history ... The pair have combined for 84 swats in 23 games and need 19 more blocks combined this season to become tops in school history.
Tandem Blks Year
Arthur Johnson/Travon Bryant 102 02-03
Arthur Johnson/Travon Bryant 93 03-04
Arthur Johnson/Kareem Rush 93 01-02
Laurence Bowers/Keith Ramsey 86 09-10
Arthur Johnson/Kareem Rush 86 00-01
Laurence Bowers/Ricardo Ratliffe 84 10-11
Steve Stipanovich/Greg Cavener 83 82-83
Denmon Named To Wooden Top 30 List
Marcus Denmon has played his way onto All-America lists throughout the country and on Jan. 6 he was named to the John Wooden Award Midseason Top 30 list ... Denmon has been one of the country's most efficient players and is averaging 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.1 steals for the Tigers this season ... He is also one of six Big 12 players named to the list.
Comparing The Last Three Seasons
Category 10-11 09-10 08-09
Record 18-5 17-6 19-4
PPG 83.3 81.3 84.3
RPG 37.6 36.0 38.1
APG 17.1 16.5 19.1
SPG 10.0 12.0 10.8
FG% .466 .450 .481
3FG% .376 .390 .366
FT% .720 .729 .661
Five In Double Figures = Great Seasons
Missouri has five players averaging double-figures in scoring this season, a rarity in school history ... In fact just three teams at Mizzou have had five players finish the year averaging double-figures: 1964-65, 1988-89 and 1989-90 ... Not surprisingly the 1988-90 teams recorded a combined 55 wins over those two seasons and this year's Tiger team is a staunch 18-5 heading into Monday's game at Kansas.
Lucky #7
Missouri's depth has led to unprecedented scoring balance this year, as the Tigers have had seven players reach double figures in the same game twice this year ... Mizzou had seven players score 10+ vs. both Central Arkansas and North Alabama ... The last time Mizzou had seven or more in double figures was a Dec. 2, 1995, win vs. Chicago State ... Below is a list of seven-double figure scoring games in school history.
Date Opponent 10+ Score
12-30-87
12-30-89 Neb-Kearney 7 119-98
12-02-95
12-18-10
01-05-11
Milestone Watch
Junior guards Marcus Denmon and Kim English are each rapidly approaching 1,000 career points as Missouri Tigers ... English has 970 career tallies in 94 career games, while Denmon boasts 966 points in 94 contests as well ... The last pair of Tiger juniors to top 1,000 career points in the same season were Arthur Johnson and Rickey Paulding in 2002-03 ... English and Denmon will become the 41st and 42nd players in school history to top 1,000 points.
Top Non-Conference Seasons at Mizzou
Missouri finished up non-conference play tied for the most wins in school history, while also boasting the best winning percentage through non-league action (.933) ... Missouri's 14 non-league wins this season tied the mark of the 1989-90 (14-2) and 1988-89 (14-3) squads.
Mike Anderson won his 100th game at Mizzou on Dec. 27, making him the fastest Tiger to reach that feat ... The 147 games it took Anderson to reach 100 topped the previous mark held by Quin Snyder, who won game #100 in 158 tries on Feb. 28, 2004 at Kansas State ... Norm Stewart won game #100 on Dec. 8, 1973, vs. UTEP in his 160th contest.
> Anderson, who is now 106-51 all-time at Mizzou, needs just five more wins to top 200 for his career, which includes the 89 wins he racked up at UAB.
> Last but not least, Anderson became just the second coach in Missouri Basketball history to be 50 games over .500 for his career following an 81-62 win vs. Oral Roberts on Dec. 16 ... Anderson joins Norm Stewart (631-333 in 32 seasons) as the only other Tiger coach on that exclusive list.
Paint It Black & Gold
The addition of Ricardo Ratliffe and growth of Missouri's returners in the post have led to much more balance in Mizzou's offense ... The Tigers have scored 822 of 1,917 points in the paint this season compared to 678 a season ago ... The 822 "paint points" (through 23 games) is the second most during Anderson's time at Mizzou, just behind the 850 tallies scored by DeMarre Carroll, Leo Lyons and Co. through 22 games in 2008-09.
>
Crunch Time Hoops From Denmon
- Missouri trailed #21 Illinois 57-56 with just over two minutes remaining, but Denmon hit a 17-footer with Jereme Richmond's hand in his face to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn't give up ... Denmon scored six points in the final 2:23, including a steal / assist on an Illinois in-bounds pass to seal the late-game surge.
- With the game tied and Vanderbilt running out the clock for a final shot in overtime, Denmon steals a pass from Brad Tinsley, scores the winning bucket (while being fouled) and completes the three-point play for an 85-82 win.
- On Jan. 9, 2010, with
- Missouri and Texas Tech were tied 82-82 with 3:06 remaining in overtime in Lubbock when Denmon came off a screen and buried a 24-footer in front of the Missouri bench to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn't relinquish, resulting in a 94-89 OT win.
- Of course for good measure we need to pay homage to the 60-footer in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament vs. #2
A Point Guard Family
Michael Dixon Jr. is distributing the rock like his "pops" (Michael Dixon Sr.) ... A sophomore starter for Mizzou, Dixon is among the Big 12 leaders in a number of categories this season, including assists (6th at 4.1 apg), steals (4th at 2.0) and assist/turnover ratio (3rd at 2.0) ... Those numbers mirror the collegiate success his father had at San Jose State (1982-85) when the elder Dixon ranked #1 in school history with 477 assists and #6 with 106 career steals.
> However the younger Dixon has unleashed a consistent offensive game as well this year and has hit for double figures in scoring in 12 of his last 20 contests, highlighted by a career high 18 points vs. Old Dominion on Dec. 30 as well as 17 tallies vs. Wyoming, Georgetown and at Colorado ... Dixon also helped lead Mizzou to a win over Vanderbilt with 15 points, four assists and three steals.
Flip The Switch
Flip Pressey is continuing to excel in his freshman campaign and is the Big 12's top freshman in assists (4.0) and steals (1.8) this season, while working his way into the starting lineup ... Pressey's 4.0 dimes per game this season are tops all-time for a Mizzou freshman and his 11 dimes in a 116-63 win over Central Arkansas tied the school record and set the MU freshman single-game mark.
> He recently has flashed some steady offense as well, reaching double figures in four of his last six outings, including a career high 16 points at Texas A&M ... Pressey hit a career high 4-of-4 treys to go with four boards and two dimes and then poured in 13 points, three assists and four steals vs. #24 Kansas State ... At Texas Pressey scored a team high 12 points to go with five assists and three steals ... He became just the second Mizzou freshman to record a 12-5-3 game in Big 12 play, joining Keyon Dooling ... Over his last six games Pressey is averaging 10.1 points, 4.2 assists and 2.3 steals for Mizzou.
