Mizzou Men's Basketball Continues at Home with Valparaiso
11/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| Game | Location | Day/Time (CT) | Media |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vaparaiso | Columbia, Mo. | Sunday, 5 p.m. CT | SEC Network |
Game Notes: Mizzou |
FIRST OFF...
• The Kim Anderson Era officially began at Mizzou Arena earlier this weekend with an exciting game, but altogether untimely result, as the Tigers dropped their regular season opener to UMKC, 69-61. Mizzou will look for Anderson's first Tiger head coaching win against Valparaiso on Sunday at 5 p.m. on the SEC Network.
• A former Big Eight Player of the Year (1977), Anderson starred for the Black & Gold from 1974-77 and was a longtime assistant of legendary head coach Norm Stewart (1982-85, 91-99).
• The Tigers saw early success on the exhibition schedule, winning games against William Jewell, 72-31, on Oct. 29, and against UMSL, 77-54, on Nov. 8.
GETTING THE NEW GUYS INVOLVED
• Mizzou Basketball's season-opening game vs. UMKC (Nov. 14) featured plenty of new faces, drawing playing time and important minutes from the squad's group of eight newcomers. Freshman G Montaque Gill-Caesar and redshirt senior G Keith Shamburger earned starts for head coach Kim Anderson's first game as Mizzou's head coach. Freshman F D'Angelo Allen (15 minutes), freshman G Tramaine Isabell (12 minutes), junior G Deuce Bello (7 minutes) and freshman G Namon Wright (7 minutes) all received their first playing time wearing the Black & Gold.
• Gill-Caesar and Shamburger had strong opening debuts, showing the Mizzou Arena crowd a glimpse of what they can do throughout the 2014-15 season. The freshman guard scored 21 points in his collegiate debut on 9-for-23 shooting from the field. Gill-Caesar also led the squad in rebounds with seven. Shamburger filled up the stat column nicely with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and one block.
WELCOME TO THE KIM ANDERSON ERA
• Missouri Basketball begins a new era this season as Kim Anderson returns home to take the reins of the Tiger program. Anderson was a success on and off the court during his previous stints at Mizzou, beginning as a player for Norm Stewart from 1974-77, helping the Tigers to their first Big Eight crown under the Hall of Famer Stewart in 1976 and earning Big Eight Player of the Year in 1977, averaging
18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game as a senior.
• Anderson spent 11 seasons on staff at Mizzou over two stints (1982-85 and 1991-99) and served six years as an assistant coach at Baylor (1985-91) under Gene Iba. Anderson was first a graduate assistant for Stewart from 1982-85 and helped the program to the 1983 Big Eight title, the program's fourth straight, before taking his first full-time assistant coaching role with the Bears two years later.
• Anderson spent 12 seasons in total at Central Missouri and won nearly 75 percent of his games over a decade-plus worth of work. Anderson went 274-95 (.743) during that span and finished his career ranked among the Top 10 in career winning percentage all-time at the NCAA Division II level. The two-time Mizzou graduate (1979, `81) earned 2014 NABC National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Mules to the 2014 NCAA Division II title. In addition to his consistent winning approach, Anderson helped the Mules collect league and national hardware, winning or sharing six Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) regular season conference titles.
