Matt Lawrence

Class:
Senior
Hometown:
St. Louis, Mo.

Awards:
2008 Academic All-Big 12 Second Team
2008 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll

Quickly:
Excellent perimeter shooter that has improved his all-around game over the past two seasons, including his passing and rebounding abilities ... Gives the team great leadership and leads the team in career starts with 61 heading into his final year ... Has made 162 career treys heading into his senior season, which ranks No. 8 all-time, but could jump as high as No. 2 before the completion of his Tiger career ... Needs 65 treys to pass Indiana Pacer standout Kareem Rush (226 career treys) for second place.

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2007-08:
Earned Second Team Academic All-Big 12 honors for his work both on the court and in the classroom ... Started 30-of-31 contests as a junior with his lone non-start coming on Senior Night as he gave way to four seniors ... Ranked fourth on the club in scoring with 8.8 points per game and was tops in free throw percentage at .913 ... Led the club with 72 three-point field goals and hit multiple treys in 23 games ... Scored a career high 28 points at Mississippi State, before dropping in 20 at Kansas State ... Tied a season high with six three-point makes in both games ... Hit five treys at California en route to 17 points ... Reached double figures nine times on the year, including 12 points in the opening round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships against Nebraska ... Enjoyed a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, dishing out 30 assists compared to just 26 turnovers ... Dished three dimes against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championships, without committing a turnover.

2006-07:
Named to the Big 12's All-Improved Team by the Kansas City Star ... Averaged 11.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.9 steals while starting all-30 games last season ... Was the lone Tiger to make all-30 starts ... The Big 12's most improved scorer last season, upping his season average from 1.5 points per game as a freshman to 11.2 points as a sophomore ... That 9.7 ppg. improvement represented a 747-percent overall scoring increase... Was named the nation's No. 1 Surprise Impact player by ESPN's Stephen Bardo on College Game Night ... Finished No. 2 in the Big 12 in three-point percentage (44.3) and was No. 2 with 2.7 three-point field goals per game ... His 44.3 percent shooting stroke from three-point range is No. 9 in school history and his 81 three-pointers is tied for No. 7 all-time ... Was the first Tiger sophomore to record four 20-point scoring games since Linas Kleiza in 2004-05 ... Reached double figures in 17-of-30 games and finished strong with seven double-figure efforts over his last nine games ... Hit multiple three-pointers in 19 games, including a career high seven triples in the season-opener against North Carolina A&T ... Scored a career high 27 points in that affair ... Also recorded 22 point on 6-of-10 three-point shooting vs. NCAA Tournament participant Davidson, 20 points vs. Coppin State and 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting (6-of-8 from three-point range) vs. Southern ... Top Big 12 game came at Kansas where he poured in 19 points .... Helped lead the Tigers to a win at No. 18 Oklahoma State, hitting 5-of-7 treys en route to 15 points.

2005-06 Season:
Enjoyed a solid freshman season as the team's top reserve three-point shooter ... Shot 39.1 percent from three on the year and hit multiple treys in games at Arkansas and against Nebraska in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament ... Went 2-of-2 from bonus distance in Fayetteville, scoring a career high six points ... Nearly equaled that feat with a 2-of-3 shooting night vs. Nebraska on ESPN2 in the opening round of the Big 12 Tourney in Dallas ... Added a career high two assists and one board in 13 minutes ... Hit the first trey of his career vs. UMKC, before adding another at Davidson ... Tied career highs with two rebounds and an assist vs. Furman ... Added a 14-foot jumper in the win ... Grabbed two boards and recorded a career high two steals in the win over Eastern Illinois ... Hit another trey vs. Louisiana Monroe, while grabbing a career high three rebounds ... Dished out an assist and hit a baseline jumper in the Big 12 win over Oklahoma State ... Huge trey with 12:36 remaining in the second half to help the Tigers rally from a seven-point, second-half deficit to win at No. 22 Oklahoma ... Hit a career high 3-of-4 free throws at Texas Tech ... Hit a trey and recorded a steal at Iowa State.

High School:
Earned All-State recognition following his junior and senior seasons at Lafayette High School ... Ranked among the St. Louis area's leading point producers as a senior, scoring at a 17.9 ppg. clip, while pulling in 8.1 rebounds every night out for head coach Dave Porter's club ... Led the Lancers to a 24-5 mark, which helped land him on the St. Louis Post Dispatch's All-Metro Team each of his final two prep campaigns ... Averaged 16.4 points and 5.9 assists as a junior, to win Suburban West Conference Player of the Year honors ... Joined current Tiger teammate Kalen Grimes as a Second Team All-Area pick that year by the St. Louis Post Dispatch and was named a Class 5 first team All-State selection as a junior after leading Lafayette to a 28-4 mark in 2003-04.

Personal:
Son of Jill and Kevin Lawrence ... Born in New Orleans, La. ... Lists his favorite food as pizza and his favorite actor as Will Ferrell ... Favorite musical artist is Kanye West ... Favorite pre-game activity is eating a Snickers while listening to techno music ... Majoring in business finance ... Also considered Mississippi, Missouri State, Stanford, Northwestern and Southern Illinois ... Picked Mizzou because of his connection with the coaching staff.

Career Statistics
Season   G-GS    MPG FG-A    FG% 3FG-A   3FG%    FT-A    FT% REB/AVG.    A-BLK-S TP  AVG.2007-08 32-31   26.1    94-255  .369    72-207  .348    21-23   .913    94/2.9  30-5-25 281 8.8Big 12  16-15   28.1    40-123  .325    32-102  .314    9-10    .900    53/3.3  14-3-9  121 7.62006-07 30-30   27.3    115-237 .485    81-183  .443    26-36   .722    92/3.1  23-1-28 337 11.2Big 12  16-16   27.6    52-119  .437    36-96   .375    11-17   .647    40/2.5  6-1-12  151 9.42005-06 25-0    6.9 11-33   .333    9-23    .391    6-8 .750    18/0.7  5-0-7   37  1.5Big 12   14-0    5.4 3-15    .200    2-8 .250    3-4 .750    4/0.3   1-0-2   11  0.8TOTAL   87-61   21.0    220-525 .419    162-413 .392    53-67   .791    204/2.3 58-6-60 655 7.5Big 12  46-31   21.0    95-257  .370    70-206  .340    23-31   .742    97/2.1  21-4-23 283 6.2

Career HighsPts. 28 at Mississippi State (12-27-07)Reb.    8 vs. N. Carolina A&T (11-10-06)FG  10 at Mississippi State (12-27-07)FGA 16 vs. N. Carolina A&T (11-10-06)3FG 7 vs. N. Carolina A&T (11-10-06)3FGA    11, twiceFT  4 vs. Arkansas (11-30-06)FTA 5 at Colorado (1-24-07)Asst.   4 vs. N. Carolina A&T (11-10-06)Blks    1, five timesStls    5 vs. Purdue (12-09-06)