2000-01 SEASON CAPSULE HIGHLIGHTS...
One of the Big 12’s most explosive scorers and fiery competitors who was one of the league’s most improved players ... Was snubbed for all-Big 12 honors by league writers, despite ranking 4th-in scoring (16.5), 1st in 3-pt. FGs (3.19 p/g), and 13th in assists (3.50 p/g) ... Gave MU its first NCAA Tournament win since 1995 when he nailed an 18-foot baseline jumper with 0:00.9 seconds left vs. Georgia to give MU dramatic 70-68 win ... Ended with 10 points on the night, and followed with solid 16-point game vs. #1 Duke in the second round ... Hit 4-of-8 three pointers vs. the Blue Devils, and added 5 assists to just 1 turnover in 36 minutes ... Led the way w/30 pts. in 1st round of Big 12 tourney vs. Texas A&M, and tied MU record w/8 3-pt. FGs (11 attempts) ... Had 19 pts. at #10 Kansas (March 4), and reached 1,000 pts. for his career, becoming 32nd member of MU’s 1,000-pt. club ... Ranks 28th on the alltime school scoring list (1,074 points) entering his senior season ... Is one of a select few in MU history to amass 500 pts. & 100 assists in a single season ... Others include Melvin Booker, Ricky Frazier, Byron Irvin, Anthony Peeler & Jon Sundvold ... Broke his own MU single-season three-point field goal record, with 102, after amassing 88 a year ago ... Also set a record for three point attempts in a year, with 277 ... Is MU’s career leader in three-point field goals (214) and three-point attempts (598) ... Led Tigers with a game-high 16 pts. Feb. 19 vs. OU, including clutch 3-pt. FG with 2:00 left that gave MU 58-56 lead ... Had solid 26-pt. outing at A&M ... Hit 6-of-13 3-pt. FGs at A&M, and erupted for 19 pts. in 5-minute stretch in 1st half ... Held to 12 pts. vs. Kansas (Jan. 29), but still was key to win, adding 4 rebs. & 3 assists to go with excellent perimeter defense (KU guards were a combined 7-of-21 FGs) ... Had an excellent shooting night at Nebraska (Jan. 24), scoring a game-high 25 points based on the strength of 7-of-13 from the three-point line ... Had a record-setting 43-pt. performance in leading MU to win over #18 Iowa State ... Was named Big 12 Player-of-the-Week, and ESPN.com national player of the week (Jan. 15), for averaging 32.5 pts. and 5.5 assists in MU wins over ISU and at Colorado ... Point total vs.ISU was 4th-most in MU history, and tied Big 12 single-game record ... It was also the 5th-most scored in a game in the country during the 2000-01 season ... Perhaps even more amazing than his point total was this line: 9 assists with 0 turnovers in a whopping 56 minutes vs. ISU ... Set school and Big 12 records in minutes (56), shots attempted (36) and 3-pt. FGs attempted (18) ... Had 6 pts. in the 1st half, 23 in the 2nd half, 2 in the 1st OT and 4 in each following OT period ... Hit a clutch trey from deep in the right corner with just 18 seconds left in the 3rd OT to tie the game at 101 all and send it to a decisive 4th extra stanza ... Had game-high 22 pts. at CU (Jan. 10), including 8 straight MU pts. in less than a minute stretch during the second half that essentially won the game ... Later made 6-of-6 FTs in final minutes to seal win ... Had 16 pts., 4 steals & 3 asst. vs. Neb. (Jan. 6), & harassed Cookie Belcher into 7 turnovers, and held him to 8 pts. (8 below his average) ... Scored then-career-high 32 pts. at #22 Iowa, hitting 5-of-16 3-pt. FG attempts ... Lit up DePaul with 26 pts., hitting 6-of-9 3-pt. FGs ... Followed w/17 pts. vs. Saint Louis, including consecutive threes that got MU back into the game after trailing by as much as 10 points in the second half.
1999-2000 SEASON **3rd Team All-Big 12** - 3rd-team all-Big 12 selection who
was named to the Big 12 All-Improved team by the Associated Press ... Set MU
single-season record for 3-point FGs made and attempted, going 88-of-233 ...
That broke the previous mark of 81-of-212 by Mark Atkins in 1992-93 ...
Nailed four-or-more treys in a game 11 times ... Averaged 14.8 ppg during
the league season, after scoring just 4.8 points in Big 12 play as a
freshman ... Had four games of 25 or more points vs. league schools ... Had
a career-high 27-point game on national TV vs. #7 Kansas (Jan. 22) ... Hit
7-of-10 3-pt. FGs vs. KU, including five straight in a torrid stretch in the
second half which saw MU stretch the lead to 56-39 with 12 minutes left ...
Missed the final 6:09 due to an ankle sprain ... Later had an 18-pt. game at
#23 Kansas (March 5), where he hit 4 3-pt. FGs and added 5 rebs. ... Led
league in scoring after five games (22.4 ppg) before spraining ankle against
Kansas ... Had 21 pts. in Big 12 quarterfinals vs. #15 Oklahoma (March 10)
and preceded that w/26 pt. outburst in first round vs. Texas Tech (March 9)
... Hit 6 3-pt. FGs vs. Tech, and broke the single-season school record for
threes made that night ... Had his first break-out game when he scored 24
points vs. #15 Illinois (Dec. 21) in helping lead the Tigers to a big upset
win ... Went off in a two-minute stretch in the second half, scoring 12
straight points that took MU from a 52-52 tie to a 64-54 lead with 7:32 left
in the game ... Scored 13 pts. at Nebraska (Feb. 5), with all 13 coming in
the second half, as MU climbed back from a 14-pt. deficit ... Was held to 9
pts. at Colorado (Feb. 2), but was still key to the Tiger win, grabbing a
career-high 13 rebs., and hitting two key shots in last two minutes of the
game ... Scored 19 points vs. Colorado (Jan. 12), and followed that with a
25-point outing vs. Kansas State (Jan. 15), on his 20th birthday ... Scored
26 points at Iowa State (Jan. 8) ... Scored 19 of his points in the second
half, including five treys after intermission ... Scored in double figures
20 times on the year, after doing so just three times as a freshman.
1998-99 SEASON **Big 12 All-Freshman Team** - One of the conference's top
freshmen, who was named to the conference all-freshman team by league
writers ... Also named to the Big 12 all-academic honorable mention team ...
Was third on squad with 24 three point field goals ... Saw action in all 29
games, and started five of MU's last eight... Led team, and ranked 5th in
the Big 12 with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.83 ... Made first career start
on Feb. 8 at Iowa State, and responded with a career-high 13 points ... Hit
3-of-6 three pointers in the game, including three treys in the game's
opening minutes to stake MU out to a lead it never surrendered ... Had a
solid game at Nebraska on Feb. 6th, scoring 11 points and adding six steals.
IN HIGH SCHOOL - Came to MU as a top-50 national player ... Teamed with
former Tiger and longtime friend Keyon Dooling to form one of the nation's
premier prep backcourts ... Had outstanding senior campaign, helping lead
team to a 26-7 record and Class 6A final four ... Earned second-team
all-state after averaging 25 points, six steals and four assists per game
... As a junior, earned Fort Lauderdale Sun 4A-5A-6A Florida
Player-of-the-Year, after averaging 23.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0
assists per game.
PERSONAL - Majoring in Personal Financial Management ... Parents - Willie
Westbrook and Gwendolyn Gilbert ... Chose MU over Arkansas, Georgia,
Michigan State and South Florida ...High school coach - Darryl Burrows.
