Feb. 15, 2008
Columbia, Mo. -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
University of Missouri Tigers (14-11, 4-6 Big 12) vs.
Kansas State University Wildcats (17-6, 7-2 Big 12)
Regular Season Game 26 - February 16, 2008 - Manhattan, Kan.
Tip-off: 5:05 p.m. CST
Arena: Bramlage Coliseum - Manhattan, Kan. (12,528)
TV: ESPN Plus (Fred White play-by-play; Bob Sundvold analyst)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly play-by-play; Gary Link analyst)
Rankings: Mizzou: NR/NR, K-State: 18/22 in Associated Press / USA Today Coaches polls
Series: Missouri leads 114-112 overall; in Manhattan the Wildcats lead 56-44
Coaches:
Missouri: Mike Anderson (Tulsa '82); 121-64 overall (6th season); 32-23 at Mizzou (2nd)
Kansas State: Frank Martin (Florida International '93); 17-6 overall (1st season); Same
For Openers
> Mizzou goes searching for its third road win in four tries on Saturday when it travels to No. 18 / 22 Kansas State ... Tough road games are nothing new for the 2007-08 Tigers ... Missouri has played at No. 4 Kansas, as well as at Arkansas and at Mississippi State, two programs that are on the cusp of the Top 25 rankings in the latest polls ... The Tigers held late-game leads vs. Arkansas and Mississippi State, but fell in the final minutes.
> Missouri is playing its fourth ranked opponent in a stretch of five games on Saturday ... The Tigers end this run like it began, with a game against a ranked Kansas State program ... Mizzou also faced No. 4 Kansas and No. 18 Texas A&M in addition to the two games vs. K-State.
> The Tigers have had great success vs. teams currently ranked in the Top 25 ... Mizzou toppled No. 11 Texas, No. 18 Kansas State and No. 19 Purdue ... It should be noted that Purdue wasn't ranked at the time of Missouri's 73-63 home win over the Boilermakers.
> A key for the Tigers has been their bench depth and the team's strong reserve play over the past week serves as a perfect illustration to its well-rounded play ... Missouri is averaging 38.5 points per game from its bench over the last two outings, including 43 points vs. No. 18 Texas A&M ... On the season as a whole, Mizzou is averaging 26.0 points per game from its bench and have had 22 double-figure scoring efforts off the pine this year.
> Keon Lawrence is on a run of four consecutive double-figure scoring games and has been a much improved shooter during that four-game span ... During the surge he is averaging 17.0 points and 3.0 assists per game and has hit 28-of-44 shots from the floor, a 63.6 percent clip.
> Lawrence has been equally good on the road, reaching career highs in scoring in two of his last four road trips, initially a 24-point night at Texas Tech on Jan. 23, before pouring in a career high 25 at Kansas on Big Monday on 10-of-13 shooting ... Wednesday at Nebraska, Lawrence once again led the Tigers with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc.
> J.T. Tiller has also been a much-improved player over the past two weeks for the Tigers and has reached double figures in four of his last five outings, including a career high 20 points in the initial meeting with Kansas State ... Tiller is averaging 13.2 points over the five-game stretch on a solid 50.0 percent shooting from the floor ... Prior to the five game surge, Tiller averaged just 5.6 points on 44.7 percent shooting.
About The Kansas State Wildcats
No. 18/22 Kansas State (17-6, 7-2 Big 12) returns home following an 84-75 loss at Texas Tech on Wednesday ... The Wildcats got 27 points from Bill Walker and Michael Beasley recorded his 20th double-double of the year with 22 points and 15 boards, but Alan Voskuil dropped in 30 for the Red Raiders to lift Pat Knight to his first win as head coach of the program ... Despite the loss Kansas State remains a front-runner in the Big 12 Conference and is led by Beasley with 25.1 points and 12.4 rebounds per night ... Walker is second with 16.3 tallies and 6.6 rebounds, while fellow freshman Jacob Pullen rounds out the team's double-figure scorers with 10.3 points and 3.3 assists.
The Series With Kansas State
Saturday's meeting marks the 227th all-time affair between Kansas State and Mizzou with the Tigers holding a 114-112 series lead ... Missouri won the season's first meeting, 77-74, in Columbia on Feb. 2 and look for their first win in Manhattan since 2004 ... Kansas State leads the series 56-44 in Manhattan and in the last 10 meetings overall, the series is tied 5-5.
Raise Your Hand If You Remember
Sure it's just one game that occurred 95 years ago, but that single contest is the difference between a 114-112 series lead for the Tigers (which Missouri claims) and a 113-113 series tie (which Kansas State claims) ... The game took place on Feb. 12, 1913, in Manhattan, but oddly enough, both school's have box scores that support their historical claims ... Missouri calls it a 25-24 Tiger triumph, while K-State calls it a 26-25 Wildcat "W".
Facing Fab Freshman Nothing New For Anderson
Since his arrival at Missouri, Mike Anderson and his squad have faced some of the nation's elite freshmen and that includes games against Kansas State standouts Michael Beasley and Bill Walker ... Last season the Tigers faced freshman Kevin Durant of Texas, a player who went on to earn Player of the Year accolades.
> While those three have had great success at the collegiate level, Anderson's propensity at facing big time newcomers actually began on Dec. 3, 1981, when his Tulsa Golden Hurricane traveled to Chapel Hill, N. C., to face Dean Smith and a young freshman named Michael Jordan ... Jordan was playing his third game at UNC and scored 27 points in the contest, a game the No. 1 ranked Tar Heels won 78-70 over No. 9 Tulsa ... Anderson was a senior point guard on that Tulsa club.
20-Something: Tigers Have Six Players With 20-Point Games This Season
Keon Lawrence's career-high tying 24 points at Texas Tech (also added 25 at Kansas) and J.T. Tiller's career high 20 points vs. No. 22 Kansas State made the sophomore duo the fifth and sixth Tigers to top the 20-point barrier this season ... Lawrence and Tiller joined DeMarre Carroll, Stefhon Hannah, Matt Lawrence and Leo Lyons as other Tigers to reach 20 points this season.
> Mizzou is actually the league leader with six different 20-point scorers ... Baylor, Kansas State and Texas have also had five different players reach 20-points this season.
With A Tiger Win ...
> Missouri would push its Big 12 Conference record to 5-6 and improve to 15-11 on the year.
> Missouri would grab its third road win of the year and third road win in four games following wins at Colorado and Nebraska.
> Mike Anderson would get his second road win over a ranked opponent as the Tiger sideline boss ... Mizzou won at No. 18 Oklahoma State last season, 75-64, on Feb. 17, 2007.
> Missouri would grab its fourth win over a team currently in the Top 25 rankings ... The Tigers have defeated Kansas State, Purdue and Texas this season.
> Overall, Anderson would improve to 122-64 in his six seasons as a head coach.
> Missouri would earn its 15th win of the year, moving within three victories of last season's 18-win mark.
> The Tigers would move to 33-23 all-time under Anderson.
> Anderson would have his second career win over Kansas State.
Mizzou Protecting the Basketball
The loss of a point guard can be devastating for a team, but Missouri has responded nicely over its last five games and has used a number of quality ball-handlers to fill the void.
> In the five games without Stefhon Hannah, Missouri is averaging 15.2 assists per game and has a 1.3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio during that stretch ... While the assist numbers are slightly down from the season average of 17.4, it's important to note that all five of Missouri's games have been vs. Big 12 competition and three of those games came against ranked foes, No. 4 Kansas, No. 18 Texas A&M and No. 22 Kansas State ... In addition, Missouri's turnover numbers are down as well, as they team is committing just 11.8 turnovers compared to their season average of 13.4.
> It's been a well-rounded effort for the Tigers, as 10 players have multiple assists during and only one of 11 players have a negative assist-to-turnover ratio.
Lyons Playing Better In Reserve Roll
His playing time is virtually the same, but Leo Lyons is producing improved scoring numbers in a reserve role for the Black & Gold ... A starter in each of the season's first 17 contests, Lyons has flourished in his last five games as a reserve, averaging 16.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists during that stretch ... Through the first 17 games this year (all starts), Lyons averaged 11.6 points, 4.5 boards and 1.5 assists.
> Lyons has enjoyed some big scoring nights off the pine as well ... He has reached double figures in 6-of-7 games, including 22 points in Mizzou's 66-62 win at Colorado and a career high 24 points vs. No. 18 Texas A&M.
Graduating Tigers
October through March are typically the busy months throughout college basketball playing circles, but as head coach Mike Anderson pointed out, May could be the busiest month of all for Missouri Basketball ... The Tigers anticipate having seven current or former student-athletes walk the stage this particular spring to receive their diplomas as seniors Marshall Brown, Darryl Butterfield, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Vaidotas Volkus and juniors Michael Anderson, Jr., and DeMarre Carroll are scheduled to graduate from school this year.
Tiller The Thriller Stepping Up For Mizzou
J.T. Tiller has become Missouri's go-to man and over the last five games, as the sophomore guard is averaging 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists in contests vs. Nebraska (twice), No. 22 Kansas State, No. 4 Kansas and No. 18 Texas A&M.
> Prior to his breakout efforts, Tiller averaged just 5.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game (first 20 games), marking a sharp increase in playing time and productivity for the improving guard.
> Tiller has reached double figures in four of his last five games, reaching career highs in back-to-back games against Nebraska (14 points, eight rebounds) and Kansas State (20 points).
> Tiller later scored 13 points at No. 4 Kansas, marking the second consecutive season the Marietta, Ga., native reached double figures in Allen Fieldhouse.
