Feb. 21, 2005

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Tip-off: 6:00 p.m. CST

Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061 - 1st season)

TV: ESPN+ (Dave Armstrong, play-by-play; Chris Piper, analyst)

Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play: Gary Link, analyst)

Rankings: Neither team was ranked in the polls

Series: MU leads, 89-50 : Last Meeting: CU, 64-62 in Columbia, MO on Jan. 26

Coaches:

Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 113-76 at MU and overall (6th season).

CU: Ricardo Patton (Belmont '80) 156-125 at CU and overall (10th season).

Tigers Look For Fourth Straight Win on Wednesday

The University of Missouri men's basketball squad looks to win its fourth straight contest on Tuesday as it welcomes the Colorado Buffaloes to Mizzou Arena. Mizzou enters Tuesday's contest with a 13-13 mark overall and a 5-7 record in the Big 12 after it defeated Nebraska on Saturday, 56-53 in Lincoln to win its third straight game.

Sophomore Linas Kleiza continued to impress for Mizzou, scoring a game-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor while also pulling down seven rebounds against Nebraska. Fellow sophomore Thomas Gardner also had a solid contest, scoring 10 points while also equaling a career high with four assists against the Huskers.

After trailing by as many as nine in the first half, the Tigers outscored the Huskers 35-26 in the second half and shot 54.2 percent. They held the Huskers to 37.9 percent shooting in the second stanza and held leading scorer Joe McCray to just 12 points on the game to get the much-needed road win. The Tigers' win over Nebraska marks the first time they have won away from Mizzou Arena this season and was their first road win since they defeated Kansas State on Feb. 28, 2004 in Manhattan, KS.

Tuesday's contest, which is set to tip at 6:00 p.m. CST, will be broadcast on the Tiger Radio Network with the `Voice of the Tigers' Mike Kelly providing the play-by-play and former Tiger great Gary Link in the analyst chair. The game can also be seen on ESPN+ (KMIZ in Columbia) with Dave Armstrong providing the play-by-play and Chris Piper providing the analysis. The Tigers are 2-3 on Tuesdays this season and 2-2 on ESPN+.

Quick Hits

Mizzou is 17-5 during the month of February at home under Head Coach Quin Snyder during his six years at the helm and 26-16 overall during the second month of the year under his tutelage ... The Tigers hold an 89-50 advantage in the all-time series between MU and CU ... Mizzou is 12-4 at home, 0-3 in neutral court contests and 1-6 on the road ... The Tigers are 5-2 at Mizzou Arena in 2005 ... Mizzou is 8-3 against Colorado under Head Coach Quin Snyder ... They are 5-0 against the Buffaloes in Columbia under Snyder ... The Tigers have won three in a row for the first time since they defeated No. 12 Gonzaga on Dec. 30, American on Jan. 4 and Iowa State on Jan. 8 ... The last time a Mizzou squad recorded four straight wins was last season when it ripped off six straight wins from Feb. 10-28 ... Mizzou is 51-10 against CU in Columbia all-time ... Colorado has not won in Columbia since Jan. 7, 1997, a span of eight straight contests ... Head Coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 114 at Mizzou ... He is coaching in his 190th career contest on Tuesday against Colorado ... Sophomore Linas Kleiza has led Mizzou in either scoring, rebounding or in both categories in 19 of the Tigers' 26 games so far this season ... Senior Jason Conley has scored in double figures in five of the Tigers' last eight games ... Freshman Jason Horton recorded 10 assists and only three turnovers against OU; that is the most assists in a game by a Tiger since Wesley Stokes handed off nine dimes against Coppin State in January of 2002 ... Horton also had a great game against Baylor, scoring a team-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field ... The Tigers are 2-2 on the season when appearing on ESPN+ and are 6-13 in night games (7-0 in day games) so far this season.

About the Buffaloes

Colorado enters Tuesday's contest with a 13-11 mark overall and a 4-8 record in the Big 12 Conference. After winning four of six games between Jan. 22 and Feb. 8, CU has dropped two of its last three including its latest contest, a 92-77 setback at the hands of Texas A&M last Saturday.

Three Buffaloes are averaging in double figures in scoring including freshman Richard Roby, who leads the squad with a 16.0 points per game average. Roby has knocked down a team-best 49 threes on the season and is second on the squad in rebounding with 107 boards.

The Buffs interior defense is the strength of the team, as they lead the Big 12 with a remarkable 140 blocks including a team-leading 35 blocks by Chris Copeland. Six CU players have recorded 12 or more blocks on the season and five average better than four rebounds per contest.

Ricardo Patton is in his 10th season as Head Coach at CU and is 156-125 during that time.

Series - MU leads, 89-50- Last Meeting: CU, 64-63 in Boulder, CO on Jan. 26.

A Look Back ... Mizzou at Nebraska

The Tigers shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half and held the Huskers to just 37.9 percent from the field in the half to come from behind and defeat the Huskers, 56-53. Sophomore Linas Kleiza led Mizzou in scoring for the 14th time this season. Below are a couple other notes of note from the Tigers' first road win of the season ...

Missouri Team Notes after the Nebraska Game

- The Tigers improve to 13-13 overall and 5-7 in the Big 12.

- Mizzou is now 12-4 at home, 1-6 on the road and 0-3 in neutral court games.

- The win over the Huskers marked their first their first win away from Mizzou Arena this season.

- The Tigers have now won three straight contests. The last time they accomplished that feat was when they defeated No. 12 Gonzaga, American and Iowa State between Dec. 30 and Jan. 8.

- Mizzou has now swept the season series from the Huskers in three of the last four seasons.

- Missouri Head Coach Quin Snyder improves to 113-76 overall and 34-23 against teams from the Big 12 North.

- Coach Snyder improves to 11-3 against Nebraska during his six years at the helm.

- After shooting 41 percent in the first half, the Tigers knocked down 54.2 percent (13-of-24) of their shots in the second half and outscored the Huskers 35-26 in the second stanza. Even more impressive was the fact that they knocked down 9-of-15 (60.0 percent) shots inside the three-point arc while knocking down 4-of-9 threes.

- The Tigers dominated the paint scoring 26 of their 56 points from the lane. During the Tigers' three-game winning streak, they have scored 104 of their 184 points (56.5 percent) in the paint.

Missouri Player Notes after the Nebraska Game

- Sophomore Linas Kleiza continued his great play against Nebraska. He scored a game-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting while pulling down seven boards.

- For his career, Kleiza is averaging 18.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game against the Huskers.

- Sophomore Thomas Gardner also turned in his second solid outing of the season against the Huskers scoring 10 points while handing out a team-best four assists on the night.

- Tiger freshmen Jason Horton and Marshall Brown combined to score 14 points (12 of which came in the second half). Brown knocked down two huge threes in a 1:30 span that brought the Tigers back from being down five to gain their first lead since they led 14-12 with 8:55 left in the first half.

- Horton hit a runner with 1:15 left in the second half to extend the Tiger lead to three which would ultimately be the final margin of victory for Mizzou.

- Over the course of the last three games, junior Kevin Young has knocked down 11-of-16 shots (68.8 percent) and has averaged 5.7 rebounds per contest.

A Look at the Last Three

The Tigers have managed to put together a three game winning streak including two wins at home and their first road win of the season at Nebraska. The three-game run equals the Tigers' longest winning streak of the season and is their longest such streak since last February. While Mizzou hasn't exactly exploded offensively during the streak (61.3 ppg.), it has used solid defense, inspired second-half play and has attacked the rim and the paint to kick start this late-season run. Below are a couple other notes of interest during the mini-streak.

- Five Tigers have averaged better than 8.3 points per game.

* Linas Kleiza leads with 14.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

- Mizzou has shot 46.8 percent (72-154) from the field compared to just 41.1 percent for the season. * They have shot 54.9 percent (56-102) inside the three-point arc.

- The Tigers have held their opponents to just 57.0 points per game and 42.8 percent shooting from the field.

- Mizzou has outrebounded its opponents by an average of 4.7 boards per contest (34.0-29.3).

* Kleiza leads the way with a 7.7 boards per game average, but is trailed closely by senior Jason Conley, who has pulled down 7.0 rebounds per game during the streak.

Horton Has the Hot Hand

The development of freshman point guard Jason Horton has certainly been an encouraging sign for the Tigers during the course of the 2004-05 season. Horton hit a huge running jump shot with just 1:15 left in the game to give Mizzou a three point lead in its win over Nebraska on Saturday.

Horton just missed a career high on against Baylor when he scored a team-best 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. It marked the second time in the last four games that he has led the Tigers in scoring this season. In those two contests (the other being the Texas A&M game where he scored 17 points), the talented freshman was 10-of-13 from the field (76.9 percent) including 7-of-9 from three-point land (77.8 percent).

Horton also sandwiched in a 10-assist, three-turnover game against No. 16 Oklahoma as he led the Tigers to the exciting overtime victory in Columbia. On the season, Horton has handed out 93 assists in 26 games played, just four shy of eclipsing the Tigers' assists leader from last season (Jimmy McKinney - 97 assists in 30 games).

The Young and the Restless

Kevin Young has played three of the best games of his career over the course of the last three games. The hard working big man from Kingston, Jamaica, scored a career-high 11 points and pulled down nine boards (seven of which were offensive) against Baylor, just missing his first career double-double.

He has averaged 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game over the last three contests and continues to play solid post defense for the Tigers. He has knocked down 11-of-16 shots (68.8 percent) over the course of the Tigers current three-game winning streak He has also been using his pump fakes effectively as he has scored three `basket and 1' plays during this three-game sample.

Over the Table and Dreaming

The University of Missouri marketing staff, headed up by marketing guru Frank Cuervo, is kicking around the idea of a new promotion for Tiger men's basketball games. Besides the `Nothing-but-Noodles Kiss Cam' and the Chevy's Fresh Mex `Tiger Trivia' promotion which are both wildly popular, there has been some thought to a promotion that the winner gets to have Tiger senior guard Jason Conley land in their lap after one of his patented leaps over Tiger Row.

Conley ended up amongst the people twice during the Oklahoma contest, running headlong over the table while attempting to create another Sooner turnover. The Tiger faithful were very appreciative of the effort put forth by Conley as he earned a standing ovation both times he sacrificed life and limb.

So keep your eye out for `Crashing into Coop' brought to you by the Missouri Basketball Team.

A Tale of Two Halves - the Bizzarro Edition

Mizzou continued its up and down play from half to half against Nebraska. After shooting just 41 percent in the first half, the Tigers trailed at halftime, 27-21. However, Mizzou was able to turn the switch on once again, shooting 54.2 percent in the second half as they outscored the Huskers 35-26 in the second stanza to grab its first road win of the season.

The Tigers reversed a trend and then reversed their fortunes against Oklahoma. After leading each of their previous three games and then dropping all three, Mizzou trailed by 11 points at half time before mounting an amazing second half comeback to take down the Sooners. After trailing by as many as 15 points, Mizzou used excellent second half defense, holding OU to just 36.8 percent shooting (7-of-19) from the floor while out-rebounding Oklahoma by 13 boards. The Tiger's used staunch interior defense in the second stanza, holding OU's Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout to just eight points and three rebounds between the two of them in the second half and overtime periods.

Mizzou had gotten off to great starts in their previous three games, grabbing leads after the first 20 minutes in all three contests. They outscored Kansas, Texas A&M and UNLV by a combined total of 107-93 and have shot 48.2 percent (41-of-85) in the opening stanzas.

However, Mizzou struggled mightily in the second half of each contest and has been outscored by a combined total of 144-87 while allowing the Jayhawks, Aggies and Rebels to shoot a combined 59.0 percent from the field (49-of-83).

Tigers Set School Record for Team GPA in Fall Semester

The University of Missouri men's basketball team continues to achieve both on and off the court this season

With final grades et for the 2004 fall semester at Mizzou, the reports show that the men's basketball team has established a record for its team grade point average. Bryan Maggard, MU's Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services, says that the Tiger men's team came in with a cumulative team GPA of 2.91 this past fall - which was the highest single semester mark in recorded history for an MU men's basketball squad.

According to Maggard, four Tiger cagers had GPAs of over 3.0 on the standard 4.0 scale, and two will earn a place on the coveted Dean's List.

The achievement comes on the heels of the 2004 NCAA Graduation Report, which shows that the Missouri men's basketball team led the Big 12 Conference in graduation rates, at 67%. The next-best rate in the league belonged to Colorado (40%), followed by Texas Tech and Kansas (33%) and Nebraska (20%). The rates represent students who enrolled in 1997-98 and graduated within six years.

Shouldering the Load

Linas Kleiza has recovered fully from a shoulder separation he experienced half way through last season and he has shouldered a major part of the Tiger offense this season. The All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention recipient has been amazing offensively so far this season and continues to improve on defense.

The native of Kaunas, Lithuania continued to have his way with Nebraska, scoring a game-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Kleiza also had a huge day against No. 16 Oklahoma, tying Thomas Gardner for team-high honors with 18 points while also pulling down 13 boards in the win.

He returned to the Tiger starting lineup after a three-game hiatus against UNLV. He scored a game-high 24 points and also pulled down eight rebounds against the Rebels and knocked down 9-of-17 shots.

He registered his fifth double-double of the season against Kansas State in Columbia, scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds on the night .

Kleiza put together an amazing effort against Nebraska in Columbia, scoring a career-best 31 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. He also knocked down 15-of-17 free throws against the Huskers on his way to his fourth double-double of the season.

Despite four turnovers against Texas Tech, Kleiza was able to record his third double-double of the season against the Red Raiders, scoring 10 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

After struggling to just four points in the first half against Kansas State, Kleiza scored 10 of his team-high 14 points while also pulling down eight rebounds against KSU. The offensive juggernaut reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this season against Oklahoma State when he dumped in 24 points while going a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. Kleiza scored 25 (of Mizzou's 64) points, pulled down seven rebounds and handed out three assists against Illinois.

After scoring just three points in the opening half against Indiana, Kleiza poured in 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half including 12 free throws in the win.

He had one the best offensive game of his career against Montana, scoring a then career-best 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. He broke out of mini-scoring funk with 13 points, nine boards and nine assists against Oakland while turning the ball over just one time, something he has been focusing on improving all season. He is definitely Mizzou's most versatile player as he leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg.), rebounds (7.2 rpg.) and is fourth on the squad in assists (44).

The Youth of the Tiger Nation

The freshmen on the Tiger roster have started to really assert themselves on the court for Mizzou. Over the course of the last 19 games, Marshall Brown, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Glen Dandridge have combined to score 26.7 percent of the Tigers points (356-of-1335) and all four of them have set or equaled career highs in points during that stretch.

Horton and Brown combined to score 12 of their 14 points against Nebraska in the second half. Horton was clutch in the Tigers' contest against Baylor as he poured in 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Grimes registered six points in 11 minutes in the Mizzou win. Horton had the best floor game of his career against No. 16 Oklahoma, handing out 10 assists while committing only three turnovers in 42 minutes of playing time. He was also amazing at Texas A&M, knocking down 5-of-6 three point shots on his way to 17 points against the Aggies.

Brown and Dandridge both started their second straight games at Kansas and combined to score 12 points on the night. Dandridge made his first career start in the Tigers' home contest against Kansas State. He knocked down a three and equaled a career best by playing 16 minutes in the contest. He has now hit a three in three straight contests for Mizzou and has nine threes on the season.

Brown was outstanding against Colorado, knocking down 3-of-3 three point attempts and pulling down eight rebounds against the Buffs. He scored a career-best 12 points in the Tigers loss to Texas Tech. He knocked down two threes and was also 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Horton equaled a then career high with 12 points for the second straight game against Iowa State. He and Brown had great outings against American. Horton scored a career-best 12 points while Brown chipped in with nine as the Tigers took out the Eagles. The foursome was great against Gonzaga, combining for 16 points and 10 rebounds. Horton scored six points and handed out three assists and recorded no turnovers in 37 minutes while running the Tiger offense. Dandridge and Grimes also had solid nights. Dandridge scored five points on 2-of-3 shooting while also recording a steal, a block and an assist in seven minutes of playing time while Grimes set a career-best with six rebounds.

A Peek at the Mizzou Arena

On September 21, 2002, a new and exciting phase for Missouri Basketball began with the groundbreaking for a brand new, $75 million state-of-the-art facility. The new arena is an imposing place to play for opposing teams and provides unbelievable options for the Tigers when it comes to player development. In addition to more seating, with a capacity of 15,061, there are a host of other exciting additions:

Ø 26 Luxury Suites

Ø State-of-the art training room

Ø Expanded locker room facilities complete with film room and player lounge

Ø Practice gym

Ø Basketball office complex

Ø Box office and team store

Ø Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame

Mizzou Arena houses all the up-to-date technologies desired in a modern sports facility. Both men's and women's basketball programs have video game film viewing theaters; all coaches offices and meeting rooms have cable TV hook-ups and both private (suites, clubs) and public (concession stands, retail store) areas throughout the arena have direct-game and cable televisions in place. Adjacent to the west side truck dock are dedicated and secured television production and satellite truck parking areas with permanent patch-in panels. The audio-video room within the arena is also linked to Missouri's two major sports venues - the Hearnes Center and Memorial Football Stadium. The arena contains a center-hung scoreboard-video board as well as 30" high video ribbon board located above the luxury suites where the lower and upper seating bowl transition occurs.

New Editions

No, I am not going to break into a rendition of "Cool it Now" or "Candy Girl" (as much as you all would enjoy that) but Mizzou has two members of its staff that are beginning new editions of their careers. And like the group "New Edition," you might say that the newest members of the Tiger coaching family are old school.

Associate Head Coach Melvin Watkins joined the Tigers in July after six years as head coach at Texas A&M and a two year stint as head coach at UNC-Charlotte. Watkins has brought a wealth of experience and energy to the Tiger bench. The other new face on the Tiger bench is assistant coach Jeff Meyer, who most recently was an assistant at Butler University for three years. Meyer brings 25 years of coaching experience to Mizzou including 16 years as a head coach at Liberty University. He also joined the Tiger bench in July.

Coach Quin Snyder

6th Year at MU

113-76

In his sixth year at the helm of the Mizzou basketball program is Quin Snyder. Missouri's 15th head coach, Snyder has built a program that has joined the upper echelon of college basketball. With a focus on developing players academically, physically, skillfully and socially, Snyder's squads have enjoyed trips to the post season in each of the last five seasons including four trips to the NCAA Tournament. Mizzou has averaged exactly 20.0 wins per contest during Snyder's five-year tenure at Mizzou. The intense competitor the Tiger players call "Coach Q" won his 100th career game last season when Mizzou defeated Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament. He became the fourth coach in Mizzou school history to reach the 100-win plateau and Snyder will have a great opportunity to add to that total with a contract that will keep him as a fixture on the Tiger bench through 2007-08.

In 2004-05, Mizzou returns several of its top players including senior Jason Conley, junior Jimmy McKinney and sophomores Thomas Gardner and Linas Kleiza. Snyder and his staff also gathered a sixth straight Top 25 recruiting class to augment the already talented roster. Mizzou has moved to a new state-of-the-art home this season, the Mizzou Arena, which holds around 15,000 rowdy Missouri fans and gives the Tigers an unbelievable opportunity to build on the foundation of success that has been established.

Given the success and excitement Snyder's squads have generated in his five years at the helm, it is not surprising that Tiger fans are looking for big things from Mizzou in 2004-05. In 2003-04, Snyder led the Tigers to wins over Top 20 teams such as Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. He also saw his second recruiting class of Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding, Travon Bryant and Josh Kroenke complete outstanding careers at Mizzou. Johnson and Paulding both jumped into the Top 10 on the Tiger scoring charts and Johnson finished his career as the Tigers' all-time leader in blocked shots and rebounds. That outstanding class also finished their career having played in the most NCAA Tournament contests of any class in school history with eight.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Snyder, 37, attended Mercer Island High School in the state of Washington. A two-time state player of the year, Snyder led the team to the 1985 state championship. During this time, Mercer Island achieved a No. 1 ranking in USA Today's high school polls. Snyder was named a McDonald's All-America player, being the first ever chosen from the state of Washington.

Snyder and his wife, the former Helen Redwine, a native of Charlotte, N.C, have one son, Owen Redwine Snyder, born on December 25, 2002.