Nov. 15, 2007
Columbia, Mo. -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
University of Missouri Tigers (2-0)
Southern University Jaguars (1-1)
Regular Season Game 3 - November 16, 2007 - Columbia, Mo.
Tip-off: 7:06 p.m. CST
Arena: Mizzou Arena - Columbia, Mo. (15,061)
TV: None
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Tom Ackerman play-by-play; Gary Link analyst)
Rankings: RV - Associated Press / NR in ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
Series: First Meeting
Coaches:
Missouri: Mike Anderson (Tulsa '82); 109-53 overall (6th season); 19-12 at Mizzou (2nd)
Southern: Rob Spivery (Ashland '72) 30-34 at Southern (3rd)
For Openers
> Mizzou plays a "sandwich game" in between CBE Classic contests on Friday when it hosts Southern University at Mizzou Arena ... The Tigers opened the year at home in the CBE Classic and won a pair of games against Central Michigan and Fordham to advance to the championship rounds of the CBE held Nov. 19-20 in Kansas City.
> Missouri will look to run its November record to 11-0 under Mike Anderson ... The Tigers were a perfect 8-0 in the season's first month last year and are already off to a 2-0 start in 2007-08.
> Southern Head Coach Rob Spivery actually coached Mike Anderson during Anderson's playing days at Tulsa ... Spivery was on Nolan Richardson's first staff at TU and the Golden Hurricane won the NIT crown their first year and advanced to NCAA Tourney play in the second ... Anderson later became a volunteer assistant at TU following his playing career.
> Tonight's game starts a stretch of three games in four days for the Tigers ... Missouri will play back-to-back games on Nov. 19-20 at the new Sprint Center in Kansas City, initially against No. 12 Michigan State at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU ... The Tigers will play either Maryland or UCLA on Nov. 20.
> Tonight's game is the lone non-televised Tiger contest of the year ... Counting the two exhibition contests, Missouri will be televised in 32-of-33 games this year a number that will increase with play in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
> Following tonight's game, the Tigers will spend much more time away from home ... After the Southern contest, Mizzou will have 12 games until the start of Big 12 Conference play and six of those 12 games will be away from Mizzou Arena, including four of their next five contests ... In fact, Mizzou has just one home game, Nov. 25 vs. Western Illinois, over the next 22 days before a Dec. 8 contest with Purdue.
> Junior sensation DeMarre Carroll was named the MVP in the Columbia Regional of the CBE Classic ... Carroll averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in the two Tiger wins to help MU advance to Kansas City.
> In fact, both Tiger forwards, Carroll and fellow junior Leo Lyons, are in a race to earn "Most Efficient" honors ... The duo is a combined 30-of-41 from the floor (.731) and are averaging a combined 32.5 points and 12.5 boards per game despite playing 23 and 22 minutes per game respectively.
Mizzou Quick-Hitters
> Mizzou continues its 102nd season of college basketball on Friday when it hosts Southern University at Mizzou Arena.
> The Tigers and Jaguars will meet for the fifth time in school history.
> The Tigers will look to improve upon their 20-game homecourt winning streak vs. non-conference foes, which dates back to the 2005-06 season opener ... In fact, Head Coach Mike Anderson has yet to lose a non-conference game at Mizzou Arena since his hiring in 2006 ... The Tigers are a perfect 13-0 under Anderson on the friendly confines of Norm Stewart Court.
> Speaking of Mizzou Arena, ESPN's Pat Forde named Mizzou Arena the No. 1 "New School" college basketball arena in America ... Who can argue?, this place is loaded!
> Mizzou's defensive pressure may be picking up following last season's school record 302 steals ... The Tigers forced 69 turnovers in exhibition play and have added 39 more (20 steals) in two games this season ... Last year, Mizzou led the Big 12 with 10.1 steals and 18.9 turnovers per game.
> The Tigers have done an excellent job converting off those miscues and are averaging 25.0 points per game off turnovers.
> In addition to steals, a trademark of Mike Anderson-coached teams has been assist totals and the Tigers are averaging an assist on 61 percent of their buckets this season (39 assists on 64 FG's).
> Missouri has flashed a balanced playing rotation, as nine Tigers are averaging at least 11 minutes per game and only one player, Keon Lawrence, (31.0 mpg) is averaging more than 30 minutes.
> Mizzou received eight votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week ... The Tigers are ranked No. 42 nationally fueled by the return of four starters and 11 letter winners ... Overall, Missouri enjoys the return of 87.6 percent of its scoring, 80.4 percent of its rebounds, 96.1 percent of its assists and 94.3 percent of its steals from last year's 18-12 club.
> Missouri has been an efficient club shooting the ball inside the three-point line this season ... The Tigers are hitting 58 percent (54-of-93) of their field goals inside the arc.
Tiger Tidbits (Individual Notes)
> The Junk Yard Dog has arrived ... DeMarre Carroll dominated the Columbia Regional of the CBE Classic, as he averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds on 18-of-25 shooting (.720) to earn MVP honors.
> In his first game in over a year, Carroll dropped in a career high 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists in just 21 minutes of action.
> Carroll nearly recorded double-doubles in each of the first two games, ripping down eight boards in each contest.
> Carroll was recently named one of Seth Davis' (Sports Illustrated) Key Faces in New Places for 2007-08.
> Stefhon Hannah continues to be one of the nation's most dynamic point guards and reached double figures for the 10th time in 11 games in the Columbia Regional of the CBE Classic ... The consistent lead guard has reached double figures in 28-of-32 career games for MU.
> The Chicago native also had 11 assists and four steals in the two wins ... For his short career, Hannah has had five or more dimes 15 times and multiple steals 18 times, which is no surprise since the 6-foot-1 senior was named the nation's ninth-best perimeter defender by Fran Fraschilla and ESPN.com.
> As you would expect, Hannah is a preseason candidate for the Bob Cousy National Point Guard of the Year Award.
> Not to be outdone, Keon Lawrence has reached double figures in nine of his last 10 games, including a 10-point, six-board and four-assist night vs. Central Michigan.
> Despite being just 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, Lawrence is second on the club at 6.0 rebounds per game.
> As was documented by the Kansas City Star, there are no "off days" for Lawrence, as he makes 1,000 shots each day the team is given off by head coach Mike Anderson.
> Lawrence also played excellent defense on Preseason MAC Player of the Year Giordan Watson, holding him to seven points on just 2-of-6 field goal shooting ... Watson averaged 18.8 points last season, including 22 ppg. over the final six games of 2006-07.
> Coaches often say some of the largest strides for a player are made between his freshman and sophomore seasons and sophomore J.T. Tiller is proving them right ... Tiller has been strong thus far and poured in a career high 13 points in the win over Fordham.
> Leo Lyons tied a career high with 18 points in the opener vs. Central Michigan ... Lyons also dropped in 18 tallies vs. Davidson last season.
> Ironically, Lyons hit 8-of-9 field goals for the second consecutive season-opener ... The Kansas City native hit 8-of-9 shots last season vs. North Carolina A&T en route to 16 points.
> Lyons also tied a career high with three assists in 28 minutes.
> He just goes about his business quietly, but senior guard Jason Horton added six assists without committing a turnover vs. Central Michigan ... Horton now needs just 58 dimes to move into the MU career top five ... Horton has 325 career assists, which is just five behind Clarence Gilbert (1999-2002) and Brian Grawer (1998-2001) for ninth on the Tiger career assist list.
> Horton also added four steals vs. CMU, which was just one off of his career high and the Dallas native now has 119 career thefts.
> Senior forward Marshall Brown is closing in on 1,000 career points ... The Austin, Texas native currently has 743 tallies and needs 257 points to become the 38th member of the Mizzou 1,000-point club.
> Freshman Justin Safford graced ESPN's Top 10 Plays on Nov. 8 with his alley-oop slam vs. Missouri Western ... Safford checked in at No. 6.
> Safford scored his first career points against Fordham on Nov. 13, scoring five points and grabbing five boards in nine minutes.
About Southern
Southern enters tonight's game 1-1 on the year and already sports a quality road win, a 75-61 win at Southern Methodist on Nov. 10 ... The Jaguars trailed by as many as 18 in the second half before outscoring the Mustangs 55-32 over the final 20 minutes to get the win ... Southern is led by junior guard Chris Davis ... The 6-foot-3 shooting guard is tops on the club with 18.0 points and 5.5 assists, while backcourt mate Joe Holliday is second in scoring with 16.5 points and 4.0 rebounds.
The Series With Southern
Mizzou enters its Nov. 16 contest 5-0 all-time vs. the Southern Jaguars following last season's 87-58 win ... The Tigers own a 32.4 ppg. average margin of victory and have topped 100 points in four of five contests ... In fact, the Tigers are averaging 107.0 points per game in the previous five meetings ... Friday's game will mark Missouri's 21st vs. a Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent ... Mizzou is 20-0 all-time vs. the league.
Coaching Connections
Missouri Head Coach Mike Anderson, Director of Basketball Operations, Jeff Daniels, and Southern Head Coach Rob Spivery are very familiar with one another ... Spivery served as a volunteer assistant coach for Nolan Richardson at Tulsa in the early 80s and later became the head coach at Montevallo in 1985-86 ... Spivery then hired Daniels as one of his assistants at Montevallo and Daniels later replaced him as head coach after Spivery left in 1995-96 to become the head coach at his alma mater, Ashland ... Spivery later spent nine seasons at Alabama State as the head coach before taking over at Southern in 2005-06.
With a Tiger Win ...
> Missouri would improve to 3-0 on the young season and improve its non-conference homecourt winning streak to 21 games.
> Missouri would improve to 21-12 all-time under Mike Anderson.
> Mizzou would improve to 18-4 at home under Anderson and 14-0 at home vs. non-conference opposition.
> Missouri would improve to 21-0 all-time vs. members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
> Missouri would head into a showdown with No. 12 Michigan State undefeated.
November Pain
November has been a big month for the Tigers under Mike Anderson, as the program looks to improve to 11-0 in the season's first month under the second year sideline boss.v
> Looking for a 3-0 start to November vs. Southern on Friday, Missouri has made a habit of producing big early-season victories, as seven of their 11 wins have come by 20 or more points.
> The Tigers won six games by 20-plus points in November last year, including an 86-64 win over Arkansas.
> This year, Mizzou is 2-0 in November, including a 79-55 triumph over a Fordham team that went 18-12 last season and returns all-five starters and their top 10 scorers from last year's team.
Charge it!
It's actually better than a steal ... you get the ball, plus you draw a foul and through two games, the Tigers have 11 of them ... Don't know what we're talking about? Charges!
> Missouri drew an incredible six charges in the season-opening win against Central Michigan, before drawing five more against Fordham.
> Matt Lawrence leads the team with three charges drawn, while Darryl Butterfield and J.T. Tiller each have a pair.
Breaking Down The CBE Classic
Following Missouri's wins over Central Michigan (87-76) and Fordham (79-55), the Tigers have advanced to championship-round play at the 2007 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic and will face No. 12 Michigan State at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
> Games in the championship rounds of the CBE Classic will be held in the new Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City.
> In the other half of the bracket, No. 2 UCLA faces Maryland.
> Game times for the consolation and finals on Nov. 20 are set for 6:45 (ESPNU) and 9 p.m (ESPN2).
We're Going To Kansas City ...
Kansas City has been Tigertown USA over the years and Mizzou will be making its first appearance in the City of Fountains since playing in the 2005 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
> Missouri has played 179 games all-time in Kansas City and are 93-86 (.520) in those contests ... While that number is close to .500, the Tigers are actually 53-29 in K.C. since the 1971-72 season, which was the fifth year of Hall of Fame inductee Norm Stewart's tenure at Mizzou.
> The Tigers have also played championship basketball in KC, winning the Big Seven Conference title in 1955, 11 Big Eight titles in 1971-76, 81, 87, 89, 90 and 93 as well as the 2001 Guardian's Classic crown ... KC is Columbia-West.
Stewart Storms The CBB Hall Of Fame
Legendary Mizzou sideline boss Norm Stewart is a Hall of Famer, yet again ... Following 32 historic seasons directing the University of Missouri basketball program to a 634-333 overall mark, Stewart will lead an 11-member class into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 18, 2007 in Kansas City ... Stewart's Hall of Fame induction could coincide with Mizzou games in the semifinals and final of the CBE Classic in Kansas City on Nov. 19-20.
> The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame is located inside the College Basketball Experience, which is adjacent to the newly-constructed Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City.
> Stewart spent 38 seasons overall as a head coach at the collegiate level, including six years at the University of Northern Iowa ... A winner of 731 career games, Stewart ranked No. 7 on college basketball's all-time wins list at the time of his retirement in 1999 and only two coaches had coached in more career games than the 1,106 Stewart directed during his coaching tenure.
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