mutigers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/020708aaa.htmlTiger Men Welcome Another Top-25 Foe Saturday
Texas A&M provides opposition for Feb. 7, 2008
Missouri Tigers (13-10, 3-5 Big 12) vs. Texas A&M Aggies (19-4, 5-3 Big 12)
Regular Season Game 24 - February 9, 2008 - Columbia, Mo.FOR OPENERSFor the fourth time in five Big 12 Conference home games, Missouri will be playing a ranked team inside Mizzou Arena ... The Tigers are 2-1 vs. ranked opponents on Norm Stewart Court this season, including last Saturday's 77-74 win over No. 22 Kansas State ... The Tigers also defeated No. 12 Texas on Jan. 12 and look for their third win over a ranked foe within the last month.
Missouri is actually 3-3 vs. teams currently in the Top 25 this year, as the Tiger's Dec. 8 victim, Purdue, has moved into the rankings with their 9-1 start to Big Ten play.
Missouri has played seven games vs. teams currently in the RPI Top 50 (3-4), and their three wins vs. that group of teams ranks No. 16 nationally ... Only Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12 have more wins vs. the RPI Top 50 than the Tigers ... A win vs. A&M would tie Mizzou for the Big 12 lead in that category.
A big reason for Mizzou's high number of RPI Top 50 games thus far is due to its difficult early-season Big 12 schedule ... Including Saturday's game vs. A&M, the Tigers will have played five games vs. the top five teams in the Big 12 standings, including two games vs. Big 12 leading Kansas.
Including Saturday's game vs. the Aggies, Missouri has played eight games vs. teams that have been in, or are currently in, the Top 25, including road games at Arkansas and Mississippi State (No. 25 in last week's Top 25) as well as a win over Big Ten leader, Purdue ... The Tigers also had two contests vs. Kansas, as well as Kansas State, Texas and Michigan State.
Missouri has used the sophomore combination of J.T. Tiller and Keon Lawrence to pick up for the loss of Stefhon Hannah's 14.7 points per game scoring average ... Tiller has seen his scoring average increase from 5.6 points over the first 20 games to 15.7 points over the last three without Hannah ... Lawrence's scoring average has grown from 10.0 points over the first 20 to 14.0 over the last three games, marking a net increase of 14.1 points between the two sophomore guards alone, nearly equaling Hannah's 14.7 ppg. output.
Lawrence is coming off a career high 25-point night at Kansas on Monday and will be looking for his third consecutive game in double figures ... In Mizzou's six games vs. teams currently in the Top 25, Lawrence has seen his scoring average increase to 13.5 points per game and his shooting percentage jump to a team-leading 57.7 percent.
MIZZOU QUICK-HITTERSNo. 18 Texas A&M comes to Mizzou Arena this Saturday as the Tigers go searching for their third win over a nationally-ranked team this season ... The Tigers actually have wins over three programs currently in the Top 25, Texas, Kansas State and Purdue.
This 2007-08 Tiger squad must be a group of "early risers", as they are currently 2-0 in Big 12 play during the 12:30 p.m. time slot on ESPN Plus ... The Tigers defeated No. 12 Texas and No. 22 Kansas State in each of those games.
Missouri is looking for back-to-back home wins over ranked teams for the first time since Jan. 19 and Jan. 24, 1998 ... The Tigers earned back-to-back wins at Hearnes over No. 3 Kansas (74-73) and No. 10 Iowa (80-79).
Prior to Saturday's game, the Tigers are coming off a 77-74 upset win vs. No. 22 Kansas State in their most recent home contest.
The Tigers have been close in nearly every game this season and have dropped seven games by eight points or less, including three games to opponents currently ranked in the Top 10, No. 4 Kansas and No. 10 Michigan State.
As is the case with many teams across the country, Mizzou has been a buzz saw at home this year ... In running their mark to 11-2 at Mizzou Arena, the Tigers have averaged a 19.5 ppg. margin of victory on Norm Stewart Court.
In fact, Mizzou has enjoyed double-figure margins of victory in 10 of its 11 home wins this year, with six coming by 30+ points ... Included in that impressive run is a 97-84 win over then-No. 12 Texas.
Missouri has been a much-improved team taking care of the ball over the last three games, averaging just 11.0 turnovers per contest vs. Nebraska, No. 22 Kansas State and No. 4 Kansas ... In the previous 20 games Mizzou averaged 13.8 miscues per night ... The Tigers turned it over just eight times on Monday in Lawrence, which was the fewest number of turnovers forced by KU all season.
Although Mizzou is doing a much better job protecting the ball, Missouri continues to force turnovers at a high rate ... The Tigers have forced 416 turnovers (204 steals) in 23 games this season ... Last year, Mizzou led the Big 12 with 10.1 steals and 18.9 turnovers per game and are averaging 8.9 steals and 18.1 turnovers forced per game this year, including the 23 turnovers forced vs. 2007 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Maryland and Arkansas.
Conversely, the Tigers are turning the ball over just 13.4 times per game, which ranks among the nation's leaders.
Mizzou has done an excellent job converting off those miscues and are averaging 21.1 points per game off turnovers ... When you break down the numbers, Missouri is scoring nearly 30 percent of its points off of turnovers (21.1-of-79.3 ppg).
Overall, the Tigers are forcing a turnover once every six possessions, which allows them to average 7.3 more shots per game than their opponents.
In addition to steals, a trademark of Mike Anderson-coached teams has been assist totals and the Tigers are recording assists on 60.0 percent of their buckets this season (405 assists on 675 FG's).
When you take Missouri's 65 "put-back" buckets out of the equation, the Tigers are averaging assists on 67.4 percent of their field goals.
Overall, Missouri's 17.6 assists per game rank No. 15 nationally and has the club on pace to finish third all-time with 563 assists.
Missouri has flashed a balanced playing rotation, as nine Tigers (eight active) are averaging at least 12.7 minutes per game and no active player is averaging more than 28.1 minutes.
Missouri has topped double figures in three-point makes four times this year, including a season high 12 vs. Texas ... The Tigers also hit 11 three-pointer vs. McNeese State and 10 three-pointer vs. Michigan State and Southern.
ESPN's Pat Forde named Mizzou Arena the No. 1 "New School" college basketball arena in America ... Who can argue?, the place is loaded!
TIGER TIDBITS (Individual Notes)The Junk Yard Dog has had a major impact in just his first season ... DeMarre Carroll, also known as J.Y.De, has reached double figures in 18-of-23 games this season to rank first on the team in double-figure scoring contests this year.
Carroll has also been the team's most consistent rebounder, and is averaging 8.6 rebounds per game in Big 12 play, including 13 boards at Iowa State and 12 vs. Kansas and Nebraska.
Carroll has actually been close to producing double-double efforts in 14 games this year and is averaging 13.7 points and 7.4 boards to rank among team leaders in both categories.
Carroll has been at his best at home, where he is averaging 14.8 points and 8.2 boards and 2.0 steals on 59.2 percent shooting from the floor.
The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year front-runner also ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference in field goal percentage (.547), while ranking among the Top 12 in scoring (13th) and rebounding (6th).
Even more incredible is that he is producing those numbers in just 25.6 minutes per game.
Despite his size and position, Carroll ranks among the Big 12's leaders with 1.3 steals per game.
Carroll always seems to find a way to impact the game for Missouri and while he was saddled with foul trouble vs. Purdue, the junior forward blocked a career high three shots in the final 4:11 to help lead Missouri to the come-from-behind win ... Carroll actually scored three points, had three blocks, two assists and a steal in the final 7:35 of the MU win vs. Purdue ... The Birmingham native also added a career-high tying four steals vs. McNeese State and UMKC, showing another way he has impacted a Tiger win.
Carroll was recently named one of Seth Davis' (Sports Illustrated) Key Faces in New Places for 2007-08.
ESPN's Andy Katz also said "there may not be a harder working interior player -- outside of Tyler Hansbrough -- than DeMarre Carroll."
In case you were wondering, Carroll dominates the classroom too and needs seven hours in the spring semester to finish his degree and begin his Masters work in Administration.
Stefhon Hannah will miss the next 3-5 weeks with a fractured jaw that was suffered on Jan. 27 ... Prior to the injury Hannah had reached double figures in 24 of his last 27 games, including a four 20-point efforts this season.
Hannah seemed to step up his game in Big 12 play and has reached double figures in 19-of-22 career league games, including a run of 10 consecutive Big 12 contests dating back to last season.
Prior to the injury, Hannah's scoring numbers were up dramatically in Big 12 action and the senior led the team with 16.8 points per outing ... In non-conference play Hannah averaged 13.9 points per game, marking a 2.9 ppg. improvement.
Hannah has also improved his assist numbers this year and ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 with 5.3 dimes per game.
Included in that improved assist average was a season high 11 dimes vs. UMKC, helping the senior record his second career point-assist double-double.
Hannah flashed his toughness vs. Maryland on Nov. 20 when he played with the flu and still managed 14 points and five dimes ... The Chicago native wasn't able to eat all day and spent the early portion of the second half in the locker room, but returned to score eight second-half points, leading MU to the win.
Hannah broke out of an early offensive slump with 20 points vs. No. 11 Michigan State on Nov. 20 ... The consistent lead guard has reached double figures in 36-of-43 career games for MU.
For his efforts, Hannah was named to the CBE Classic All-Tournament Team in Kansas City.
Hannah scored a career high 28 points at Arkansas, marking the 10th 20-point effort of his career.
In addition to his scoring numbers, Hannah's assist totals were on the rise ... When you factor in his 5.3 assists per game this year, the senior guard is actually accounting for 26.9 of Mizzou's 80.8 points per game (including assists on three-point field goals).
Hannah's 5.3 assists are the second most in school history, behind the 5.8 dimes per game dished out by Anthony Peeler (1989-90).
Hannah also has 105 assists and 38 steals on the year ... For his short career, Hannah has had five or more dimes 28 times (including 14-of-20 games this year) and multiple steals 30 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 21 of his last 30 games, including a career high 25 points at Kansas on ESPN Big Monday.
Lawrence now has multiple 20-point games this season, both of which came on the road , including a 24-point effort at Texas Tech.
Because of those efforts, it's not surprising that Lawrence is averaging an improved 12.0 points per game on the road this year.
Lawrence has enjoyed some strong play vs. the Big 12 South ... In nine career games vs. "The South", Lawrence has reached double figures six times, including 24 points vs. Baylor, 18 points at Oklahoma State and the game-winning jumper vs. Oklahoma last season.
Lawrence also dumped in 18 points in the win over No. 12/13 Texas ... At one point, Lawrence scored 10 consecutive points in the first half for the Tigers setting the stage for the upset win.
The dynamic guard is also second on the team with 14 blocks.
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.
Fellow sophomore J.T. Tiller has added a consistent offensive punch over the last three-games in addition to being the team's top perimeter defender ... Tiller is averaging 15.7 points during the three-game surge.
Tiller scored a career high 20 points vs. No. 22 Kansas State to lead the Tigers to the upset win, following a then-career high 14 points vs. Nebraska.
For his efforts, the Marietta, Ga., native was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Feb. 4.
Although scoring production gets more publicity, Tiller is one of the Big 12's top defenders and leads Mizzou with 82 deflections.
The Georgia native earned his first career start vs. Coppin State and responded with 10 points, three assists and two steals in 25 minutes.
Tiller also reached double-figures vs. Illinois on Dec. 22, scoring 10 points in a career high 28 minutes.
While his scoring totals are up, Tiller played some key defensive minutes late vs. Purdue, helping to hold the Boilermakers to just one field goal in the final 7:47 of the game en route to Mizzou's game-winning 24-4 run.
Forming Mizzou's kamikaze line along with Tiller is senior forward Darryl Butterfield ... Butterfield leads the team with 15 charges drawn this year, while adding 16 steals in just 15.6 minutes per game.
The Miami native has drawn multiple charges four times this season, including four vs. Maryland.
Matt Lawrence poured in a career high 28 points on Dec. 30 at Mississippi State ... The 6-foot-7 guard hit 6-of-11 treys and tied a season high with six rebounds.
Over his last 18 games, Lawrence has hit multiple treys in 13 of those contests.
A vocal leader for the Tigers, Lawrence tied up Kansas State's Bill Walker under the Wildcat basket in the final seconds to help lift Mizzou to the win, a Walker put-back would have put K-State in front with just seconds remaining.
In fact, the St. Louis native has been at his best on the road throughout his career and his shooting 42.1 percent from beyond the arc (48-of-114) from three-point range away from Mizzou Arena.
Leo Lyons has played much-improved basketball this season and has reached double-figures in 12 of his last 15 contests.
Lyons' has already reached double figures 14 times this season, surpassing the nine double figure games he enjoyed his first-two seasons combined.
Lyons led Mizzou to its 66-62 win at Colorado on Jan. 26, scoring 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting ... Lyons scored 16 of his points and dished all-three of his assists in the second half.
He then returned from a one-game suspension to score 13 points and dish a game-high five assists in a head-to-head match-up with Kansas State and Michael Beasley.
Lyons recorded his first of three 20-point games in his hometown return to Kansas City and scored a career high 23 points and grabbed 11 boards vs. Maryland.
Lyons earned Player of the Game honors from thingy Vitale and Co. as he hit 8-of-11 shots and 7-of-11 free throws en route to his first career double-double.
Lyons also torched UMKC for 22 points on a career-best 10-of-12 shooing from the floor.
Lyons recorded his second double-double of the year in the win over Purdue, chipping in 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Lyons flashed his versatility vs. Western Illinois when the 6-foot-9, 240-pounder dished a career high six assists and recorded two steals ... Lyons has 37 assists, which is tops among Tiger post players.
He just goes about his business quietly, but senior guard Jason Horton has dished out 59 assists compared to just 27 turnovers this season, to rank No. 3 in the Big 12 in assist-turnover ratio at 2.2-to-1.
Horton now has 378 career dimes, which is No. 7 all-time in school history and the Dallas native needs just five more assists to move into the MU career top five.
Horton needs just three more assists to pass Mike Sandbothe (380) for sixth all-time.
Horton is also closing in on the career top 10 in steals and needs nine more thefts to pass Melvin Booker for No. 10 with 147.
Senior forward Marshall Brown is closing in on 1,000 career points ... The Austin, Texas native currently has 840 tallies and needs 160 points to become the 38th member of the Mizzou 1,000-point club.
The selfless senior was named team captain in December by teammates and coaches.
The Texas product then earned his first start of the year vs. Coppin State and later scored a season high 14 points vs. his hometown Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 opener.
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.
The versatile rookie has enjoyed increased playing time over the last three games, including a career effort vs. No. 22 Kansas State, where he scored a career high nine points, dished two assists and blocked two shots in a career high 21 minutes ... The post player also hit a pair of first-half treys to keep Missouri close in the opening period.
Safford enjoyed a great game at Mississippi State on Dec. 30, scoring four points and grabbing four boards in nine second-half minutes vs. the Bulldogs.
The Bloomington, Ill., native played a career-long 18 minutes vs. Nebraska on Wednesday and grabbed four rebounds.
Senior forward Vaidotas Volkus earned his first career start vs. Kansas and recorded then-career highs of eight points and two assists ... Volkus also hit 4-of-5 shots from the floor vs. the Jayhawks.
The Lithuania native returned to the starting rotation vs. Nebraska on Jan. 30 and scored a career high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while grabbing four rebounds in a career-best 26 minutes of action.
ABOUT TEXAS A&M No. 18 Texas A&M (19-4, 5-3 Big 12) enters Saturday's game on a four-game winning streak following a 69-51 win at Iowa State on Tuesday ... The Aggies opened Big 12 play 1-3 with a pair of tough road losses at Texas Tech and Kansas State, before playing in an epic five overtime contest against Baylor in which they fell 116-110 ... Since that game, however, Mark Turgeon's club has won four consecutive, including road wins at Oklahoma State and Iowa State, mixed in with an 80-63 win over Texas and a 60-52 win over Oklahoma ... A&M is led by veterans Josh Carter and Joseph Jones, who average 13.3 and 11.4 points per game respectively ... Carter does a majority of his damage from beyond the three-point arc where he has hit 54 treys this year, while Jones adds 5.3 rebounds ... Talented freshman DeAndre Jordan mans the middle and averages 9.0 points and 6.6 rebounds on 66.4 percent shooting.
THE SERIES WITH THE AGGIES Missouri and Texas A&M will meet for the 17th time in series history with the Tigers holding a 11-5 all-time advantage ... Since the two clubs joined the Big 12 for the 1996-97 season, Missouri leads the series 8-5, however A&M has won three consecutive ... In Columbia Mizzou leads 5-1 with that lone loss coming Feb. 21, 2006, by a 54-51 margin ... Mike Anderson is 0-1 all-time vs. A&M as head coach at Mizzou.
20-SOMETHING: TIGERS HAVE SIX PLAYERS WITH 20-POINT GAMES 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 4-5 and improve to 14-10 on the year.
Missouri would enjoy its third win over a ranked opponent this year ... Mizzou toppled No. 12 Texas on Jan. 12 and No. 22 Kansas State last Saturday.
Head Coach Mike Anderson would improve to 4-7 vs. ranked foes at Mizzou.
The Tigers would have back-to-back home wins over ranked opponents for the first time in the history of Mizzou Arena.
Mizzou would have three wins over ranked foes in the same season for the first time since 2004-05.
The Tigers would halt a three-game losing streak to A&M.
Head Coach Mike Anderson would earn his first win over Texas A&M.
Overall, Anderson would improve to 121-63 in his six seasons as a head coach.
Missouri would earn its 14th win of the year, moving within four victories of last season's 18-win mark.
The Tigers would move to 32-21 all-time under Anderson.
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 J.T. Tiller has become Missouri's go-to man and over the last three games, as the sophomore guard is averaging 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in contests vs. Nebraska, No. 22 Kansas State and No. 4 Kansas.
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 three consecutive games for the first time in his career, 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.
THESE SOPHS AREN'T SOFT J.T. Tiller and Keon Lawrence have filled some major shoes for the Tigers over the past week and lead the club in scoring, assists and shooting percentage during that three-game stretch.