Jan. 30, 2005

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

Arena: Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)

TV: ESPN (Ron Franklin, play-by-play; Fran Fraschilla, analyst; Stacey Dales-Schuman - sidelines)

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

Rankings: Kansas is No. 6 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Missouri is not ranked in either poll

Series: KU leads 160-91 : Last Meeting: KU, 94-69 in Dallas, TX on Mar.12 at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament.

Coaches:

Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 110-73 at MU and overall (6th season).

KU: Bill Self (Oklahoma State '85) 40-10 at KU (2nd season) and 247-116 overall (12th season)

Mizzou Wraps Up the Month of January with Trip to Kansas

The University of Missouri men's basketball team travels to Lawrence, KS, on Monday night to face No.6/7 Kansas in the latest and greatest edition of the Missouri/Kansas Border Showdown presented by the Midwest Ford Dealers. The Tigers are coming off of their fifth loss in their last six games and have a 10-10 overall mark and a 2-5 mark in the Big 12. The Tigers were off to a good start in their latest contest against Kansas State, opening the game with a 14-2 run and opening the second half with a 14-0 run, but cold shooting from three (5-of-29) sent the Tigers to a 64-53 loss.

In the game against the Wildcats, junior Jimmy McKinney led the way, scoring 14 points including the Tigers' first seven points of the game. He was 6-of-11 from the field and handed out three assists on the night. Sophomore Linas Kleiza also had a solid evening, scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, good for his fifth double-double of the season.

The 252nd meeting of these two storied rivals will be broadcast on the Tiger Radio Network with Mike Kelly and former Tiger great Gary Link on the call. Mizzou will also be making its first appearance on the world wide leader in sports, ESPN. Ron Franklin and Fran Fraschilla will call all of the action while former Oklahoma women's basketball great Stacey Dales-Schuman will be covering the sidelines and Andy Reichwald will be producing. This is the Tigers first and only appearance on the Big Monday broadcast this season and the first one since they faced Kansas in Lawrence last season.

Quick Hits

Mizzou is looking to break a five-game losing streak to Kansas in Lawrence with the last win over KU coming on Jan. 24, 1999, 71-63 ... Mizzou is 10-4 at home, 0-3 in neutral court contests and 0-3 on the road ... Mizzou is 9-0 when leading at halftime and 1-10 when trailing at the break ... The Tigers are 1-2 against teams ranked in the top 25 so far this season ... Mizzou is 3-9 against Kansas under Head Coach Quin Snyder ... Freshman Glen Dandridge made his first career start on Saturday night against Kansas State ... Sophomore Linas Kleiza has connected on 39 of his last 46 free throw attempts (84.8 percent) over the course of the last six games ... His 31-point rampage against Nebraska marked the first time a Tiger player had eclipsed the 30-point mark since Arthur Johnson scored 37 on Mar. 7, 2004 against Kansas on Senior Day in Columbia ... Kleiza has recorded double-doubles in three of the Tigers' last four games and has averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game during that stretch ... After playing 14 of their first 20 games at home, the Tigers will play their next three contests on the road (at Kansas, at Texas A&M and at UNLV) ... The three-game road swing marks the first time a Tiger squad has played three straight true road games since 1996 when Mizzou faced Oklahoma State, Maryland and Kansas on the road over an eight day stretch from Feb. 13-21 ... Head Coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 111 at Mizzou ... Junior Jimmy McKinney has now started 76 straight regular season games for Mizzou, dating back to Dec. 30, 2002 against Valparaiso ... McKinney and fellow junior Kevin Young are the only Tigers to start all 20 games this season ... The Tigers will wrap up the regular season with a return visit from the Jayhawks at Mizzou Arena on Mar. 6.

About the Jayhawks

Kansas enters Monday's Border Showdown as the No. 6 team in the country according to the Associated Press. They are off to a great start at 16-1 and lead the Big 12 with a 6-0 record with their only loss coming on a trip to Villanova on Jan. 22. Seniors Wayne Simien (17.7 ppg. - 2nd in the Big 12, 10.6 rpg. - leads the Big 12), Keith Langford (14.2 ppg., 4.3 rpg.) and Aaron Miles (8.5 ppg., 7.1 apg. - leads Big 12) lead the Jayhawk attack that has won 18 straight contests at home since losing to Richmond, 69-68 on Jan. 22, 2004. That is the sixth-longest active home-court winning streak in the country. The Jayhawks are extremely deep, as 11 players have played in 11 games or more and nine of those folks average better than 10 minutes per contest.

Bill Self is in his second season as head coach at KU and has registered a 40-10 mark so far.

Series - KU leads, 160-91- Last Meeting: KU, 94-69 in Dallas, TX on Mar. 12, 2004 in the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament.

A Look Back ... Mizzou vs. KSU

Mizzou opened the contest with a 14-2 run, but connected on only 5-of-29 three-point attempts, dropping its fifth game in the last six. Below are a couple other notes from the contest ...

Missouri Team Notes after the KSU Game

* Missouri now holds a 112-109 lead in the all-time series, and had won 12 of the last 15 meetings before this loss. Kansas State won the first match up between the two schools this season, a 74-54 decision in Manhattan on January 15.

* The last time Kansas State swept the regular-season series from the Tigers was the 1983-84 season, when the Wildcats took a 67-46 decision in Columbia on February 8, 1984 and won 53-47 in Manhattan on March 3.

* Mizzou won the last meeting between the two schools in Columbia, a 62-53 win last January at the Hearnes Center.

* Mizzou is now 9-3 against the Wildcats in the Quin Snyder era, and suffered their first-ever loss in Columbia under Snyder, falling to 6-1.

* The loss snaps a three-game winning streak the Tigers owned in games played on January 29.

* Missouri fell to 1-10 on the season when trailing at halftime. The Tigers were down 28-26 at the break against Kansas State.

* The loss drops the Tigers to 10-4 at home this season.

* The Tigers opened the game on a 7-0 run, courtesy of junior guard Jimmy McKinney, who hit a three on Mizzou's opening possession and then canned two-point buckets on the next two trips down the floor. The run was pushed to 11-2 on baskets by junior center Kevin Young and freshman guard Glen Dandridge before the first media timeout.

* Mizzou opened the second half on a 14-0 scoring run, including five points from junior guard Jimmy McKinney and four from freshman forward Kalen Grimes.

Missouri Player Notes after the KSU Game

* Freshman forward Glen Dandridge made his first career start for Mizzou, while freshman forward Marshall Brown cracked the starting lineup for the third time in a Tigers uniform.

* Junior guard Jimmy McKinney made his 76th consecutive start for the Tigers against Kansas State. He broke into the starting lineup in the sixth game of the 2002-03 season and has remained there ever since.

* Freshman forward Glen Dandridge's layup early in the first half was his first two-point field goal since the Texas Tech game. He attempted three shots in the Nebraska and Colorado games combined, and connected on two of them.

* Before leaving with an injury midway through the first half, junior guard Jimmy McKinney tallied nine of Mizzou' first 20 points. McKinney would return later in the half.

* Junior guard Jimmy McKinney scored on the Tigers' first possession of both halves, canning a three in the first half and sinking a jump shot from the left elbow in the second.

* Junior guard Jimmy McKinney was averaging 7.0 points per game in Big 12 play entering the game. He finished with a team-high 14 points against Kansas State.

* Sophomore forward Linas Kleiza recorded two blocks versus Kansas State, after not recording any in Mizzou's five previous games.

* Sophomore forward Linas Kleiza tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds, earning him his second double-double in three games. He scored 31 points and pulled down 10 boards in Mizzou's victory over Nebraska.

* Junior guard Jimmy McKinney's 14 points are the most he's had since setting his season high of 16 in the year's second game, against Houston.

The Mac Strikes Back

Junior guard and captain Jimmy McKinney scored the Tigers' first seven points on Saturday night against Kansas State. After not reaching double figures in scoring during a stretch that spanned the Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and K-State game in Manhattan, McKinney has been on a bit of a tear of late, averaging just under 9.6 points per game over the cours of the last three games with a 13-point effort at home against Nebraska and a 14-point effort on Saturday against Kansas State. McKinney has been a fixture in the Tiger line up since coming to Mizzou, as he has made 76 straight appearances in the Tigers' starting five.

What Can Brown Do for You? (The Remix)

I guess we could have gone with `there's a new Marshall in town,' or something Clarence Gilbert-esque like that, but we will stick with what has worked so far in the notes this season. Much like UPS, who uses the slogan of `What can brown do for you?,' freshman Marshall Brown continues to deliver for Mizzou.

Brown was amazing against Colorado, knocking down 3-of-3 shots from the three point line. He also pulled down a career-best eight rebounds in only 16 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble

The super-athletic forward scored a career-best 12 points in 22 minutes of action to lead Mizzou in scoring for the first time in his career against Texas Tech. Brown has scored seven or more points in seven of the Tigers' last 12 games and has connected on a team-best 48.4 percent (15-of-31) three-point attempts on the season.

Bench Marks

The Tigers who have come off of the bench for Mizzou have played a key role this season. When the Tigers' bench has outscored the opponent's bench, they are 8-4. Mizzou's bench has averaged 21.0 points per contest compared its opponent's mark of 16.2 points per game. In the loss to Texas Tech, Mizzou's bench scored 31 of the Tigers' 62 points.

Thomas Gardner has come off of the bench in 15 of the Tigers' games and leads the way averaging 9.6 points per game. TG had one of the best outings of the season against Nebraska when he connected on 6-of-9 attempts from the field on his way to 17 points in the Tigers' win. He broke into double figures for the first time in four games against Texas Tech, scoring 11 points while hitting 7-of-8 free throw attempts.

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 now set 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.

At the Line with Linas

At the risk of totally jinxing the progress the Tigers made from the free throw line of late, we offer this intriguing analysis of the Tigers' free throw shooting, in particular in regard to sophomore Linas Kleiza. The Tigers knocked down a season-high 90.0 percent (18-of-20) from the free throw line against OSU after entering the contest shooting just 64.1 percent on the season.

They were spurred by Kleiza's remarkable 13-for-13 shooting from the stripe, setting a then career best for free throws made in a game. Linas has made a living at the free throw line this season, getting to the charity stripe 132 times already. Kleiza has hit 97 of those attempts, good for 73.5 percent accuracy. He has been particularly impressive the past 11 games, knocking down 71-of-88 attempts (80.6 percent) and has averaged just under nine trips to the line per game during that stretch.

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.

He registered his fifth double-double of the season against Kansas State on Saturday, 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 the best offensive game of his career against Montana, scoring a career-best 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Kleiza recorded the fifth double-double of his career against Arkansas with a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. 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 (16.0 ppg.), rebounds (7.5 rpg.) and is third on the squad in assists (38).

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 13 games, Marshall Brown, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Glen Dandridge have combined to score 27.2 percent of the Tigers points (260-of-956) and all four of them have set or equaled career highs in points during that stretch.

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 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

110-73

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.