Junior Jimmy McKinney

Nov. 26, 2004

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Tip-off: 1:00 p.m.

Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061)

TV: Mizzou Sports Network (Chris Gervino, play-by-play, Norm Stewart, analyst)

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

Rankings: Neither squad was ranked in the AP or ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Poll

Series: MU leads, 2-0 - Last Meeting: Mar. 13, 1996 - MU, 89-85 in opening round of National Invitation Tournament

Coaches:

Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 102-66 at MU and overall (6th season).

Murray State: Mick Cronin (Cincinnati '97) 30-6 at MSU and overall (2nd season)

Tigers Welcome Racers to Columbia on Sunday

The University of Missouri men's basketball squad looks to break a three-game losing streak on Sunday when it welcomes Murray State to Mizzou Arena for a 1 P.M. showdown. The Tigers are looking to even their record at 3-3 as they begin a stretch of five straight home games. In fact, the Tigers have a tremendous opportunity to get on a roll heading into the Holidays as eight of the Tigers' next nine games will be in Columbia at the Mizzou Arena.

After stumbling a bit heading into a Thanksgiving holiday that saw the Tigers serve meals to the less fortunate on Thursday afternoon, Mizzou can take solace in the fact that the it has never lost four straight contests under head coach Quin Snyder. In fact, Mizzou is 4-1 in games following the Thanksgiving holiday in Coach Snyder's tenure at Mizzou.

Sunday's contest will be broadcast on the Tiger Radio Network with the `Voice of the Tigers' Mike Kelly handling the play-by-play duties and former Tiger great Gary Link handling the analyst duties. After a two-game hiatus from the television airwaves, the Tigers will return to the Mizzou Sports Network on Sunday with Chris Gervino and Tiger Coaching legend Norm Stewart with the call. The Tigers are 2-1 this season on MSN and 1-0 when Coach Stewart is in the broadcast chair.

Quick Hits

Head coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 103 at Mizzou ... The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two squads, 2-0 ... The Tigers have never lost four straight games under Coach Snyder ... They have now had four three-game losing streaks during his tenure ... Following the contest on Sunday, Mizzou will have played six contests this season; the Tigers didn't begin their 2003-04 season until Nov. 29, 2003... The Tigers will play eight of their next nine contests at home ... The lone venture from the MSA will be a visit to St. Louis on Dec. 22 for the Busch Braggin' Rights game against Illinois ... Junior Jimmy McKinney has now started 61 straight regular season games for Mizzou, dating back to Dec. 30, 2002 against Valparaiso.

About the Racers

Murray State is off to a 2-0 start to the 2004-05 campaign after picking up wins over SIU Edwardsville (75-67) and Arkansas Tech (81-50). The Racers are led by sophomores Trey Pearson, who is averaging 19.0 points per contest, and Shawn Witherspoon, who is averaging 12.0 ppg. They are two of the four MSU players to average in double figures. Murray State, which is based in Murray, KY, is coached by Mick Cronin who checks in with a 30-6 record as his second season gets underway. He led the Racers to the Ohio Valley Championship last season and to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to Illinois in the opening round, 74-53.

Series - Tigers lead, 2-0 Last Meeting: MU, 89-85 in opening round of National Invitation Tournament

A Look Back ... Mizzou vs. Houston

After trailing by as many as nine in the first half, the Tigers held the Cougars to just two points in the first eight minutes of the second half to pull within one, but could never get past UH, who got 24 huge points from Andre Owens. Following are a couple of notes of note from the contest ...

Missouri Team Notes after the Houston Game

* UH now leads the all-time series between the two schools, 4-3

* The Tigers finished fourth in the 12-team Guardians Classic and now sport a 6-2 mark in the event after two appearances

* Barring a meeting in the post-season, the Tigers split the season series with the Cougars 1-1.

* Tip Time: 5:35 pm - Tip to: Houston

* Head Coach Quin Snyder is 102-66 in his six years at Mizzou.

* MU Starters: Jimmy McKinney, Jason Horton, Thomas Gardner, Linas Kleiza and Kevin Young

* Mizzou is now 20-20 in neutral court contests under head coach Quin Snyder.

* The Tigers have dropped three straight for the first time since Dec. 23-30 of 2003 when they fell to Illinois, Memphis and Belmont.

* The Tigers will return to the Kansas City area one more time this year when they participate in the Big 12 Championships on March 10-13 in Kemper Arena. Get your tickets at www.big12sports.com.

* The contest was the final game of a five-game-in-nine day stretch for Mizzou. After their game on Sunday against Murray State, Mizzou will have played six games before they had even started their 2003-04 campaign last year, which began on Nov. 29, 2003.

Missouri Player Notes after the Houston Game

* Sophomore Linas Kleiza just missed his second double-double of the year with nine points and nine rebounds on the evening while battling through constant double and triple teams.

* Thomas Gardner started his first game of the season and it was his 17th career start.

* Mizzou did not hit a three point field goal in the first half. It was the first half the Tigers didn't connect from long range since the first half of last year's Kansas game in Lawrence.

* The Tigers outrebounded the Cougars, 45-33. It was their largest rebound advantage of the season so far.

* Kevin Young pulled down seven boards for the second straight night and for the third time this season. He ranks third on the squad in boards per game behind Kleiza (8.4) and McKinney (6.0).

* Senior Jason Conley came off the bench and led the Tigers with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting while also pulling down six boards.

* Junior Jeffrey Ferguson, who returned for the Creighton game after serving a three game suspension for playing in a non-sanctioned summer league, recorded a season high two blocks. Ferg's return marked the first time he had donned the black and gold in a game since March of 2003.

Thank You ... Thank You ... its Great to be Back in Columbia

While it may be a tad early in the year for this note, we are going to travel down the path to a little place called you'll see. The Tigers have played three contests at the Mizzou Arena and are 2-1 in those contests. The road (ok, they were neutral court games, but it was still outside Columbia City limits) was not kind (0-2) to the Tigers' last week and the numbers definitely bare that out. After shooting a solid 41.3 percent (74-of-179) from the field at home in the first three contests, Mizzou could muster only 32.1 percent (35-of-109) at Municipal in Kansas City.

The three-pointer was certainly an area of trepidation for Mizzou in KC as they had connected on 30-of-79 threes (38.0 percent) at home before hitting on 6-of-35 attempts (17.1 percent) in the final two rounds of the Guardians. A couple other numbers of note showing that home it truly is good to be back in mid-Missouri follow ...

                               At Home                     Away from Home
Field Goal Percentage          41.3% (74-179)              32.1% (35-109)
Three-point FG %                38.0% (30-79)               17.1% (6-35)
Free throw percentage          72.7% (48-66)                66.0% (33-50)
Linas Kleiza (ppg.)               20.3                               10.5
Thomas Gardner (ppg.)         17.0                                    4.5

Going Back for Seconds (No Thanksgiving or Fat Jokes Please)

So far this young season, the Tigers have definitely played their best basketball in the second half of games. In fact, Mizzou has been outscored 175-150 in the first stanza of contests by its opponents, but has then flipped the script on them in the second half, scoring 185 points while holding the opposition to 165 points.

Living Large With Lenny

Linas Kleiza (otherwise known as Lenny to his teammates) has recovered fully from a shoulder separation he experience half way through last season and it looks as though he will be shouldering a major part of the Tiger offense this season. The All-Big 12 Honorable mention recipient has been amazing offensively so far this season.

Kleiza has averaged 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest in the first five contests of the season. He is shooting 36.5 percent from the field so far and has handed out 12 assists. He just missed the fifth double-double of his career against Houston when he went for nine points and nine boards. The Kaunas, Lithuania, native had his best night as a Tiger in the scoring column against Davidson when he scored 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting including four three pointers.

Kleiza recorded the fourth double-double of his career against Houston, scoring 19 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. He just missed another double-double in the season opener with 17 points and nine rebounds against Brown..

Houston ... They Had A Problem

After shooting only 34.8 percent from the field in the opening round of the Guardians' Classic against Brown, the Tigers' sharpshooters came out in full force on Tuesday against Houston. Mizzou shot a rather warm 50.0 percent from the field in the contest including 12-of-23 from three. The 12 three-point field goals was the Tigers best three-point field goal production since last season when they knocked down 13 bombs in the route of UNLV in February.

Tigers Deliver in Second Half Against Brown

In UPS' latest advertising campaign, they pose the question "What can brown do for you?" We will tell you exactly what Brown did for the Tigers ... and no postage is necessary. What the Bears did for the Tigers was give them their first look at an extended zone while also mounting a discipline, poised attack to climb within one point at 33-32 at halftime.

However, after allowing Brown to shoot over 50 percent in the first half, the Tigers held BU to only 30 percent field goal shooting in the second stanza. The Tigers were extremely active in the passing lanes, forcing the Bears into 22 turnovers (14 of which came in the first half) and scored 23 points off of those turnovers.

The Tiger offense also kicked into gear in the second half with Thomas Gardner scoring 13 of his 19 points in the contest. Gardner was 5-of-8 in the stanza and also pulled down eight boards on his way to recording a career-high 12 rebounds on the night.

Where Were You When ...

While we are not sure who ordered the first batch of nachos from the concession stand or who was the first to christen the men's room ... we do have a list of "firsts" that took place against Central Missouri State on Nov. 4 at the Mizzou.

* The first point and first free throw in Mizzou Arena history came at 19:27 of the first half when sophomore forward Linas Kleiza knocked down his first shot from the charity stripe.

* The first field goal, a two-point shot, in Mizzou Arena history came at 18:25 of the first half, courtesy of senior guard Jason Conley.

* The first dunk in Mizzou Arena history came at 17:24 in the first half, when sophomore forward Linas Kleiza slashed through the lane and raised for a two-handed flush.

* The first points of freshman forward Marshall Brown's career came at 15:36 of the first half when he converted a layup after being fouled. The first free throw of his career came moments later as he completed the three-point play.

* The first opponent point in Mizzou Arena history came at 16:40 of the first half, when senior forward Mike Suggs sank the second of two free throws. It was also the first points of Suggs' Mules career.

* The first opponent field goal in Mizzou Arena history came 13:23 of the first half, by junior forward Dwight Williams.

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

102-66

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.

Heading into 2004-05, Mizzou returns several of its top players from a year ago including senior Jason Conley, junior Jimmy McKinney and sophomores Thomas Gardner and Linas Kleiza. Snyder and his staff have 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.