Dec. 6, 2004

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Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.

Arena: Norm Stewart Court at the Mizzou Arena (15,061)

TV: Mizzou Sports Network (Dan McLaughlin, play-by-play: Jon Sundvold, 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: Mizzou leads, 17-16: Last Meeting: 12-6-97 - UA, 75-46 in Fayetteville, AR

Coaches:

Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 104-66 at MU and overall (6th season).

Arkansas: Stan Heath (Eastern Michigan '88) 26-36 overall (3rd season) and 56-42 overall (4th season).

The University of Missouri men's basketball squad (4-3 overall) will face the Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1 overall) on Tuesday with tip set for 7 PM. The Tigers are looking for their third straight win and are also looking to improve to 5-1 on the year at the Mizzou Arena.

Mizzou won its latest contest against Oakland on Saturday, 70-61. Senior Jason Conley and sophomore Thomas Gardner both scored 18 points on the afternoon to lead the Tigers to the win. Conley was particularly impressive as he scored those 18 points in only 19 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble. He was 6-of-9 from the field including 4-of-6 from three while also pulling down five boards.

Sophomore Linas Kleiza also had a solid afternoon against the Golden Grizzlies, scoring 13 points, pulling down nine boards and handing out nine assists. He just missed recording the first triple-double of his career. In a quick side note, Greg Cavener would be the last Tiger to record a triple-double when he had 16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists against Wisc.-Green Bay in 1984. Kleiza leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg.), rebounding (8.3 rpg.) and assists (23) and has led the Tigers in either scoring, rebounding or in both categories in six of the Tigers' seven games so far this season.

The contest will be broadcast on the Missouri Sports Network with Dan McLaughlin providing the play-by-play and former Tiger All-American Jon Sundvold offering analysis. Tiger fans can also listen to the contest on the Tiger Radio Network with Mike Kelly and Gary Link on the call.

Quick Hits

Head coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 105 at Mizzou ... The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two squads, 17-16 ... The Tigers will play six of their next seven contests at home ... The lone venture from the Mizzou Arena will be a visit to St. Louis on Dec. 22 for the Busch Braggin' Rights game against Illinois ... Junior Jimmy McKinney has now started 63 straight regular season games for Mizzou, dating back to Dec. 30, 2002 against Valparaiso ... nine of the Tigers' opponents were ranked or receiving votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 ... juniors Kevin Young and Jimmy McKinney are the only Tigers to have started all seven games this season for Mizzou

About the Razorbacks

Arkansas is off to a great start at 5-1 so far this season. They dropped their most recent outing, 72-60 to No. 5 Illinois on Saturday in Fayetteville. Sophomore Ronnie Brewer leads the Razorback attack averaging 15.7 points per contest. He is shooting 53 percent from the field and also leads them in steals with 16.

Two other Razorbacks are averaging in double figures on the year with Eric Ferguson averaging 13.5 ppg., and Olu Famutimi checking in with 10.8 ppg. Ferguson has knocked down a team-high 13 threes off of the bench for the Hogs and is shooting 50.8 percent from the field. As a team, UA is shooting 48.4 percent from the field and has blocked 42 shots (21 of which have come from 7-0 freshman and Branson, MO native Steven Hill.) The Razorbacks are coached by Stan Heath, who is in his third season at Arkansas, has led UA to a 26-36 and has registered a 56-42 mark for his career in four years as a head coach.

Series - Tigers lead, 17-16: Last Meeting: UA, 75-46 in Fayetteville, AR

A Look Back ... Mizzou vs. Oakland

The Tigers were the beneficiaries of 18-point efforts from both Thomas Gardner and Jason Conley on their way to a 70-61 win over Oakland on Saturday. Below are a couple other notes of note about the Tigers fourth win of the season ...

* Mizzou now holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series between these two teams.

* The Tigers won the only other meeting between these two teams, 90-85 in Detroit last November.

* With this victory, Mizzou improved its all-time record in games played on December 4 to 11-5.

* Mizzou is now 11-0 all-time versus Mid-Continent Conference opponents.

Missouri Team Notes vs. Oakland

* Mizzou held the Golden Grizzlies scoreless for the first 2:24 of the game, during which senior guard Jason Conley scored five straight points to give the Tigers the early lead.

* As a team, the Tigers have recorded at least two blocked shots in every game this season. The last time Mizzou failed to record at least a pair of blocks was their season-ending loss to Michigan last season.

* After Oakland pulled to within one with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Mizzou went on a 12-0 run that spanned 2:53 to take a 21-8 lead midway through the half.

* The Tigers tied a season high for three-point field goals attempted in the first half of a game with 13. The mark was set in the season-opener against Brown.

* With the game tied 38-38 at the 15:51 mark of the second half, Mizzou took off on a 12-0 run that spanned 2:35.

* Each player to see action for the Tigers grabbed at least one rebound, marking the first time that has occurred this season.

* Mizzou bested the Golden Grizzlies in points off turnovers, 23-10, and second chance points, 14-9.

Missouri Player Notes following the Oakland Game

* All of junior forward/center Kevin Young's five points in the first half came from the free throw line, where he drained five of his six attempts. He finished the day with seven points and six rebounds.

* Freshman guard Jason Horton scored seven points in the first half, on 2-of-4 shooting, which tied his career high.

* Senior guard Jason Conley scored the Tigers' first basket of both the first and second halves, both times on the team's first possession of the frame.

* With the game tied early in the second half, sophomore guard Thomas Gardner scored six points in a row to give Mizzou the lead. That stretch was followed by another personal 6-0 run, this time by senior guard Jason Conley. The Tigers held Oakland scoreless over that period.

* Sophomore forward Linas Kleiza's nine assists constitute a new career high, surpassing the mark of five he set in Mizzou's first meeting with Houston this season. Kleiza scored 13 points and was just one rebound and one assist away from his first career triple-double.

* Junior center Jeffrey Ferguson set a personal season-high with four rebounds for the Tigers, marking the second-straight game he's recorded a season best in rebounds.

* Senior guard Jason Conley tied season highs in points and three-point field goals made with 18 and four, respectively.

"Cap"-tain Consistency

Junior Kevin Young (his teammates call him Cap) has started each of the Tigers' first seven contests and has been a solid contributor so far. Young ranks fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 5.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. He has recorded five or more rebounds and five or more points in five games this season. He scored a career-high eight points against Houston in the second round of the Guardians Classic. Young leads the squad in field goal percentage, connecting on 51.7 percent from the field and is improving from the free throw stripe as knocked down 5-of-7 free throws against Oakland.

2 Good

Senior Jason Conley had his best - albeit one of the shortest - outings of the season against Oakland on Saturday. The 6-5 native of Silver Spring, MD, scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field including 4-of-6 from three in only 19 minutes of playing time against the Grizzlies. He also recorded five rebounds on the day and has recorded five or more rebounds in five of the Tigers' seven games. Overall, Conley's numbers have been solid offensively as he is knocking down 46.7 percent of his shots including 43.8 percent of his three-point field goal attempts.

Going Back for Seconds

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 230-307 in the first stanza of contests by its opponents, but has then flipped the script on them in the second half, scoring 257 points while holding the opposition to 226 points.

Shouldering the Load

Linas Kleiza 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 Preseason Honorable mention recipient has been amazing offensively so far this season and continues to improve on defense.

Kleiza broke out of mini-scoring funk with 13 points, nine board 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 (14.9 ppg.), rebounds (8.3 rpg.) and assists (23).

Kleiza just missed a double-double against Murray State when he scored nine points and recorded a team-high seven boards.

He flirted once again with 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.

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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

103-66

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.