Tigers face tough test in Fayetteville

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Since the beginning of the season, Missouri coach Quin Snyder has preached the importance of his basketball team just being a team.

Without a superstar or even a proclaimed go-to guy, the Tigers have had to lean on one another to get through the first three games of the season. Tonight, that leaning might feel more like a push.

The Tigers (2-1) have their greatest test of the season so far tonight when they visit Arkansas at 7:05 p.m. It will be the first time the Tigers have been to Bud Walton Arena since 1997. They haven't won there since 1991.When Missourians mention Fayetteville, Ark., it doesn't bring good memories. In the Tigers' last three trips there, they have lost by an average of 30.6 points. Overall, the Tigers have not defeated the Razorbacks (4-2) in their last seven meetings, including a 62-52 loss in Columbia last season.

This year's matchup doesn't appear to offer relief for the Tigers, who have struggled in all three of their nonconference games. Arkansas' only two losses this season have come against No. 3 Connecticut and No. 23 Maryland, and the Razorbacks have defeated their last two opponents by an average of 31 points.

Missouri is fresh off an 18-point win against Missouri-Kansas City, but it wasn't a pretty victory. Snyder cited the team's defense as a positive because the offense was stagnant. The Tigers shot 32.7 percent from the field and had more turnovers than field goals.

The Tigers also have not played well on the road the past two seasons. Last year, they had just one road win; over those two seasons, they had four, not counting games at neutral sites. None of the wins came against nonconference opponents.

Tonight's game will be the Tigers' first chance this season against the kind of opponent they probably will face when Big 12 play starts in January. Arkansas boasts the Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year in Ronnie Brewer. Brewer leads the Razorbacks with 20.5 points per game. Missouri guard Thomas Gardner, who leads the Tigers with 21.7 points per game, probably will draw the defensive assignment against Brewer.

Gardner said the Tigers' defense is better prepared to handle a player such as Brewer now than earlier in the season.

The real test for the Tigers will be whether they maintain their composure. The Tigers have struggled with ball pressure and are averaging 18.6 turnovers per game. The Razorbacks have been opportunistic regarding turnovers: Nearly 20 of their 75.7 points per game are off turnovers. Overall, the Razorbacks are averaging 11.3 steals per game.

Brewer has the most steals (3.7 spg) for the Razorbacks, and Gardner has the most turnovers (4.6 topg) for the Tigers.

Another problem for the Tigers is size. Arkansas coach Stan Heath said Thursday that he plans to use a big lineup to give his players a better opportunity to control rebounds. The Tigers are averaging about seven rebounds per game more than the Razorbacks. Heath said that has been a point of contention for his team in practice.

Snyder agrees. He has stressed the importance of his team's ability to "gang rebound" to compensate for their lack of size and depth in the paint.

"We're going to have to rebound like crazy," Snyder said. "The back end of our defense is going to have to take a step up to rebound against their athleticism. ... They've got size, and they've got great quickness. They've also been tested."

Missouri center Kevin Young is leading the team with 10.3 rebounds per game. He will go against 6-foot-10 forward Darian Townes, who leads the Razorbacks with 5.8 rebounds per game.

Snyder said he expects this game to tell him a lot about his team and about how far it's come since its first loss and how far it needs to go to be ready for the Big 12 season.

"It's been a great rivalry, and obviously it would be a huge upset for us to beat them," Snyder said. "We're going down there to find out a little more about ourselves."

 

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Missouri looks to gauge mettle against battle-tested Razorbacks





Final exams may be a week away for some but they start today for the Missouri Tigers.

Today at 7:05 p.m. Missouri takes its first true test of the season on the road at Arkansas (4-2).

Arkansas has already faced tough tasks in Connecticut, Kansas and Maryland and managed a one-point win over the unranked Jayhawks. Missouri (2-1) has experienced troubles against lesser-ranked opposition.

Missouri's confidence was beaming after roughing up Bemidji State and Missouri Southern in a pair of exhibition games to begin the season. But the Tigers were upended in their official season opener by Sam Houston State, 80-77, on Nov. 14.

Missouri then earned an 81-72 victory over Northwestern State in its second contest. Quin Snyder's bunch produced a sturdy defensive effort in its last outing against Missouri-Kansas City in a 60-42 win in the squads' first-ever meeting. The 42 points allowed was the lowest for the Tigers since edging DePaul 45-42 on Nov. 24, 1997.

The Tigers are averaging 72.7 points per game and are shooting 42.9 percent (73 of 170) from the field. The Tigers are hitting on 61.8 percent (55 of 89) from the free throw line.

The Tigers are averaging 41.3 rebounds per game compared to 34.0 by their opposition. Turnovers, though, have been a problem so far. The Tigers are coughing it up an average of 18.7 times per outing while their opponents are averaging 17.7 giveaways.

Missouri's opposition is averaging 7.3 steals per game while the Tigers are thieving at a 5.5 per game clip.

Missouri has also experienced woes getting shots off. Tigers' opponents are blocking 5.3 shots per contest while Missouri is logging 1.7 stuffs through three games.

The Tigers are led by junior wing Thomas Gardner (6-5, 213), who has found an early groove. He leads the Tigers in scoring with 21.7 points per game and is hitting 42 percent (9 of 21) from beyond the arc. Gardner, though, also leads the team in turnovers with 14.

Gardner achieved a double-double against UMKC with 17 points and 11 boards in his last outing. Garner is 10 of 17 from the stripe and is hauling in 6.7 boards per outing.

Sophomore forward Marshall Brown (6-7, 210) is playing like an upperclassman with 13.7 ppg. Brown has capitalized on his opportunities and leads the Tigers with a .625 (15 of 24) field goal percentage.

Senior guard Jimmy McKinney (6-3, 208) has been another offensive threat. He is third on team in scoring (10.3 ppg) and has hit 6 of 7 from the free throw line.

Senior post Kevin Young (6-9, 270) has been a paint presence. He has lost 60 pounds since his freshman season and is lighter, stronger and quicker this season. So far this year, Young is good for 9 ppg and a team-high 10.3 boards per outing.

Senior guard Jason Horton (6-0, 185) leads the team in steals (8), assists (17) and free throws made (11).

 

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Hill looking forward to matchup with Missouri

Born in Chanute, Kan., Steven Hill grew up a huge Kansas Jayhawks fan. Little did he know that while attending Kansas football and basketball games as a child, his college destination would actually be at the University of Arkansas to play center for a rebuilding project under a fairly new head coach.

Hill turned heads during the recruiting process, committing to Arkansas over Kansas and Missouri -- two schools Hill loved very much. Just six games into his sophomore year, Hill has the chance to help Arkansas improve to 3-0 over Kansas and Missouri while he has donned Razorback red.

His freshman year, Hill played against and helped defeat Missouri in Columbia, Mo. This year, he played a focal part in a 65-64 win over Kansas in the Maui Invitational, blocking the final shot to preserve the Hogs' second-round win.

"I just think I was at the right place at the right time on that play," said Hill. "I was just trying to do my job."

Hill said he was beaten on a backdoor play the possession prior and that the self-proclaimed biggest moment of his young career at Arkansas was his second block of the game -- one which crushed the hopes of Kansas players, fans and coaches.

The same coaches that once recruited the 7-0 big man.

While Kansas players began to walk to the locker room, Hill was mobbed by teammates and hugged vehemently. Arkansas had beaten two of the teams he grew up adoring. And this time it was he who made one of the biggest plays to solidify a win over Kansas -- the school he grew up watching in the stands.

And tonight, he'll get a third chance.

"Now," Hill said, "I get to play against Missouri and a lot of my friends in high school are from Missouri, so it will be good to play against my home state."

Hill calls Missouri his home state because he lived in Joplin and Branson during his junior high and high school days. Now, with the opportunity to go 2-0 over Missouri in his collegiate career, a bulked-up Hill is more than ready, he said.

Hill, who is usually viewed as a non-offensive threat and more of a low-block defender, gained weight in the offseason to help improve his leverage in the paint against Southeastern Conference competition.

After finishing last season at 225 pounds, Hill added on nearly 25 pounds of muscle in the offseason by lifting weights and playing against big men across the country at the Nike Flight School camp in California put together by the legendary Michael Jordan.

"That first night you play with Michael Jordan," Hill recalled, "was surreal."

Hill didn't guard Jordan one-on-one, obviously, because of his position, but he did get the opportunity to play against some of the biggest and best centers and forwards in the country at the 10-day camp.

Players like 6-10 Kentucky sophomore Randolph Morris, reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year D.J. White of Indiana and Gonzaga's J.P. Batista were a few Hill remembered going up against.

With Hill's new frame has come a few bumps in the road, including a teammate or two coming up on the wrong end of a set screen.

In a preseason practice, Hill screened teammate and guard Eric Ferguson, breaking the senior's nose, which required him to wear a protective mask for his first four games of the season.

"I actually felt really bad about that," Hill said. "As far as I've been told, it was a legal play. Eric didn't hold anything against me, so it was cool."

The talked-about screen in practice has given fans and coaches some hope that his powerful frame will pay dividends during games on offense.

"I definitely think he's coming along," Arkansas head coach Stan Heath said. "He hasn't had one of those breakout games like we've seen in some of the practices he's had, but I think that's coming pretty quick."

Hill's career high in points came against Prairie View A&M last season with a 10-point effort on a 5-for-11 night from the field. Hill averaged just 2.3 points per game last season, but with a hot start out of the gates in the first two games this season against Portland State and a perfect 4-for-4 shooting clip and 8 points against nationally-ranked Connecticut, expectations are high from coaches as the season progresses.

"We want to work the inside-out because our inside game helps with our outside game," Hill said. "Overall, not just me, but for the other big men, we really want to give them a lot of shots because that will fit our offense as a whole. That's what I'm going to try and do."

For that to happen, though, Hill will have to demand the ball more when he gets position against opposing defenses, Heath said. But with a deep frontcourt that includes Darian Townes and Charles Thomas, who average 9.8 and 9.6 points per game respectively, touches will be hard to come by, Hill reiterated.

"Right now, I just want to score when I can and be aggressive on offense, but I still have to know my place," Hill said. "We still want to give a lot of shots to Darian and Ronnie Brewer.

"Last year, I was non-existent on offense. This year, if I can get 8 or 10 points a game, that would be extraordinary."

And if such a performance leads to a win over Missouri tonight, the Kansas-born and Missouri-grown Hill will be happier than ever defeating a Kansas or Missouri squad for a third straight time.

"It's something I'm looking forward to," he said.

 

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Knock on Wood: Hogs seeking to make improvement on Maui mistakes



For the most part, Arkansas head basketball coach Stan Heath liked the way his Hogs competed in the Maui Invitational.

The Razorbacks returned home with a 1-2 record in the tournament, but the losses came to No. 3 Connecticut and No. 23 Maryland.

However, as Heath predicted prior to the tournament, several of the Razorbacks' weaknesses were pointed out in the contests.

Heath believes his squad can be a strong rebounding team, but that wasn't necessarily evident at critical times in the Maui Invitational.

Heath was disappointed that several strong defensive performances were wasted when the Hogs let a rebound slip through their grasps.

"We have to do a better job of finishing possessions defensively by rebounding," Heath said. "A lot of that is not just the big men. Our guards have to get in there."

With 6-7 Ronnie Brewer, 6-5 Jonathon Modica and 6-5 Dontell Jefferson, the Razorbacks are outfitted with guards who should be good rebounders.

Brewer actually has led the Razorbacks in rebounding the past two seasons, but the Fayetteville native is just averaging 2.8 boards a game thus far.

Heath wants to see that number go up.

"Ronnie is the type of player who can do a little bit of everything," Heath said. "We need him as a scorer, but we also need him to be a rebounder and an assist man, too. Those things come naturally to Ronnie so we expect his numbers to go up in those areas."

Likewise, Heath wants to see more consistent scoring from Modica and 6-10 power forward Darian Townes.

Modica is averaging 14.0 ppg. and Townes is at 9.8 ppg., which aren't bad numbers, but each of those players pulled a disappearing act -- Modica against Kansas and Townes against UConn -- at Maui.

Like Brewer, Modica and Townes have to bring all their skills to the floor each night for the Razorbacks to reach their full potential this season.

Offensively, Heath wants to see better passing from his team across the board.

"We had casual passes get knocked away, and we waited too long to pass into the post and those got knocked away," Heath said.

Though UConn beat the Razorbacks by 9 points and Maryland won by 13, the Razorbacks were in both games late, but small mistakes at various points in each of those games hurt the Hogs' efforts.

While the Razorbacks are improved over last season, they can ill afford sloppy passes and missed opportunities to feed their big men down low if they expect to advance to the NCAA Tournament this season after a four-year absence.