igers look "to get our swagger back" for Big 12
BY BILL COATS
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/06/2002 10:35 PM
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri Tigers, knocked back
forcefully by a three-game losing streak that extended over
23 long days, head into Big 12 play with their confidence
refurbished a bit.
Missouri's Arthur Johnson (50) is fouled during a game last
January against Nebraska.
"We're trying to get our swagger back," center Arthur Johnson
said after Mizzou spanked Coppin State 74-47 on
Wednesday. "It's going to be a very tough conference. We
just have to go in there with our fists up every game."
Put-up-your-dukes time has arrived: Missouri (10-3) opens its conference basketball
schedule today against Nebraska (7-4). Tipoff at sold-out Hearnes Center is 12:45 p.m.
Successive setbacks against Iowa, Illinois and DePaul shoved the Tigers from the No. 2
national ranking they achieved by winning their first nine games to No. 17 in The Associated
Press poll. During its skid, MU shot poorly - 34.2 percent overall, 21.8 percent from 3-point
range - and was spotty, at best, defensively.
"I think the losing streak helped us in the long run," forward Kareem Rush said. "We
practiced harder, and we got back to the basics as far as defense goes. We're going to need
that going into the Big 12."
Mizzou coach Quin Snyder often has pointed out how a stout effort on defense tends to
provide rhythm on offense.
That was evident against Coppin State. The Tigers hit 51.9 percent of their shots while
clamping down defensively, particularly in the first half, which ended with Missouri on top
37-17.
"Defense holds you together," Snyder said. "You're either on or you're off. There's no in
between. If there's one guy on the court that's not doing it, the team breaks. Just like if there's
one guy on the offense that decides to go on his own, you break. I don't care how good you
are, that's not your best basketball."
As the Tigers continue to try to regain their form, Nebraska provides an opportunity for more
progress. The Cornhuskers, picked to finish last in the Big 12, started 6-0 against meager
competition but had lost four games in a row before knocking off Savannah State 66-47 on
Wednesday.
Nebraska has just one starter - senior guard Gary Cochran - back from last season's 14-16
team. Gone are such mainstays as Cookie Belcher, Steffon Bradford and Kimani Ffriend.
Cochran, a long-range specialist who owns the Nebraska record for 3-pointers made, is
second-year coach Barry Collier's top scorer, at 14.7 points a game."We needed a win really
bad, and we played well" against Coppin State, Rush said. "Hopefully, we'll continue to play
well and get on a good winning streak."
The hearing on MU's appeal to the NCAA to restore the eligibility of junior center Uche Okafor
has been scheduled for noon Tuesday. Mizzou officials expect the issue to be resolved by
the end of next week.
Okafor, a native of Nigeria who enrolled at Mizzou in August after playing two seasons at a
community college in Idaho, was ruled ineligible because he signed a contract with a club
team in Russia before coming to the United States.
