Missouri Athletics announced that it will host the annual Black & Gold Scrimmage event, featuring both Mizzou Men’s and Women’s Basketball on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Held at Mizzou Arena, admission to the event will be free for all Tiger fans.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and members of both basketball programs will be signing autographs on the Mizzou Arena concourse. Fans will receive a limited edition autograph card for the teams to sign. Scrimmages and skills competitions are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Head Coach Robin Pingeton is beginning her fifth season at the helm of Mizzou Women’s Basketball. Coming off of back-to-back postseason appearances, the Tigers look to continue laying the foundations of success at Mizzou. The team returns 10 players from the 2013-14 season including star three-point shooter, Morgan Eye, and adds three newcomers in freshmen Bri Porter and Carrie Shephard and junior transfer Juanita Robinson.
Mizzou Men’s Basketball will begin its first season under the direction of head coach Kim Anderson. The Tigers will be one of the youngest squads in college basketball this season with nine newcomers entering the program. The club’s 2014 recruiting class was ranked among the Top 15 nationally by various recruiting outlets. Three freshmen, Jakeenan Gant, Montaque Gill-Caesar and Namon Wright, were each ranked among the Top 75 players in their class and give Mizzou Basketball its largest incoming group of freshmen since 2008-09.
The University of Missouri football game on Saturday, October 11th has been chosen for an 11 a.m. (central time) kickoff, with the game being televised on CBS.
A very limited amount of reserved tickets (approximately 100 as of Sunday) remain available for the SEC East Division showdown. Tickets can be purchased online, at www.mutigers.com, on the phone by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS locally), or in person at the Mizzou Arena ticket office.
The game is Mizzou’s annual Gold Rush game, as fans are asked to wear gold. Tiger Walk will begin at 8:45 a.m., with parking lots opening up at 6 a.m.
The will be broadcast in St. Joseph on ESPN 1550 AM.
University of Missouri junior DE Shane Ray (Kansas City, Mo.) was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Line Player of the Week for his big game this past Saturday as he helped lead Mizzou to a thrilling 21-20 road comeback win at 13th-ranked South Carolina. Ray won the award, as announced tonight by the league office, after recording a career-high eight tackles (all solo stops), including 2.0 quarterback sacks, which ties his personal best.
This is the second weekly honor that Ray has garnered in what is quickly becoming an award-worthy season. He was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his 7-tackle performance in a win over UCF on Sept. 13th, which included four tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Through five games, Ray’s season totals of 8.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss are both tops in the nation. He’s had at least one sack in all five games this season, including a trio of two-sack outings against South Carolina, UCF and Toledo.
This past Saturday, Ray and his defensive mates held a dangerous Gamecock offense to season low totals in several categories, including points (20), yards (338), passing yards (219) and 1st downs (18). The defense was especially stout during crunch time, as the Tiger offense rallied in the final seven minutes of the game. After Carolina took a 20-7 lead with 7:25 to play, the Tiger defense allowed zero yards on the Gamecock’s last two series, which ended in a three-and-out punt, followed by a four-and-out series to end the game.
This marks the third time in 2014 a Tiger has won a weekly conference award. Prior to Ray’s pair of awards, sophomore QB Maty Mauk won the SEC Offensive Player of the Week on September 8th for his play in MU’s win at Toledo.
Ray and the 24th-ranked Tigers are off this weekend as they set their sights on the #13 Georgia Bulldogs, who come to Columbia, Mo. on Oct. 11th for an SEC Eastern Division showdown. Kick time for that game will not be announced until this Sunday, as it is one of five SEC games put on standby for a six-day selection window.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Gary Pinkel was prepping a different sort of postgame talk midway through the fourth quarter.
The Missouri coach had watched his team struggle offensively and fall behind No. 13 South Carolina 20-7 with less than eight minutes left at sold-out Williams-Brice Stadium.
That’s when the Tigers turned things around for a stunning 21-20 victory and a strong start in defense of their Southeastern Conference Eastern Division crown.
A repeat seemed unlikely as the Gamecocks’ defense kept Missouri off kilter for most of the game. Instead, Russell Hansbrough scored two of his three touchdowns in the final seven minutes to complete the comeback.
“These are games,” Pinkel said, “that change a football team.”
They certainly can give a team a strong foothold in the East against the preseason favorite to supplant the Tigers. Missouri (4-1, 1-0) entered off an embarrassing home stumble to Indiana last week and looked lost most of the way against South Carolina (3-2, 2-2).
“When things got tough, we stayed positive. The defense kept us in it but we stayed totally positive with the offense the whole time,” Pinkel said. “I thought (it) was very crucial for us to have the mindset to get back.”
Quarterback Maty Mauk got things flowing Missouri’s way with a pair of big throws — 41 yards to Bud Sasser and 26 yards to Wesley Leftwich — to South Carolina’s 1. Hansbrough followed with a score just 36 seconds after South Carolina’s TD.
Mauk said that perked up Missouri and gave the Tigers confidence. Once the defense got the ball back from South Carolina, Mauk was pointed about completing the comeback.
“We sat down as a group and said we have to finish. That’s what we do around Missouri. Everybody bought in and brought everything they had for that drive,” he said. “The offensive line gave great protection, and when they needed to power through to get Russell in the end zone, they responded.”
When the Tigers reached South Carolina’s 2, Missouri was stopped short its first three tries getting in. Pinkel said the coaches decided to just run right at the Gamecocks, Hansbrough bursting through with 1:36 left.
Andrew Baggett kicked the extra point through as the Tigers went ahead. It was a year ago that Baggett’s kick clanged off the Missouri goalpost in the Gamecocks’ 27-24 double-overtime win.
“I wasn’t thinking anything. I just had to go in there and get it done,” he said.
Along with Hansbrough’s three TDs, Marcus Murphy ran for 98 yards. Mauk completed just 12 of 34 passes for 132 yards but made his biggest throws at the most crucial times.
Russell Hansbrough scored two of his three rushing touchdowns in the final seven minutes to help Mizzou rally from 13 points down.
South Carolina had one last chance. However, Dylan Thompson threw four incomplete passes and Missouri ran out the clock. The Tigers sprinted to their fans in the corner of an emptying Williams-Brice Stadium to celebrate their seventh straight road win — two shy of the school’s best mark.
It looked like the Gamecocks’ defense would win this one, holding Missouri to two first downs in the first 23 minutes of the second half and continually harassing Mauk into poor throws.
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said he made a mistake not going for a two-point conversion on a score but did not consider it because of how well the Gamecocks’ defense had performed.
“Gosh, we were stopping them so well,” he said.
South Carolina would soon regret that as Mauk led the Tigers back.
Missouri wrenched early control of the division from South Carolina, which was the preseason pick to take the East and had taken down Georgia on this field two weeks earlier.
Missouri has stood strong in the SEC since entering before the 2012 season. The Tigers won the East Division a year ago and came into this one with a six-game winning streak on the road.
Defensive end Shane Ray, the SEC sacks leader coming in, got two more against Thompson as the Gamecocks could not move the ball. They trailed 7-3 until Mike Davis’ 17-yard TD run with 1:36 left in the half. That score was set up by Thompson’s simple screen to Davis, who took off for 24 yards the play earlier.
South Carolina’s defense, one of the best in the league the past three years while led by NFL No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney, came in next to last in the SEC with 36 points allowed per game this season.
But the Gamecocks’ pass defense — also next to last in the SEC — limited Mauk to 57 yards the first 30 minutes. Mauk, the SEC leader with 14 touchdown throws, ended the half 6-for-19 and missed on his last eight throws.
In fact, it was Spurrier’s insistence on getting his attack started that led to Missouri’s first TD. The Gamecocks went for a fourth-and-1 on their 42 their first series but came up short. Four plays later, Hansbrough ran for an 18-yard score.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Tuesday that they have signed former Mizzou Basketball standout Jabari Brown to their training camp roster.
The move allows Brown, the Southeastern Conference’s top scorer in 2013-14, to rejoin former Missouri teammate Jordan Clarkson in Los Angeles.
A native of Oakland, Calif., Brown averaged 19.9 points in 35 total games last season and paced the league with 20.7 points in 18 SEC contests. He topped 20 points in scoring 19 times overall as a junior, the most by a Tiger since Anthony Peeler in 1992. Brown scored 20-plus points in 12-of-18 league contests, the most since Derrick Chievous in 1987 and 1988, and topped 30 points twice, scoring 33 points against Kentucky and 30 points vs. Davidson.
While Brown was one of the SEC’s leading three-point shooters, the 6-foot-5 guard expanded his game greatly in his second season in Columbia. He shot 51.3 percent inside the three-point line and finished the year hitting 212-of-266 total free throws, ranking No. 3 all-time for single-season free throw makes.
Brown also ranked among the SEC’s leaders in several statistical categories during the 18-game league season. He finished among the Top 10 in scoring (first, 20.7), field goal percentage (fourth, .468), free throw percentage (fifth, .846), free throw makes (second, 115), three-point percentage (fourth, .414), three-point makes (eighth, 2.1) and minutes played (third, 36.6).
Brown was also the fifth fastest player to reach 1,000 points in Missouri history, needing just 59 games to reach the milestone. Through two seasons (60 total games at Missouri), Brown averaged 17.3 points, which ranks No. 10 all-time. The 19.9 points he averaged this season were the most since Kareem Rush in 2001.
Prior to signing with LA, Brown played for the Houston Rockets during the NBA’s Summer League in both Orlando and Las Vegas. During the Orlando Summer League (July 5-11) Brown averaged 9.4 points in 20.2 minutes.
Mizzou Basketball announced its complete television schedule for the 2014-15 season on Monday, including dates and locations for a pair of exhibition games against William Jewell (Oct. 29) and Missouri-St. Louis (Nov. 8).
Missouri will return to Hearnes Center for the second consecutive year on Oct. 29 for its exhibition opener against William Jewell. The game is being played at Hearnes Center due to the installation of a new video board at Mizzou Arena.
Tickets for the exhibition game at Hearnes Center will be free. Fans will have access to open, general admission seating in Sections C and D, while seating in Sections A and B will be held for 2014-15 season ticket holders. Season ticket holders must present their William Jewell game ticket, which is part of their season ticket package, to gain entry into these sections.
New Tiger Head Coach Kim Anderson played four seasons inside Hearnes Center, including his senior campaign when the Tigers went 12-1 and he was named the 1977 Big Eight Player of the Year. Over his final three seasons, Anderson was an outstanding 37-2 at Hearnes.
Monday’s announcement also includes game time and network updates for five regular-season non-league games. Three of Mizzou’s non-conference games will appear on the SEC Network, giving the Tigers a school-record 10 non-conference games on national television (28 total). Added to the SEC Network package were the Nov. 16 game against Valparaiso, the Dec. 11 game against Elon and the Jan. 3 non-conference finale against Lipscomb.
Five games, including both exhibition contests, will appear on SEC Network +. Those tilts on SEC Network + include the regular-season opener vs. UMKC (Nov. 14), Oral Roberts (Nov. 19) and SEMO (Dec. 2). Games on SEC Network + are only available on WatchESPN.
The final five Southeastern Conference game times were also announced today. Two of those games will take place at Mizzou Arena. Missouri will host Tennessee on Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. CT and Ole Miss on Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. Road games include the Jan. 10 game at Auburn (6 p.m.), Feb. 21 at Vanderbilt (1:30 p.m.) and the regular-season finale at Mississippi State on March 7 at 5:30 p.m.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — After losing at Bowling Green last week, Indiana coach Kevin Wilson wanted his team to “play with our hair on fire” against Missouri on Saturday.
Whatever message Wilson was trying to send, the Hoosiers got it.
D’Angelo Roberts scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds remaining and Nate Sudfeld passed for 252 yards and a touchdown to help the Hoosiers upset the 18th-ranked Tigers 31-27.
“We’ve been talking about how we’ve been knocking on the door and now you have to knock it down,” Wilson said. “We kept tapping on it and hadn’t knocked it down.”
After giving up 10 consecutive points to Missouri in the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers (2-1) traveled 75 yards on six plays to reclaim the lead for good. Tevin Coleman ran 44 yards to the Missouri 15-yard line to setup the game-winning score.
Indiana extended its final drive thanks to a pass interference penalty on Missouri’s John Gibson on fourth-and-6 at the Hoosiers’ 29. Sudfeld attempted to find Dominique Booth across the middle of the field, but Gibson wrapped his arms around the receiver before he could make the catch.
“You have a bad taste in your mouth,” Missouri linebacker Michael Scherer said. “This should have never happened, but it did, so we’ve got to rebound and we’ve got to work. That’s all there is to it.”
Indiana entered the game as a double-digit underdog, having lost 45-42 to Bowling Green, but recorded 11 tackles for loss, hamstringing Missouri for most of the first three quarters. The Tigers finished with 498 total yards, including 145 in the final 15 minutes.
Missouri looked to be in prime position, too, after Andrew Baggett kicked a 40-yard field goal with 2:20 remaining to cap an 11-play, 70-yard drive for a 27-24 lead. The score followed a 1-yard touchdown pass from Maty Mauk to Sean Culkin 11 minutes earlier to tie the game.
“When was the last time we faced adversity?” Mauk asked. “Obviously, you don’t want that, but we’re going to bounce back and I have no doubt everybody’s going to get healthy and we’re going to come out ready to play Saturday.”
Mauk completed 28 of 47 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and Russell Hansbrough added 119 yards on the ground on 10 carries. The Tigers (3-1) play at South Carolina next week to start a stretch of eight consecutive games against Southeastern Conference opponents.
Hansbrough provided sparks for the Tigers in the opening half after walking off the field gingerly on Missouri’s second possession after Indiana’s Antonio Allen committed a horse-collar tackle. He then gained 111 yards on his first three carries, including 68 yards on a touchdown run to tie the score at 14 midway through the second quarter.
The Tigers struggled to contain Coleman, though, without defensive end Markus Golden, who injured his left hamstring midweek in practice but is expected to return next week, coach Gary Pinkel said. The senior defensive end has 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks this season.
Coleman opened the game’s scoring with a 1-yard run 10 minutes into the game, extending his streak of reaching the end zone to 12 games and tying the school record set by Anthony Thompson in 1988-89.
The junior finished with 132 yards on 19 carries despite sitting the final 20 minutes of the first half with cramps, Wilson said. He returned during the Hoosiers’ first drive after the break.
“It was a really big win,” Coleman said. “We came out here with fire. We played until the end.”
Indiana gained 493 total yards, 77 short of their season average, and finished just 1 of 14 on third-down conversions. While there are things to fix, a win against an SEC opponent nonetheless provided some enthusiasm heading into Big Ten play against Maryland.
“We ain’t got nothing figured out,” Wilson said. “We’re the same group of bums that played last week. That’s the same bunch of bums this week. We’ll see how we show up next week.”
The University of Missouri and the University of Connecticut have finalized an agreement to play a home-and-home football series between the two schools, as announced today jointly by both athletic programs.
Mizzou and UCONN will meet for the first time ever on the gridiron when the Huskies visit Columbia, Mo. for a game on September 19, 2015. The Tigers will return the game two years later, and play at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. on September 23, 2017. The Huskies have played in five bowl games during the past 10 seasons, including an appearance in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl.
The agreement with UCONN helps Mizzou get closer to finishing out its 2015 schedule, as three of the four non-conference games are now set, with games scheduled for Sept. 5 against Southeast Missouri State, a road game on Sept. 12 at Arkansas State, in addition to the UCONN contest. The 2017 schedule has two non-conference games remaining to be filled around a Sept. 16 home date with Purdue and the Sept. 23 road game at UCONN.
“We’re really pleased to be able to reach an agreement to schedule UCONN,” said Executive Associate Athletic Director Bryan Maggard, who oversees football scheduling. “It’s fun to bring new opponents into Columbia for our fans, and this is a program that’s had a high level of success in the past decade. One of the most challenging aspects of conference realignment has involved football scheduling, and reconstructing things after we moved to the SEC. We’re getting really close to having 2015 taken care of and being able to move on to future schedules, so that’s very exciting,” he said.
The 18th-ranked Tigers continue preparations for Saturday’s home contest against the Indiana Hoosiers. Kickoff for the game is set for 3:00 p.m.
University of Missouri junior DE Shane Ray (Kansas City, Mo.) was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his big day this past Saturday as he helped lead Mizzou to a 38-10 win over UCF. Ray won the award, as announced tonight by the league office, after recording seven tackles (all solo stops), including a career-best 4.0 tackles for loss, with 2.0 quarterback sacks.
Ray also forced a fumble against the Knights, which led to one of four turnovers forced by the Tiger defense in the second half, as Mizzou extended a 14-10 halftime lead with a dominant second half.
Through three games, Ray’s season total of 7.5 tackles for loss is tops in the nation, and his 5.0 sacks is currently the number-three mark in the NCAA.
He becomes the second Tiger in the last two weeks to win a weekly player of the week award in the SEC, as he joins sophomore QB Maty Mauk, who won the offensive player of the week on September 8th for his play in MU’s win at Toledo.
Ray is now the fifth Tiger defender to win the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Week award in the last three seasons. He joins SS Kenronte Walker (2012 vs. Arizona State), LB Kentrell Brothers (2013 at Georgia), DE Michael Sam (2013 at Vanderbilt) and CB E.J. Gaines (2013 vs. Texas A&M) on the distinct list.
“It’s a great honor, I’m really excited about receiving this award,” Ray said. “It’s nice to be recognized, I think it means that I’m doing good things and that my team is doing good things. I feel like there’s a lot of guys on this team that deserve recognition, but in the end, we play for each other and we just have to keep working hard to accomplish our goals,” he said.
Ray and the 18th-ranked Tigers continue preparations this week for Saturday’s showdown against the Indiana Hoosiers. The game is set for a 3 p.m. kickoff at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field.
University of Missouri sophomore QB Maty Mauk (Kenton, Ohio) was named the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his prolific performance this past Saturday as he helped lead the Tigers to a 49-24 win at Toledo. Mauk won the award, as announced tonight by the league office, after throwing for five touchdown passes and running for a sixth, both totals which tied program single-game records.
Playing just 75 miles away from his hometown, and before an estimated 1,500 friends and family, Mauk led the Tigers to a convincing road win against the pre-season MAC West Division favorite, as he completed 21-of-32 passes for a career-best 325 yards. His five scoring strikes came from 7, 13, 13, 25 and 12 yards out, and tied his own school record that he co-holds with former star QB Chase Daniel. Mauk threw five TD passes last year at Kentucky, tying the mark Daniel had previously established four times on his own.
Mauk also scored on a 1-yard keeper in the 2nd quarter at Toledo, and the six total touchdowns accounted for also tied the Mizzou single-game record, held by former greats Terry McMillan (1969 at Kansas) and Corby Jones (1997 at Oklahoma State).
He becomes the first Tiger to win the weekly offensive player of the week award in the SEC. The last Tiger to win a conference offensive player of the week award was Henry Josey in 2011. Mauk was named the SEC freshman of the week winner three times a year ago.
Mauk was pleased to win the award, but was quick to credit his teammates for putting him in position to make plays.
“It means a lot, but obviously you can’t do it without the five guys up front protecting me, they gave me a ton of time to throw, and our receivers were in the right spots in the right time and it’s my job to get them the ball, so it was a great group effort,” Mauk said.
Mauk and the 20th-ranked Tigers continue preparations this week for Saturday’s showdown against the UCF Knights. The game is set for an 11 a.m. kickoff at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field.
Missouri Athletics announced that it will host the annual Black & Gold Scrimmage event, featuring both Mizzou Men’s and Women’s Basketball on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Held at Mizzou Arena, admission to the event will be free for all Tiger fans.
