Mizzou's impressive home winning streak to be tested against No. 18 UCLA
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- As winning streaks go, Missouri's
78-gamer against non-conference opponents at home tends to elicit more
shrugs than superlatives.
Look at the opponents to
understand why. For every win over a West Virginia, there's been about a
dozen against a Farleigh Dickinson. The Tigers' list of victims
includes more cupcakes than a bakery.
Well, there's
nothing soft about the team that will visit Mizzou Arena Saturday
morning. UCLA is one of the most storied programs in the land and one of
the most impressive teams of the early season. The Bruins (8-0) are
averaging 90.6 points, shooting 55.3 percent and have climbed to 18th in
AP's top 25.
"A tremendous challenge," Tigers coach
Frank Haith said after Missouri's 80-71 victory over West Virginia.
"They put four guys out there that can make a three(-pointer). They've
got length and their front line is huge. (Sophomore) Kyle Anderson is
such a unique guard, he's 6-8, 6-9, and he does a great job. Their
offense runs through him. He's a tough matchup for
us."
The Tigers, 8-0 and the SEC's only remaining
unbeaten team, also will be tested by a quick turnaround following
Thursday's 6 p.m. tip-off. Missouri's players already had returned to
the gym Friday morning, shooting promos for the CBS telecast as well as
studying video of the Bruins (Don't worry, there were no classes
Friday).
And with Missouri's football team kicking
off in the SEC Championship at 3 p.m., the Tigers' home-court advantage
might not be as raucous as it would under different circumstances. After
a so-so crowd of 7,292 turned out Thursday night, Haith did not sound
like he was expecting a sellout for
Saturday.
"Hopefully we get a group of those folks to
come out to see a high-level game (against) a ranked opponent," Haith
said. "Then kick back and watch us win the SEC
championship."
The Bruins are coming off a lackluster
89-76 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday night. Like Missouri,
UCLA also spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, beating the same teams as the
Tigers. While the Tigers won by 13 over Nevada and 11 over
Northwestern, UCLA's margin of victory was 19 and 16, respectively.
In Los Angeles last year, UCLA beat Missouri 97-94
in overtime in what was one of the most entertaining games of the
season. Much has changed for both teams in the year since. Namely, the
Bruins now are coached by Steve Alford and not Ben Howland, who was
fired. For Missouri, Jordan Clarkson is running the offense instead of
Phil Pressey, who is averaging 11.9 minutes and 2.1 points for the
Boston Celtics.
Clarkson, a transfer from Tulsa,
isn't likely to threaten Pressey's assists records at Missouri but he's
proving to be just as valuable. The 6-5 junior lifted his scoring
average to 20.4 points with his fourth consecutive 20-point outing
Thursday night. He is shooting an impressive 53 percent, thanks to his
ability to drive to the basket. A rules emphasis that prevents
hand-checking out top has not hurt, either.
"Guys
like him really benefit from the way they're calling the game now," West
Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "He's got good length and he's very
good with the ball."
To have a chance against the
Bruins, Missouri will need more from its big men than it got Thursday
night. Ryan Rosburg was limited to eight minutes because of foul trouble
and freshman Johnathan Williams III made only one of his five shots.
Keanu Post, subbing for Rosburg, picked up two fouls in less than a
minute. Tony Criswell, with eight points and 10 rebounds, was the only
big man to make much of a contribution.
A lack of
production from the bigs didn't matter against the Mountaineers as
Missouri jumped to leads of 9-0 and 25-11 behind the play of Clarkson
and fellow guards Jabari Brown (18 points) and Earnest Ross
(16).
"It's always good to get a fast start,"
Clarkson said. "You can't let somebody come in here and hit us in the
mouth. We wanted to come out and hit them first and let them know it was
our home floor."
The Tigers haven't lost to a
non-conference foe on their home floor since falling to Sam Houston
State in 2005. They haven't lost to any team at Mizzou Arena since
February, 2012, when Kansas State won 78-68. Their 23-game home winning
streak ranks as the nation's longest.
"We want to
keep that going," Clarkson said. "We can't let nobody come in here and
do whatever they want to do. We have to make sure we protect the
house."
You can follow Stan McNeal
on Twitter at @stanmcneal or email him at
stanmcneal@gmail.com.
