Missouri Tigers head coach Mike Anderson recorded his 100th win at the school earlier this week, and to celebrate, here's a countdown of his top five coaching victories as a Tiger.
The list of Coach Anderson's top five wins is after The Jump.
5. Mizzou 86 Arkansas Razorbacks 64 - November 30, 2006
This game, in Anderson's first season, was crucial on two accounts. First it showed that Mizzou could rebound from the Quin Snyder era and defeat a Power Conference foe. The win moved Mizzou to 8-0, and while the Tigers would only win 10 more games that season, it showed that MU at least could start peaking from outside the long shadow cast by the former regime. Secondly, this win came against the team Anderson had been an assistant coach at for 20 years. If there was a game on the schedule that Anderson probably circled once he was hired, it was this one.
Leading Scorer: Stefhon Hannah, 21 points
Leading Rebounders: Darryl Butterfield, Matt Lawrence and Kalen Grimes , 4 apiece
4. Mizzou 102 Memphis Tigers 91 - Sweet 16, March 26, 2009
This was a 2-seed versus 3-seed match-up that had all the national attention. Memphis was 33-3 on the season and was on the winner's line of a lot of the "expert's"brackets. Tyreke Evans played lights out, scoring 33 points, but Mizzou gained control early and led by 13 at half - thanks in large part to Marcus Denmon's ¾ court heave to end the half. Memphis made a charge at the end of the game, closing within six with a minute to play, but Zaire Taylor and DeMarre Carroll hit some clutch free throws to advance Mizzou into the Elite Eight.
Leading Scorer: J.T. Tiller, 23 points
Leading Rebounder: Leo Lyons, 12
3. Mizzou 81 Illinois Fighting Illini 68, December 23, 2009
Mizzou 75 Illinois 64, December 22, 2010
The Busch Braggin' Rights game is as much about pride as it is about carving another notch in the victory column. The entire city of St. Louis gets into the annual event, and the crowd is divided 50/50 between black and gold and orange and blue. So when Illinois rattled off nine straight wins heading into the 2009 game, Mizzou nation felt demoralized. With an emphatic end to Illinois' run in 2009 and a gut wrenching victory the following year, Mizzou fans can now bump into Illinois fans and brag about their win streak.
Leading Scorers: Kim English, 24 (2009), Marcus Denmon, 25 (2010)
Leading Rebounders: Keith Ramsey, 9 (2009) , Laurence Bowers, 9 (2010)
2. Mizzou 62 Kansas Jayhawks 60, February 9, 2009
When Zaire Taylor let go of the game winning shot with 1.3 seconds remaining, one of the best, and most improbable, comebacks in Mizzou basketball history banked into Tiger folklore. After being down 30-16 at half to their arch rivals, Anderson's team didn't give up and ended the game on an 11-2 run to secure the victory. The win also marked the first time coach Anderson defeated their neighbors to the west, tacking another milestone to the coach's resume.
Leading Scorer: DeMarre Carroll, 22
Leading Rebounder: Carroll, 7
1. Mizzou 73 Baylor Bears 60, March 14, 2009
With this win, Mizzou won its first Big 12 conference tournament championship and received an NCAA tournament bid for the first time since 2003. The ramifications of winning the tournament and making the NCAAs proved that everything the Tigers had gone through over the past decade could be pushed aside and basketball was again at the forefront of people's lips when they spoke about Mizzou. This was Anderson's crown achievement, and a moment that all Tiger fans look back upon, knowing that the right man is at the helm in Columbia.
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