SPORTS
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 1B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Senior Missouri guard Jason Conley celebrates as the fans rush court after the Tigers' victory on Senior Day. Conley and fellow senior Brian Dailey were honored before the game. Missouri defeated the Jayhawks 72-68 yesterday in Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.
Tigers thrash Jayhawks
Mizzou underclassmen help seniors; guards happy to share the spotlight
BY KELLIE ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITTER
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri coach Quin Snyder had never defeated Kansas coach Bill Self, before yesterday, but he didn't give his players the "win one for the Gipper" speech.
Instead, he told them to play for senior guards Jason Conley and Brian Dailey.
Coney and Brian Daffey. The two were winless at home against Kansas, and no one wearing black and gold wanted to see Kansas spoil a fourth straight Senior Day. In particular, Snyder challenged his underclassman to play like there was no tomorrow.
classifier and how they intercept. Snyder pushed the right buttons, because Missouri came out on fire. In the first half, the Tigers shot 80 percent from three-point range and built a lead that they never relinguished.
"There is always some of that on Senior Day." Snyder said. "It doesn't always have the desired effect. You want to win too badly. I think a lot of it depends on your underclassmen and how they respond to the seniors."
"Coach has always had a lot of confidence in us," junior guard Jimmy McKinney said. "Tonight we finally showed why he believes."
showed why he believes.
After the final buzzer sounded, Snyder fought his way through a mob of students who rushed the court to celebrate Missouri's 72-68 victory. "To see our crowd today was just unbelievable," Snyder said. "The students were phenomenal, and so was the entire building. To me, that says a lot about what our guys are doing."
Once he made his way off the court, Snyder embraced McKinney, who scored a career-high 21 points.
"I told him I wanted to see him smile out there," Snyder said. "We talked about making every possession like
you're out there on the playground."
Smile McKinney did, because after a season of sub-par performances, he finally came through for the Tigers. Snyder said McKinney's struggles were hardly a secret, but he thought with motivation he could snap out of his slump.
The St. Louis native broke out of his funk in a big way. He went 6-of-7 from the field, buried three point shots, and made six free throws. His only missed shot of the day came on a jumper with 4:43 remaining in the first half.
"I attacked today" McKinney said. "Every coach came up and told me to just play free. If I had the shot, they just wanted me to take it."
He wasn't the only Tiger to step up for Missouri. Sophomore forward Linas Kleiza scored 15 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, and sophomore guard Thomas Gardner recorded a game-high 23 points.
"To me, this is one of the best games of his career," Snyder said. "For him to go 1-of-8, and never lose his poise, and to defend and rebound the entire game just shows me that's the kind of player we need him to be all the time."
Gardner gave the Tigers a balanced 23 points, which was his career-best effort. He also grabbed five rebounds and made two assists.
Gardner recorded Kleiza went 1-of-8 from the field, but did most of his damage from the free-throw line. He went to the line 18 times, and he came away with 12 points.
and made two challenges. Missouri's underclassmen played so well that the seniors' efforts seemed to be lost after the game, but that didn't bother Conley one bit.
"That's one of the happiest memories I'll ever have," Conley said. "There's nothing like beating them here."
After scoring nine points against rival Kansas, he was more than willing to share the stage.
Coach Bill Self shows his frustration with his team's play during the second half. Self said losing senior guard Keith Langford to injury was the most disappointing aspect of yesterday's game.
Edited by Azita Tafreshi
Rvlan Howe/KANSAN
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Kansas Jayhawks got off to the start that they wanted, surging ahead 8-0 in the first half yesterday against Missouri. But with one tumble by the team's most important player, Keith Langford, the Jayhawks' destiny changed.
Langford's ankle sprains league champion hopes
Coach Bill Self said he could be out for the remainder of the season.
The Jayhawks' struggles after Langford exited showed how much this team needs the senior guard. Without him, the team will miss a leader who has proven to be unshakable in big situations.
THE RANT
Langford was a large part of the hot start for the Jayhawks; he scored five
RYAN COLAIANNI rcolaianni@kansan.com
BASEBALL
points in just 3 minutes of play. Langford went down hard on his left ankle after being fouled on a layup, and did not
SEE LANGFORD ON PAGE 6B
Team loses series, improves defense
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@hansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
Defensive improvement since facing Southwest Missouri State last week was not enough for Kansas as they went 1-3 in the NBC Classic in Starkville, Miss., this weekend.
The Jayhawks (13-8) played two teams in the tournament twice. Kansas finished up against No. 17 Mississippi State
Although Kansas had nine hits, Mississippi State timed its 10 hits more effectively, which resulted in a 9-2 victory. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first. Two hits, a walk and a jayhawk error set the score at 3-0.
(6-0).
The error marked the first and only error of the weekend.
Coach Ritch Price said he was pleased with the improvement. He said junior shortstop
Ritchie Price played up to his expectations and the others followed his lead.
Kansas scored in the top of the third off the bat of Ritchie Price. Mississippi State quickly answered. The Bulldogs put four runs on the board in the bottom of the third, highlighted by second baseman Thomas Berkery's three-run home run. Berkery finished the game 2-2
SEE SERIES ON PAGE 6B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Big 12 Tournament play begins with rivalry
When Kansas and Missouri tip off at noon tomorrow, it will mark the beginning of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.
With five teams ranked in the top 25 and eight teams with winning records, it is no small task to predict a winner. In fact, considering some of the upsets that have occurred already in
the big 12 this year, this tournament may be wide open.
The winner of that game will face No. 1 seed, and Big 12 regular season champion, Baylor. The Bears are ranked No. 8 in the nation, and finished with a 14-2 record in conference. Overall, they finished 24-3. Baylor leads the conference in three-point percentage and in
kansas, the No. 8 seed, will face off against No. 9 seed Missouri Tigers for the third time this season. The Jayhawks defeated the Tigers twice before.
assists. They rank near the top in almost every statistical category and are the tournament favorite.
Following the Jayhawks-Tigers game, No. 5 seed Iowa State will play No. 12 seed Colorado at 2:30 p.m. The Cyclones entered a three-way tie for third place in the conference, but fell to fifth because of the tiebreaker. They are 22-5 on the season, owning the second-best record in the conference.
SEE RIVALRY ON PAGE 6B