PAGE 4B
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012
THE UNIVERSIT
1st 2nd OT Kansas 32 | 43 | 12----87 Missouri 44 | 31 | 11----86
JAYHAWK STAT LEADERS
Points
ROBINSON 28
Rebounds
Assists
ROBINSON
12
JOHNSON 8
KANSAS
Player Pts FG-FGA Rebs A TO's
Thomas Robinson 28 10-21 12 0 2
Jeff Withey 2 1-1 1 0 0
Tyshawn Taylor 24 7-13 4 5 1
Elijah Johnson 8 3-6 2 8 0
Travis Releford 7 1-7 3 2 1
Conner Teahen 12 4-4 1 1 3
Justin Wesley 1 0-0 1 0 0
Kevin Young 5 2-6 8 0 2
Totals 87 28-58 34 16 9
MISSOURI
Player Pts FG-FGA Rebs A TO's
Ricardo Ratliffe 22 8-13 12 0 1
Phil Pressey 8 2-8 3 12 2
Matt Pressey 0 0-2 2 1 2
Marcus Denmon 28 10-15 5 2 1
Kim English 11 4-12 6 1 2
Michael Dixon 17 6-15 1 6 0
Steve Moore 0 0-0 7 0 1
Totals 86 30-65 37 22 10
KANSAS 87
GAME TO REMEMBER
Tvshawn Tavlor. Senior guard
In the most important conference game of Taylor's four-year career, he did it all. Most importantly, down 86-85 with 8.8 seconds to play, he drew a foul and hit both free throws. On Feb. 4 at Mizzou Arena, Taylor missed two free throws in the final minute. This time he couldn't make the same mistake.
Taylor
GAME TO FORGET
Jeff Withey, Junior center
After he was held scoreless at Mizzou Arena, Withey hurt his ankle, got into foul trouble and scored two points in nine minutes at Allen Fieldhouse. Coach Frank Haith suggested that Withey couldn't hang with the speed of his four-guard lineup. Going into overtime, Self asked Withey could win the tipoff despite his ankle. Withey hesisted and that's all Self needed to know. His night was done.
Withey
QUOTE OF THE GAME
Thomas Robinson, forward
"Revenge, payback. It definitely feels good. It felt like someone just jumped us and ran away and we finally caught up to them."
Robinson
KEY STATS
The number of minutes Withey played
The largest deficit Kansas faced.
19
85. 7%
Kansas shot this percentage on 14 second-half free throw attempts.
The Jayhawks didn't score a single fast-break point.
With the victory, Kansas clinches at least a share of an eighth straight Big 12 title.
NOTES
- Kansas has now won at least a share of eight consecutive Big 12 regular season titles.
- With the last scheduled meeting with Mizzou behind them, the Jayhawks ended the series with a 172-95 advantage.
- KU's comeback from down 19 in the second half was the largest second-half comeback in school history.
- Tyshawn Taylor's nine points in overtime were the most by a Kansas player since RaeLafrenz scored nine against Missouri in 1997.
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MEN'S BASKET
Tyshawn's shot at redemption
KORY CARPENTER
kcarpenter@kansan.com
Both shots clanked off the rim and Kansas eventually lost, 74-71.
Taylor finished with 24 points while playing 44 out of 45 minutes and committing just one turnover. But his final two points stole the
Shortly after, one of Taylor's friends told him he would face a similar situation when the Tigers traveled to Lawrence.
show.
Kansas came back from 19 points in the second half and forced overtime. Missouri senior guard Marcus Denmon hit a floater along the baseline to give the Tigers an 86-85 lead with 12 seconds left.
Junior guard Elijah Johnson inbounded the ball while Taylor was peering up at the video board for a quick check of the time. The ball bounced a few feet past Taylor, leaving the nearly 16,300 fans in attendance momentarily gasping for breath.
"I'm sure I did," Taylor chucked when asked if his near-fatal slip up scared the jayhawk fateful.
Kansas almost never had a final chance to score, however.
There was plenty of time to smile about the play at that point.
not unlike the final seconds in the first game against Missouri. But with the crowd holding its arms in the air in silent support of the four-year starter, Taylor coolly knocked down both attempts to give the Jayhawks the lead, 87-86.
"He got fouled," Self said. "And for him to make the two free throws in the same scenario that he missed them in Columbia, I thought that was good for him."
In the timeout moments before Denmon's bucket, coach Bill Self told his team to "go flat" on offense if Missouri scored, meaning he wanted everyone but Taylor to spread out along the baseline to give their point guard room to operate.
With just 12 seconds on the clock, there wasn't much time to think.
"We have to go score and get a good shot, but get it as fast as possible," Taylor said of his thought process as he received the pass. "I just put my head down and saw a little seam and attacked."
He was fouled on a layup attempt,
"He was absolutely right," Taylor said of his friend's prediction. "It was the same team again, but not the same circumstances and I came through this time. Words can't describe how I feel."
Edited by Pat Strathman
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
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Junior guard Thomas Robinson gets a block against Missouri's Phil Pressey and takes the game to overtime Saturday night at Allen Field House. Kansas beat Missouri 87-86.