Volume 124 Issue 90
kansan.com
Monday, February 6, 2012
For 40 minutes of back-and-forth basketball more than half of Mizzou Arena apprehensively stood, waiting for nothing more than the clock to run out of time, and to see who would come out on top.
Saturday's game proved just that.
— college basketball at its peak. What does this mean?
And in between the action that went down to the final buzzer, something unique happened. The two schools, whose hatred dates back to the Civil War finally showed the small fraction of the rivalry besides hate.
Unfortunately, Missouri's 74-71 victory Saturday night also marked the beginning of the end for one of the greatest sports traditions, and that will soon be frozen in time.
The 15,061 people in attendance witnessed just what they had hoped
Self took a stern approach about the rivalry.
"I don't feel bad," Self said. "Missouri] wanted this, so why should I feel bad?"
It may sound harsh, but it was truthful words from the man with probably the biggest say in when the Jayhawks will play the Tigers next.
There may not be much of it, but sometime during the years of legendary games, a smidgen of admiration has been born. Missouri fans avoided any distasteful signs and chants, and instead enjoyed the journey both schools were taking them on.
She told him, "That's the way cal lege basketball should be played."
Following Self's post game press conference, Kansas players and their families stood on the court, consoling each other. Self stood alone, watching it all. That's when a Missouri fan approached Self, and simply thanked him for providing such great basketball.
She got that right.
But for 40 minutes Saturday, none of the off the court drama existed. Just like it had for so many years, it was just Kansas and Missouri providing basketball at its highest quality, and the fans not only understood that, they embraced it.
Respect.
the college basketball season, a David Barett song is played with a video slide-show of the tournament with the lyric that sums up the game. "One shining moment you're frozen in time." The tradition is one of the best in sports.
Concluding the final game of the college basketball sea-
COMMENTARY Tradition ends in respect
And the coach said he expects it to be the same in Lawrence.
"I love the atmosphere," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "So much has been made about the hatred and all that stuff. I thought tonight, and this is hard for me to say to Mizzou people, but I thought tonight that was about as good and class atmosphere there is."
- Edited by Tanvi Nimkar
KANSAS 71, MISSOURI 74 LAST-MINUTE LOSS
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
Tyshawn Taylor carried the Jayhawks to the cusp of victory, then squashed it all.
With 41.3 seconds left and his team trailing 72-71, Taylor stood at the free throw line. The yellow blur of Missouri's student section boomed behind the hoop. His first shot was too long, bouncing off the back of the rim. Second attempt, same fate.
With 10 seconds left and the score still 72-71, Taylor darted from the left elbow of the three-point line toward the hoop. Missouri junior guard Michael Dixon planted his left foot, embraced Taylor's contact and flew backwards onto the hardwood, drawing a charge and clinching No. 4 Missouri's 74-71 victory over No. 8 Kansas (18-5, 8-2).
"I feel like I cost us the game," Taylor said. "That's a sucky feeling."
Several Jayhaws and coach Bill Self disagreed with the referee's charge call on Taylor. A charge requires two planted feet from the defender. When Dixon halted his body to defend Taylor, his right foot slightly slid across the floor. The call was one of many that upset Self and the Jayhaws, who felt they had the game won but threw it away.
"I was told I don't want to see the tape," Self said of the charge call.
Just before Taylor's missed free
throws, Missouri senior guard Marcus Denmon, who finished with 29 points, connected on two deep, contested three-pointers. His heroes led Missouri's 11-0 run to finish the game.
In the first frame, Taylor scored 17; half of his team's points. When Robinson struggled to manage multiple defenders and produce with his back to the basket, Taylor relieved the Jayhawks with fearless attacks at Missouri's interior and calm, accurate jump shots.
"He's damn good." Self said of Taylor. "He is damn good."
Yet at the end of the game, Missouri's pressure rattled Taylor, who turned the ball over twice in the final 1:15.
"He made two threes with his body turned sideways," Self said. "Those are big time shots."
"We had a lead and we didn't want to play safe, but we wanted to still try to score," Taylor said. "We just turned it over."
With his team down three points, Taylor handed the ball to junior guard Elijah Johnson on the left side of the three-point line. Johnson dribbed to the center of the arc and pump-faked with 3.5 seconds left, his last chance at an open look. Now double-covered, Johnson hurled an off-balance shot and missed wide left.
After the game, reporters flocked around a glossy-eyed Robinson.
"I don't want to lose anymore" he said.
— Edited by Caroline Kraft
94
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor walks off the court with his head down as Kansas was defeated 71-74 in Saturday's game against Missouri at Mizzou Arena. Taylor had 21 points in the loss
Late run not enough against Aggies
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
The Kansas women's basketball team went to College Station looking to reverse its recent blunder in conference play. In practice they focused on minimizing turnovers and adjusting to perimeter pressure, but it was those two same issues that sank the Jayhawks again.
Kansas finished with 20 turnovers and shot only 38.9 percent from the field as they fell to No. 18 Texas A&M 62-51. This was Kansas' third straight loss and it dropped them to 16-6 overall and 5-5 in conference play.
"We had a lot of turnovers at a bad time and in bad situations and they were able to score off our mistakes," senior forward Aishah Sutherland said. "That's a game that we can only have limited mistakes."
The Jayhawks kept the game much closer this time, trailing by only four late in the second half. The Aggies jumped to an early 8-0 lead, but the Jayhawks battled back within three points.
By halftime, they were down 32-23, but fought back to bring the game to 10 points midway through the second half. They continued their momentum and took the margin down to
five points off a three pointer by sophomore guard CeCe Harper. With less than a minute to go, the Jayhawks pulled within four, but the Aggies scored the last seven points of the game.
"We can't change what we are doing and how we made the run and how we cut the lead in we have to continue to do that and not settle for jump shots," junior guard Angel Goodrich said.
Kansas won the rebounding battle, but was outscored 34-22 in the paint. But, Texas A&M scored 21 points off Kansas' turnovers and held Kansas without a
"I thought the kids battled and competed," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "They played with a sense of ur-
field goal in the final 5:27 of the game.
Junior forward Carolyn Davis also struggled and was called for her fourth foul early in the second half. Senior forward Aishah Sutherland offered some consistency in her absence with support from sophomore forward Tania Jackson and freshman forward Chelsea Gardner.
foul trouble. Freshman guard Natalie Knight helped Goodrich with sophomore guard CeCe Harper and junior guard Monica Engelman.
gency to get it back to four, but we turned it over at times and missed some opportunities at the rim."
With Davis out, Texas A&M forward Kelsey Bone excelled and scored a game-high 26 points. Senior guard Sydney Carter balanced the Aggie attack adding 15 points.
Foul trouble hurt the Jayhawks when Goodrich was called for her third jump just before halftime. Goodrich, the veteran point guard, continued to play for a game-high 39 minutes despite
Sutherland and Goodrich led the Jayhawks with 11 points each. Engelman finished with 10
points.
Kansas will return home to face Texas for the second time at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night. In the first contest, Texas was ranked No. 23 and Kansas left Austin, Texas with the upset victory.
Edited by Pat Strathrism
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas A&M's Adaura Elonu lays the ball up against Kansas' Aishah Sutherland during the first half of Saturday's game at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.