THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KU 90, MU 65
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ed his team how they managed to let a 14-point halftime lead slip away the first time against the Tigers.
"We kind of gave one up in Columbia," sophomore center Cole Aldrich said. "Coach said, 'Hey, were in the same predication we were in up in Columbia.' We knew they were going to make runs."
Only the Tigers didn't. They couldn't because Aldrich made every attempt irrelevant. Aldrich scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and also finished with 14 rebounds.
Two of his baskets in the final five and a half minutes were specifically memorable. All year, Self has encouraged Taylor to throw alley-oops to Aldrich instead of bounce passes in transition.
He finally listened. Twice, Taylor lobbed high passes to Aldrich near the basket. Twice, Aldrich threw them down to send
Allen Fieldhouse into a frenzy.
"I was like, I'm just going to throw it up there and if he catches it, he catches it. If he don't, he don't," Taylor said. "He caught them both from me and dang, I had a smile on my face both times."
All the fayhawks were smiling after the game. They knew how important the victory was and how a number of themes surrounded it. So which one — the domination, the redemption, or being on top of the standings — felt the best?
To the players, it was avenging their only Big 12 defeat.
"I won't say a little overrated, but I don't think they're better than us," Collins said. "The team in Columbia wasn't really what we played like. Tonight, we showed who we really are."
Aldrich helps Kansas cruise past Missouri
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
Collins committed a team-high five turnovers, but no one else had more than two. The passivity that doomed Kansas in its lone Big 12 loss was left in the locker room Sunday.
"That wasn't even the same team that played in Columbia," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "In Columbia, we were trying not to lose and today we were in attack mode the whole time."
In the waning minutes of Sunday's 90-65 victory over Missouri, Cole Aldrich worked on his highlight reel. Really, there was nothing else to accomplish.
Instead of waiting for Missouri's backcourt traps, Kansas attacked the defenders and quickly passed up-court out of double teams.
"Once you got past the first line of pressure there wasn't too much else they could do with us," Collins said. "We were going to play 4-on-3 the whole time."
Edited by Jesse Trimble
The outcome was decided long before Tyshawn Taylor lofted his sixth assist to the right side of the rim with 2:40 left on the clock. Aldrich's spectacular one-handed finish just brought it to an appropriate end.
Missouri coach Mike Anderson's team is known for putting teams through "40 minutes of hell" with constant pressure. On Sunday, the Jayhawks cruised through the full-court pressure as if it wasn't even there. Kansas looked nothing like the rattled team that committed a season-high 27 turnovers in Columbia.
"We knew we were going to handle the pressure better this time," junior guard Sherron Collins said.
Kansas also helped itself by forcing Missouri to shoot just
21 percent from the field in the first half. Because the Tigers didn't hit shots they didn't have time to apply full-court pressure.
Everything was working for the Jayhawks in the opening minutes. Tyshawn Taylor's three-pointer with four seconds left in the first half capped a 7-0 run and put Kansas up 45-19.
Aldrich said he toyed around with alley-oops in practice but never expected to use his one-handed finish in a game. Most people never expected this game to be a blowout, either.
"Before the game started, I thought this was the most fun place that I had ever played, except for Mizzou Arena," Taylor said. "Once the ball was tipped and the score started swinging in their favor, I am not sure I enjoyed it as much."
"I don't know how high I got or how I grabbed it, I just threw it in." Aldrich said. "It was really fun."
"That's probably the best half of basketball weplayed since the North Carolina game last year," Self said.
The pre-game atmosphere for this game, Self said, rivaled any of the great home games during his tenure. Besides the rivalry, these teams were playing for control of the Big 12 and seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
Aldrich sure enjoyed it. After missing his first dunk attempt, the sophomore center slammed the ball five times en route to 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Missouri guard Zaire Taylor, the late-game hero in Columbia, said he couldn't help but feel the excitement and anticipation from the stands.
Edited by Grant Treaster
Freshman forward Marcus Morris hits a shot in front of the basket, drawing the foul for a free-throw attempt. Morris missed the free throw finishing with four points in Kansas' victory over Missouri.
@ KANSAN.COM
Check Kansan.com/ videos to see a video of coach Bill Self's press conference about the men's basketball game against Missouri.
VIEW FROM PRESS ROW
IT WAS OVER WHEN ...
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor hit a three-point shot with four seconds remaining in the first half to send the Jayhawks into halftime with a 45-19 lead. Twenty minutes of play remained, but Kansas with a 26-point lead at Allen Fieldhouse is pretty close to a sure thing. That turned out to be the case as Missouri never cut the lead to less than 18 points in the second half. Taylor finished with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting, but his biggest shot came at the end of the first half.
GAME TO REMEMBER ...
Former guard Kirk Hinrich
Hinrich
It was no coincidence that Kansas retired Hinrich's jersey during halftime of the Missouri game. Hinrich wanted it that way. He selected this date to be honored before the season in part because of the Border Showdown. Good choice. Not only was Hinrich's jersey added to the rafters, but he also got to watch a 90-65 shellacking. A large portion of the video shown at halftime to honor Hinrich featured highlights of games he played against Missouri.
GAME TO FORGET ...
The Missouri Tigers
Making this an individual award just wouldn't be right. Missouri collectively deserves it. The Tigers are going to want to scratch this
one of the media guide. This was their chance to take the lead in the Big 12 Conference and sweep the Jayhawks for the first time in 15 years. They came in confident. They left demoralized. It was no one player's fault. The first half, only
three Tigers scored DeMarre Carroll, Leo Lyons and J.T Tiller. The rest of the team went 0-for-15 from the field.
STAT OF THE NIGHT ...
40. Kansas extended the nation's longest home court winning streak to 40 games. Only one home game remains — next Saturday against Texas — until the Jayhawks could prolong the streak into its fourth season.
Case Keefer
PRIME PLAYS
FIRST HALF
15:48 — Cole Aldrich had already missed one dunk, so he took a little extra time to size-up his next attempt. The result was an emphatic one-handed slam from the middle of the paint.
12:14 — This play demonstrated Missouri's problem on Sunday. Keith Ramsey stood in the lane while Kansas' Mario Little drove to the basket. Ramsey looked scared and moved out of the way, which prompted coach Mike Anderson to call a timeout and chew him out.
5:24 - Tyshawn Taylor laced a pass past two Missouri defenders to Sherron Collins in the corner. Collins hit the three pointer to put Kansas up 36-14.
0:04 Once again, Collins' dribble-drive ability opened up Taylor for a three-pointer just before halftime. Kansas hasn't missed a shot in the final seconds of the first half since Jan. 6 against Siena.
SECOND HALF
14:20 — Missouri had a little run out of halftime, but Collins ended that with another three. After hitting the trey, Collins looked at his right hand as if he wasn't in control of it then used the offending hand to greet Aldrich and Tyrel Reed.
5:18 — Aldrich racked up highlight-worthy dunks on Sunday. This one came on a fast break through Missouri's pressure with Taylor alleying Aldrich's oop.
2140 — if some alley-oop is good, then more is better. This one soared high above the rim and Aldrich nearly missed it, but corralled the pass and slammed it to put Kansas up 86-60.
0:37 — Adding a comedic punch to Missouri's defeat, Kim English tried to dunk. The comedic part? He was blocked by the rim, which sent the crowd into a final hysteria.
"There's no place like it."
GAME NOTES
— Taylor Bern
Athletics Director Lew Perkins presented Hinrich with a framed jersey and Max Falkenstein gave a rundown of Hinrich's accomplishments as a Jayhawk. They included his role in leading the team to two straight Final Fours in 2002 and 2003 and his selection as a Wooden All-American in 2003.
Then, Hinrich took the microphone. The only difference from his senior day speech was he didn't cry this time. Hinrich thanked Falkenstein, his teammates, former coach Roy Williams, his family and friends. He capped the speech off with a salute to Allen Fieldhouse
He found himself at the same place Sunday — once again reminiscing on his career. Kansas retired Hinnich's No. 10 jersey during a halftime ceremony.
HINRICH IMMORTALIZED
Exactly six years ago, Kirk Hinrich stood at the center of James Naismith Court and gave his senior day speech.
Hinrich said. "This building, in my mind, is the best basketball venue in the world."
Hinrich's jersey was unveiled in the southwest corner of Allen Fieldhouse — bookended by former teammate Nick Collison's and Falkenstein's.
Hinich ranks ninth in all-time scoring at Kansas with 1,753 points, fourth in assists with 668 and sixth in steals with 206. He currently plays for the NBA's Chicago Bulls after being the seventh selection in the 2003 NBA Draft.
SPOTTED IN THE CROWD
Hinrich wasn't the only former Jayhawk at Allen Fieldhouse watching the victory against Missouri. The Allen Fieldhouse video board showed three others during a timeout in the second half.
Former big men Nick Collison, Eric Chenowith and Scot Pollard were all also in the stands.
Case Keefer