8B GAME DAY
THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2009
KU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Six days after a battle for first place in the Big 12 Conference against Oklahoma, Kansas has well, another battle for first place. The Jayhawks are on top of the Big 12 standings with a 12-1 record. Missouri is tied for second with an 11-2 record. But if the Tigers beat the Jayhawks, they will be alone in first place because of two head-to-head victories. It's going to be tougher this time around for Missouri, though. Aside from the obvious fact that the game will be held in Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks still remember the feeling they got watching Missouri fans rush the floor after being defeated in Columbia, Mo. They want revenge.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore center Cole Aldrich
He's unstoppable. Heck, lately
he's even been impossible to slow
down. Drinking
back to the last Missouri game, Aldrich is averaging 13 rebounds per game. He's second in the Big 12 in the category, and Kansas leads
the conference in rebounding margin — a statistic Kansas coach Bill Self cites as his team's most impressive. Self has Aldrich to thank for it. Aldrich's dominance on the boards limits second-chance scoring opportunities for opponents and can demoralize smaller big men. Overall, Aldrich is averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds.
How will Kansas deal with Missouri's pressure defense?
QUESTION MARK
Pitiful. That's how Self said Kansas did against Missouri's pressure in the first meeting. Kansas turned the ball over 27 times in a 62-60 defeat. That's the most turn-overs this season for the Jayhawks and the third most in the last 20 years. A repeat performance will result in a loss. No question. But it's unlikely the Jayhawks will play that poorly in Allen Fieldhouse. They've had a week to prepare for it, and Self has certainly stressed the importance of ball control in every practice this week.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"It was tough to play down there — real tough to play. But now, we're at our house and the crowd will be to our favor. We've been looking toward this game. This is a game that's been circled on our calendar."
Junior guard Sherron Collins
"It's going to be one of those games that lingers for the longest time."
- Sophomore center Cole Aldrich after losing to Missouri three weeks ago
BORDER REMATCH Jayhawks look for payback as the Tigers claw at the Big 12 lead KANSAS VS. MISSOURI 1 p.m., ALLEN FIELDHOUSE, Lawrence, CBS
Collins
KANSAS
(23-5, 12-1)
STARTERS
Sherron Collins, 5-foot-11 junior guard
Sherron Collins, 5-foot-11 junior guard Collins is one of the best point guards in the nation. Around here, everyone already knew that. His last two games have started to convince the country.
Tavlor
Tyshawn Taylor, 6-foot-3 freshman guard
Consistency is Taylor's issue. He had the best game of his career against Oklahoma following two week's worth of frustrating performances. He needs to limit turnovers against Missouri.
Brady Morningstar, 6-foot-3 sophomore guard
Morningstar had a disastrous performance against Oklahoma. Willie Warren made him look silly, he recorded four fouls and missed his four shots.
Morningstar
Marcus Morris, 6-foot-8 freshman forward
Morris
Marcus has improved defensively, but will face a huge test trying to guard Leo Lyons and/or DeMärre Carroll. The Jayhawks can't allow either of them to get open looks anywhere on the court.
Cole Aldrich, 6-foot-11 sophomore center
Aldrich
Self's biggest complaint after the first Missouri game was that Kansas stopped looking for Aldrich, who only scored eight points. Missouri will do all it can to dissuade the Jayhawks from throwing it into Aldrich again.
SIXTH MAN
Morris
Markieki has come alive in the last two games with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. But he still
Markieff Morris, 6-foot-9 freshman forward
fouled out in 14 minutes against Oklahoma.
— Case Keefer
★★★★
J.T. Tiller, 6-foot-3 junior guard
(24-4,11-2)
STARTERS
On Wednesday Tiller reached the century mark in assists. Tiller also leads Missouri with 53 steals and pours in 7.8 points per game.
MISSOUR
Zaire Taylor, 6-foot-4 junior guard
Zare Taylor, 8-foot-4 junior guard
Missouri's hero on Feb. 9 has scored
a total of six points in three games since
handing Kansas its only conference defeat.
Tiller
Taylor
Kim English, 6-foot-6 freshman guard
The freshman is stuck in a serious funk right now. He's averaging four points per game since scoring eight against Kansas. While his points have dipped, English's recent bump in turnovers has made him a liability.
English
DeMarre Carroll, 6-foot-8 senior forward
Carroll is an extremely talented player who can take over a game when needed, much like Sherron Collins. He will get plenty of attention from Kansas' big men, but they still couldn't stop him from scoring 22 points in the last meeting.
Carroll
Leo Lyons, 6-foot-9 senior forward
time the Tigers need an energy boost. Missouri will need both forwards to be on-target in order to counter Kansas' size advantage.
Lyons is always right behind Carroll, ready to step in any
time the Distance reaches 100km.
Lyons
SIXTH MAN
Matt Lawrence, 6-foot-7 senior guard
Averaging 8.9 points per game, Lawrence is Missouri's third-leading scorer. He's also its most lethal threat beyond the arc, where he hits 41 percent of his 145 three-point attempts.
Lawrence
Conner Teahan
Taylor Bern
MU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
No Big 12 team is playing better than the Tigers right now. Missouri has won seven in a row and 11 of its last 12. That includes a thrilling home victory over Kansas. Wednesday night Missouri routed Kansas State 94-74. That, paired with a Valentine's Day beat down of Nebraska, avenged Missouri's only conference losses. Both of those came on the road, which is the only time the Tigers are susceptible to defeat. Missouri gets Oklahoma at home on Wednesday, which means a second rivalry victory puts the Tigers in the Big 12 driver's seat.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Senior forward Leo Lyons
Frontcourt partner DeMarre Carroll gets most of the attention, which is exactly why Lyons will need to shine on Sunday. Carroll pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds against Kansas State
on Wednesday, but he won't be able to get numbers like that against Cole Aldrich. Lyons needs to grab at least his average six rebounds and try to alleviate
the defensive on Carroll by posting up whoever is playing the four spot for Kansas. If Lyons plays well, Carroll has more room to operate, which is a scary thought for Kansas.
QUESTION MARK
Lyons
Can Missouri keep up with Kansas on the glass?
The Jayhawks outrebounded the Tigers by 20 (48-28) but gave away most of those possessions with turnovers. That's not likely to happen at home, so Missouri must make more of an effort to hit the boards and fight Aldrich for rebounds. Since that game, the Tigers have stayed even in rebounding margin, but none of those games pitted them against a quality big man. Missouri's ability to grab rebounds and keep Kansas from getting second-chance points could be the difference in this game.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"We did a tremendous job in the first half attacking the glass. We had a lot of guys getting in there and sticking their noses in."
— Missouri coach Mike Anderson after Wednesday's 94-74 victory over Kansas State
"Yeah we were thinking about Kansas, Kansas State. With the Kansas game coming up, it's just another game, like this one."
— Missouri forward DeMarre Carroll on whether his team was looking ahead to Sunday's game.
NA
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
S p n
Game
Time (CT) Channel
Iowa State at Texas A&M 12:30 p.m. Big 12 Network
Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma 2:30 p.m. PMABC
Baylor vs. Colorado 3 p.m. Big 12 Network
Oklahoma State vs. Texas 5:00 PM ESPN
Kansas State vs. Nebraska 7:00 PM Big 12 Network
Prediction:
KANSAS 79, MISSOURI 77
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
ALLEN FIELDHOUSE WILL ROCK IF
PHOG ALLEN WILL ROLL OVER IN HIS GRAVE IF ...
AT
It's treated to a dominating point guard performance. On a day where Kirk Hinrich's jersey will be retired at halftime, it would be appropriate. All eyes are on Sherron Collins, who scored 26 points with three assists at Oklahoma. If Collins plays anywhere near that level Sunday — and there's no reason to believe he won't — Hinrich should consider it an honor.
Kansas is outrebounded. This shouldn't even be an issue considering Kansas grabbed 20 more rebounds than Missouri at Mizzou Arena. But the Jayhawks are dangerously relying on Aldrich alone to do the work lately. Against Oklahoma, no one else on the roster had more than three rebounds. Missouri isn't a great rebounding team, but certainly capable. Marcus and/or Markiek Morris need to provide relief for Aldrick by scrapping alongside him down low.
Date Opponent TV Time
March 4 at Texas Tech ESPN2 8:30 p.m.
March 7 TEXAS CBS 3 p.m.
Big 12 Tournament March 11-14
3. ___