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KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2010 / SPORTS
7A
MISSOURI 65
BALLREWIND
Weston White/KANSAN
Wecton White/KANCAN
Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor drives to the basket Monday night against Missouri. Taylor scored seven points but turned the ball over five times against the Tigers.
Junior guard Tyrel Reed receives a pass mid-air from Junior guard Brady Morningstar for a layup. Reed scored 14 points off the bench, shooting four-for-four from three point
/KANSAN
Jayhawks dominate court in first half
BY TIM DWYER
kansan.com/tdwyer
www.twitter.com/T Dwver
Cole Aldrich took a Xavier Henry pass, hung in the air for way too long for a man of his size and threw down an alley-oop. The Jayhawks went up 3-0, the crowd went into a frenzy, and the rout was on.
The three Kansas big men who saw significant playing time - Aldrich and the Morris twins - combined for 38 points, 36 rebounds and eight blocks as the layhawks laid an 84-65 hurting on the Missouri Tigers.
"Marcus has been playing great lately," Aldrich said. "Kieff has had great times over the last few games, and I'm starting to get back to where I've been playing."
It was a safe bet that the jayhawks frontcourt, which may well be the deepest in the country, would overpower the Eigers' unspectacular posts, but not even the stoutest of jayhawks fans could have seen this coming.
If it had been a heavyweight title bout, the refs would have called the fight after round one. The Jayhawks were leading by 20 and had a rebounding margin of plus 22. Unfortunately for the Tigers, it wasn't boxing, and the beating continued for another 20 minutes.
"Our big guys were unbelievable on the glass in the first half." Bill Self said. "They were great."
The Jayhawks frontcourt
continued its dominance in the paint. The Jayhawks doubled up Missouri in rebounding, 56-28. They doubled the Tigers up in points in the paint, 36-18. They outblocked the Tigers 9-2. They dominated basically every statistic a frontcourt can dominate.
"Give Kansas credit for taking the fight to us," Missouri coach Mike Anderson said. "They really dominated the glass, and that was really surprising to me."
Aldrich was the unquestioned star of the show, swatting away seven Missouri shots like so many flies, and tying Danny Manning for fifth on the career blocks list with 200.
"Ever since I was 6-foot in sixth grade I've tried to block shots," Aldrich said. "I just try to make a presence in the lane. I could sense it a little bit, because they were hesitant to drive a little bit. I'm just going to continue to do it. That's just the player I am and I love blocking shots."
The whooping Kansas' bigs issued Monday night was so thorough it didn't even stop inside.
— Edited by Kristen Liszewski
It continued behind the three-point line, when both Morris twins hit a three in the second half. The Jayhawks moved to 10-0 in Marcus' career when he hits from outside, and 8-1 in Markieff's.
Weston White/KANSAN
Western White/KANSAN Sophomore forward Marcus Morris hits a shot underneath the basket. Morris led the Jawahars with 17 points and nine rebounds Monday night against Missouri. Kansas won 84-65 to move to 19-10 on the season before facing Kansas State this Saturday in Manhattan.
Aldrich led the Kansas charge with his best performance since his triple-double against Dayton in last year's NCAA Tournament. His seven blocks were such a dominant performance that even the Tigers admitted timidness in his shadow. "His presence altered guys' shots and guys were hesitant to go into the lane," Missouri forward Justin Safford said.
Game to remember
Collins
Aldrich
Game to forget
It's hard to call anyone out after a 19-point drubbing of an arch-rival, but Collins' 2-for-11, six-point, two-assist, four-turnover performance was certainly less than sparkling. He was the only Jayhawk to play more than five minutes and not score at least seven points.
Stat of the night
56-28
The Jayhawks hammered Missouri on the boards, outrebounding the Tigers 56-28. Both coaches expressed
tigers 50-28. Both coaches expressed shock after the game at that number, Bill Self exuberantly, and Mike Anderson morosely. Cole Aldrich pulled down a game-high 16 boards, 12 of which came in the first half.
Quote of the night
"Growing up in Kansas, for me, since I was a little kid, you've known about the Kansas-Missouri rivalry. You know, being in grade school and not liking the kid next to you because he was a Missouri fan. It's that big a deal to people around here. I have a great time playing them, they're a good program, but whenever we have a chance to go against them, I want to beat them as bad as we can."
Reed
Prime plays
— Tyrel Reed
1ST HALF
(SCORE AFTER PLAY)
16:37 - Xavier Henry broke out of his slump from three-point territory to bring the Jay-hawks within two. On the next possession, he fought for an offensive board and somehow retained it for the 'Hawks. (6-8)
12:40. It's not often you see Tyrel Reed on the receiving end of an alley-oop, even though it was more of a layup. Tyshawn Taylor found him on a two-against-one breakaway. (15-12)
9:01 Everyone and their mother thought Brady Morningstar was going to pass the ball to Cole Aldrich, but Morningstar no-look passed it to Marcus Morris who finished and drew the foul. (23-15)
1:41 After getting an andone layup, Tyshawn Taylor missed a free throw and Cole Aldrich tried to get the rebound. Instead of grabbing the rebound, he unintentionally
tipped the ball in the basket for essentially a four-point play. Oops. (43-27)
End of Half-Brady Morningstar chucked up a three pointer from WAY behind the arc and it bounced all over the place until finally dropping in. This was indicative of the entire first half for Kansas. (50-30)
2ND HALF
17:47 After starting the half with two three-point plays, Xavier Henry responded to Mizzou hitting his second and third threes of the game. His recent struggles brought about laughs of lifted frustration after he made them. (56-36)
15:35- Cole Aldrich gave Keith Ramsey a complete facial with his seventh block of the game. (58-38)
8:22 - Roommates unite. Cole Aldrich fed Tyrel Reed for his fourth three-pointer of the game. (75-47)
Key stats
27.9%
Mizzou shot just 19-of-68 from the field, good for an abysmal 27.9 percent. It's the lowest shooting percentage of any Kansas opponent this year.
200
54
Cole Aldrich's seven blocks bumped his career total up to 200, tying him on the Kansas all-time leaderboard with current assistant coach Danny Manning.
40-14
The victory was Kansas' 54th consecutive in Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks are now 40-14 in the Border Showdown in Allen Fieldhouse.
4-of-4
Junior guard Tyrel Reed hit all four three pointers he attempted en route to tying a career-high 14 points.
Corey Thibodeaux and Tim Dwyer
Jan. 1st. In his last seven games, Henry has shot 29 percent.
COLUMN (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
Henry's problems were overshadowed against Missouri. Aldrich nearly recorded a tripledouble and he gained most of the attention.
When referring to the play of Aldrich against Missouri, coach Bill Self said, "Cole was great. Cole and Tyrel were our two best players today. We had some guys shooting the ball that shouldn't have been shooting the ball in that situation. The ball should have been going to Cole and giving him a chance to score."
Could Self be referring to Henry, who was three of eight from the field? I think he might be.
"If the number of turnovers was 15, we score 95 points. We certainly have to be better and learn from it," Self said.
He had as many points as he did turnovers in the first half: three. Henry ended up with five of the teams 23 turnovers.
It's not just poor shooting from Henry that has me worried either.
"If the number of turnovers was 15, we score 95 percent. We certainly have to be better and learn from it."
It will also take a lot of pressure off of Aldrich, Collins and Morris
BILL SELF Kansas coach
Self is right. Kansas will not win many games in conference with 23 turnovers.
well the entire season.
if Henry can find his stroke again. With 11 games left in the regular season, there is time for Henry to do just that. But if he doesn't, he needs to be back in school next year striving to play
Edited by Becky Howlett