Kansas
VIDEO: Mizzou AD embraces and thanks refs
Mizzou fan begs for more. Isn't being dominated 171-95 enough for you people?
Five can’t-miss contests
Kansas (18-5, 8-2 Big 12) at Baylor (21-2, 6-2), Wednesday 7 p.m. Bill Self said after KU’s fall-from-ahead loss at Missouri that he left knowing he has a good team. And he’s right. He also saw senior Tyshawn Taylor miss free throws that could have put the Jayhawks ahead late and turn it over twice in the final 75 seconds, and junior Elijah Johnson pass up an open 3-pointer that would have tied the game when there was no time to search for alternatives. These guards need to prove they can perform under pressure.
One random thought
The effort by Missouri fans/followers/faithful – and some in the media -- to make Kansas appear petty for being disinterested in continuing the Border War rivalry is flabbergasting. The Tigers chose to discontinue the game by departing the Big 12 Conference for what it perceives to be greener pastures in the SEC (after nearly injuring themselves straining to be invited to the Big Ten).
The 100-plus years of history between the athletic teams from Kansas and Missouri were pretty much all about league competition. Mizzou, despite this tradition, placed little value in continuing this.
And so it won’t continue.
Missouri is free to create an enduring basketball rivalry with Auburn.
Mike DeCourcy Sporting News
It's hard to overthink this: You either execute or you don't. The Jayhawks didn't execute. That simple. And that's why they lost.
Of course, it's not quite that simple. Kansas was not helped by an iffy late charge call onTyshawn Taylor that just as easily could have been a blocking foul on Michael Dixon. It resulted in two Missouri free throws and a three-point lead for KU to overcome. Even worse, that call wasn't nearly as egregious as the one against Robinson with 1:43 remaining; that easily could have been a block on Mizzou forward Steve Moore, an and-1 bucket for Robinson and a potential six-point swing, given Marcus Denmon's huge go-ahead 3 a few seconds later. Kansas fans are not at all happy about this turn of events, and they have every right to their anger.
ESPN
TYSHAWN TAYLOR AND THOMAS ROBINSON ARE CAPABLE OF CARRYING KANSAS TO A FINAL FOUR
The Jayhawks suffered a bitter defeat to Missouri on Saturday night in Columbia and even though Taylor missed two key free throws and was called for a critical charge in the game’s final seconds, you couldn’t help but get the feeling that this team has the components to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Even though he’s played his entire basketball career in the shadows, Taylor seems eager to accept the leadership role for Kansas and Robinson has turned into college basketball’s nastiest presence. A brute force on the baseline, the power forward encapsulates the term “man among boys”. With both Taylor and Robinson likely to produce at a high level each and every game, the key for this team will be getting enough support around its two stars. It seems like Bill Self only has six people he can really count on in his rotation and it will be up them to provide just enough ancillary help around Taylor and Robinson.
CBS Rothstein
Someone told me Tyshawn Taylor wasn't a Cousy finalist. Surely they were kidding.
https://twitter.com/#!/JasonKingESPN/status/166002565580996608
Kansas is getting hosed by the whistle late.
https://twitter.com/#!/AndyGlockner/status/166009736779665408
If an NBA GM takes Perry Jones ahead of Thomas Robinson, it should be an immediately fireable offense.
https://twitter.com/#!/AndyGlockner/status/166003494136979457
Also moved Kansas up 1 spot (in AP ballot) after close road loss to top-10 team (Mizzou). Tells us more about KU (or any team) than home W vs unranked opp.
https://twitter.com/#!/wilnerhotline/status/166553060896813056
Thomas Robinson dominated down low in the second half, but he stood outside the locker room with glossed over eyes.
“I don’t want to lose anymore,” he said.
Tyshawn Taylor emerged shortly after, shouldering the guilt brought on by his late-game turnovers and missed free throws. After leading KU in the first half, he had four turnovers after halftime, including in the game’s crucial moments.
“Just speeding up,” he said. “We had a lead, and we didn’t want to play it safe. We wanted to still try to score, and we just turned it over.”
The Jayhawks crumbled late, going the final 3:20 without scoring. A comfortable eight-point lead evaporated. Momentum turned on KU in a hurry.
Yet this is still somewhat unconquered territory for Self’s group. The Jayhawks have played in only a handful of games decided in the final minutes — Georgetown, Davidson, Texas, Iowa State and Duke.
KU made all the plays against Georgetown and Texas, but the Jayhawks wavered in the closing minutes against Davidson, Iowa State, Duke and now Missouri — all losses.
What the Missouri loss revealed once more is KU’s slim margin for error. The Jayhawks let Missouri back in the game at Mizzou Arena last year, but they had enough guns to close it out.
KU turned to Taylor and Robinson time and again in the closing minutes Saturday. The game was going to be decided in their hands.
“That’s exactly where we wanted it,” KU guard Travis Releford said.
But the two players who had done so much for KU to that point, who had carried the Jayhawks all night, couldn’t close it out.
Now the Jayhawks must rally in a hurry as they travel south to play Baylor in a potentially decisive game for the conference race.
“We have a chance to bounce back and redeem ourselves,” Taylor said.
TCJ
“Tonight was our game to win,” Self said, “and we just didn’t get it done.”
TCJ
“It’s not good with the conference situation — the race. Still, we’ve been here before,” said KU coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks have scratched and clawed their way to seven consecutive league crowns"
LJW
"That was the loudest I’ve ever heard it,’’ English said.
…If the crowd was supposed to be an intimidating or distracting factor early, Kansas didn’t catch on.
Stoked by Tyshawn Taylor, the Jayhawks hit five of their first six shots to take a 13-7 lead on Travis Releford’s 3-pointer, KU’s third in four tries to open the game. Taylor had eight in that span.
St Louis PD
Put this one on the list of the best games ever played in the MU-KU rivalry. More than 20 minutes after the game, my ears were still ringing and fans were still roaming around on the court trying to comprehend the magnitude of what they'd just witnessed. As he waited in the wings outside the Missouri locker room after the game, ESPN college basketball analyst Hubert Davis was trying to describe what he'd just seen.
"You know how there are so many times when you go to games like this with all the build up and you just can't wait for the game to start? And then the game starts and the whole thing just fizzles?" he said. "Well, this one didn't fizzle at all. Gawd, that might have been as loud and great an atmosphere as I've ever experienced at a basketball game. One of the greatest ever."
St Louis PD Burwell
5. Kansas Jayhawks
The loss at Missouri did not diminish Kansas in Bilas Index. There is a return game, and KU had a chance to win the game in a raucous road environment. The Jayhawks' numbers are better than those of North Carolina, but the Heels are a slightly better team. Tyshawn Taylortook a beating after the Missouri game, but he is having a terrific season, and put KU in a position to win. Using ball screens, Taylor has been terrific, shooting better than 60 percent off of pick-and-rolls in his past six games. And Thomas Robinson has been going to the rim more often in his past two games, which will make KU harder to beat.
6. Missouri Tigers
Marcus Denmon was in a significant slump entering the Kansas game, but after 29 points and grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat, I would say the slump is over. Missouri has a potent offense, and the Tigers have eight wins against the KenPom.com top 50. Missouri is second in the nation, shooting 56.5 percent from inside the 3-point line.
Jay Bilas Insider
All right, people, pack up the beer and the bean dip and hang a “Closed” sign on the front door. No need for that big Sunday party anymore.
Missouri just won the Super Bowl.
At least that’s what Saturday night’s victory for the No. 4 Tigers (21-2) seemed to represent around these parts. Mizzou fans wanted this win desperately. They needed it. They camped out in the rain in tents just to be a part of it. They threw objects from the stands in anger just to show how much they cared.
They behaved like devotees of a program that had lost five straight to the hated Jayhawks, hadn’t won a top 10 dual over KU in over 20 years, and has never won a Big 12 regular-season title—and never will if it doesn’t happen this season, before the Show-Me State defies geographic logic by melding with the SEC.
Missouri is 8-2 in league play, same as No. 8 Kansas (18-5) and sixth-ranked Baylor (21-2), which will pay a visit to Mizzou Arena this coming Saturday.
Wait a minute, more games? Does that mean this wasn’t the Super Bowl?
“I’m leaving here disappointed we lost,” KU coach Bill Self said, “but I’m leaving here knowing we’ve got a good team.
“We’ve been here before.”
See? That’s a guy—a basketball guy, not a football guy—who knows what early February sounds like.
…Then again, KU fans have never felt the Border War to the core in quite the same way as Missouri’s have. That’s because they win many more of these games than they lose, and always have.
Many in this state will absolutely hate this, but it’s a lot like the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry. And in this analogy—sorry—the Tigers are the Cubs.
Kansas and Missouri have been conference foes in basketball since 1908, which happens to be the last year the Cubs won the World Series. Since then, the Cardinals have raised 11 world championship banners.
Meanwhile, KU has amassed three national titles and 13 Final Four appearances, to Mizzou’s zilch and nada.
So Saturday’s win was big—maybe even Super Bowl big, in a sense. As Self confirmed afterward, a Jayhawks-Tigers rematch in Columbia is “not going to happen in the near future.” This one will stay with those who packed Mizzou Arena for a long while.
But to most folks west of the border, it’ll be nothing more than a minor footnote if KU restores the normal order of things before the end of the season. And this much we already know: They won’t storm the Allen Fieldhouse court on Feb. 25 no matter what happens.
Sporting News
LJW: Jayhawks in the NBA
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Big 12/College News
Big 12 Schedule & Results
Heading into the season, many commentators characterized the Big 12 as embarking on a "down year." If you listened more carefully, however, what they really seemed to be saying was, "Kansas will be down this year." And of course if someone other than the Jayhawks is going to win the conference title, how good can the Big 12 really be?
To be fair, with Kansas having won at least a share of each of the last seven conference titles, it's perhaps understandable that some perceive the Big 12 as "Kansas and everyone else." Moreover, after Texas lost three starters to the first round of the NBA draft for the second straight season, the only team that has consistently challenged the Jayhawks during their remarkable run looked to be facing a transition year of its own, opening the season without a single returning starter while preparing to rely on six true freshmen.
Nevertheless, to those who follow the Big 12 more closely, not only did the reasoning behind such "down year" forecasts seem flimsy, but top-to-bottom the conference looked likely to be at least as strong as a season ago and once again among the two or three leagues in the country. And while some were singularly fixated on Kansas' perceived vulnerability as a barometer of the conference's strength, Big 12 hoops junkies were gearing up for perhaps the most highly anticipated conference season in the league's 16-year history.
…Those who closely follow Big 12 hoops instinctively know that the home court advantage in conference games is meaningful, but it was nevertheless enlightening to see supporting data for that conclusion in a recent recent study. Beyond the Bets reports that since 2006-07 Big 12 home teams are 227-184-8 (.552) against the spread in conference games, far ahead of every other conference, with only home teams in the Big Ten (.503) and ACC (.501) cracking the break-even mark over that same time.
…As for Missouri, although emerging from Allen Fieldhouse victorious will be a tall order, the Tigers are capable of winning each of their other three road games, and they've been untouchable in Columbia this season. If that trend holds, they're a strong bet to share or win the title, barring a clean sweep on the road by Kansas. The Jayhawks are capable of pulling that off, of course, but Baylor won't be easy to knock off in Waco and Kansas is 2-2 across its last four at Bramlage, with one of the wins coming in overtime. The odds are Kansas drops at least one road game, but if it's just one and if they win the rematch with Mizzou in Lawrence, it's certainly plausible both the Tigers and Jayhawks could share the title at 15-3, giving Missouri its first Big 12 championship in its very last season in the conference.
And for Kansas, well... divisions, round robins, high expectations, "down year" forecasts... it's nothing new.
Basketball Prospectus
Conference realignment affected every major conference in America. But no one wears a bigger scar than the Big 12.
First Nebraska and Colorado left for greener pastures. Then Texas A&M and Missouri bolted for the SEC. Amid all that strife, Dan Beebe lost his job, and Texas and Oklahoma nearly dissolved the league in favor of a West Coast super-conference.
But in the actual athletic arena, the Big 12 has thrived in 2011-12.
Last fall, Big 12 football compared favorably to the SEC most of the season. Now the Big 12 is delivering a banner year on the hardwood. (I know that's hard to believe, considering the basketball tradition at Nebraska and Colorado.)
Of the top nine teams in the country, three are from the Big 12.
Syracuse, Kentucky and Ohio State occupy the top tier in hoops, but Missouri, Baylor and Kansas are equal or better than anyone else, including North Carolina and Duke.
Moreover, as the only major conference with a double-round robin schedule, the Big 12 boasts the most legitimate regular-season race. And then there's the KU-Mizzou plot.
The rivalry ends this year, which intensifies every meeting.
Saturday night, in Kansas' last trip to Columbia, the Tigers rallied from eight down in the final 3 minutes. Marcus Denmon hit three clutch 3s, stating his case for first-team All-America honors.
With eight conference games left, Mizzou, KU and Baylor are tied at 8-2. The regular-season championship may come down to Feb. 25 at Allen Fieldhouse:
Missouri at Kansas. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?
Omaha World-Herald
The Hurricanes stunned Duke 78-74 in overtime, costing the Blue Devils a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference lead.
Duke (19-4 overall, 6-2 ACC) couldn't handle Miami's Reggie Johnson. Johnson, listed at 6 feet 10 and 284 pounds, scored five of his career-high 27 points in overtime and added a season-high 12 rebounds.
Duke students sometimes chanted "Please don't eat me" at Johnson.
"I feel I had the hot hand the whole game," Johnson said.
Miami (14-7, 5-3) outrebounded the Blue Devils 48-43 and outscored them 38-26 in the paint.
Duke trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half and missed all six of its free throws in overtime. The Blue Devils have lost two of their last three games at Cameron Indoor Stadium — after winning 45 in a row there.
AP
Recruiting
Another talented junior guard, Conner Frankamp, poured in 47 points as North (Wichita, Kan.) edged East (Wichita, Kan.), 69-66. Despite being heavily guarded, the young sharpshooter drilled seven consecutive 3-point baskets during one stretch en route to his fourth game of 40 or more points during the current season.
MaxPreps
Kansas University signee Perry Ellis, a 6-foot-8 senior forward from Wichita Heights, is now just 38 points from becoming the No. 1 scorer in Wichita City League history. Former KU center Greg Dreiling of Wichita Kapaun scored 1,963 points.
Ellis’ next game is Tuesday at Wichita West. Heights has won 57 consecutive games.
Ellis, who is averaging 25 points a game off just 13 shots per outing, is expected to be invited to the McDonald’s All-America game in coming weeks.
…Jakarr Sampson, a 6-8, 220-pound senior forward from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, will attend the KU-Missouri game as part of an official recruiting visit, according to Rivals.com. He has a list of KU, Baylor, Pitt, Louisville and St. John’s.
LJW
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