Mizzou-Kansas: Border War Blunder for Jayhawks

Columbia, MO - The Kansas Jayhawks took a 30-16 lead into halftime at Mizzou Arena after what was an ugly first half for both teams.

Missouri coach Mike Anderson's "40 Minutes of Hell" philosophy seemed nonexistent, and the crowd had been taken out of the game when Tyshawn Taylor hit a body-twisting layup as time expired in the first half. 

The Tigers had forced 12 first half turnovers, but a dismal shooting performance allowed the Jayhawks to compensate. Mizzou, which only shot 35.6 percent from the field for the entire game, could not make a shot in the first half.

The Tigers' shot selection through the first 20 minutes was putrid, and I'm sure Mike Anderson spoke exclusively about that in his halftime talk. 

The Jayhawks did not shoot the ball very well in the first half either, but being up at halftime had to be a relief.  Stepping onto the court in the second half, Cole Aldrich had already grabbed eight boards—on the other hand, Sherron Collins would have wanted to forget his first-half performance. 

The Tigers came out in the second half as if the game had started all over again. They were able to whittle away at the Kansas lead by forcing turnover after turnover, and for the longest time Kansas was able to keep answering. 

Missouri's full-court press never really took full effect, and led to a bunch of Kansas layups—but when it did work, Missouri was able to score off the turnovers their press forced. 

Kansas could not repel Missouri's final push, due in large part to the zone press defense that kept the Kansas guards 20 or more feet from the basket and cut off all penetration opportunities. 

As their last lead was being cut into, key mistakes and a lack of late-game leadership (that I pointed out in an earlier article) came into effect. Sherron Collins and Brady Morningstar made some passes that had to have every Kansas fan holding their head in disbelief. 

The only thing that was harder to believe than those passes was the fact that Sherron Collins—who had set a school record for consecutive free throws just two games prior—missed two key free throws in a row which would have extended the lead to four with just 1:48 left. 

Missouri was able to level the game on two free throws, and after Collins turned the ball over again, Missouri was able to take the lead. It took a fantastic fade away jumper from Mario Little to tie the game at 60. 

Then the highlight of the night occurred. Missouri's Zaire Taylor hit the game-winning jumper with 1.3 seconds left.

Brady Morningstar threw another amazing pass (reminiscent of his bomb in the Tennessee game) to Cole Aldrich, who could only unsuccessfully heave the ball towards the rim in desperation. 

As a KU fan with years of experience in this rivalry, I was not surprised to see the Tiger student section storm the court.

I am sure it made some of the elder Mizzou fans mad, but to me, it was the kind of thing I have come to expect from a program that produces players like Miquel Paul (who recently claimed prominent NBA star Chris Paul was a blood relative and the reason he wears number three).

When asked if he knew Miquel, Chris Paul responded with "I've never heard of him." 

I don't want to rain on Missouri's parade too much, though. With the way they played in the second half, they seemed more deserving of the win, even though the game should have finished with both teams losing, given Kansas's -14 turnover deficit and Missouri's dismal shot selection and subsequent horrendous field-goal percentage.

But really, when you are ranked No. 17 and you beat the No. 16 team, should you really storm the court? That is a question only Missouri fans can answer, I guess. 

One thing is for sure: Missouri has established themselves as a Big 12 title contender. They are now a half-game behind Kansas, though they have played one more conference game than the Jayhawks and are just one-and-a-half games out of first place.

Missouri will not meet Oklahoma until the fourth of March, and have to travel to Lawrence to play the Jayhawks the game before that. 

For the Jayhawks, on the other hand, the loss may serve a good purpose.

Though many Kansas players were devastated by this disappointment, they have three games they should win before traveling to Norman to take on Big 12 leaders Oklahoma. First is a trip to Manhattan, where they face an improving Wildcat team that they beat in Lawrence by 16. 

By Missouri beating the Jayhawks on Monday night, the Big 12 has become a three-horse race. It will be interesting to see what the last four weeks of the season have to offer. 

A writer's note: I apologize to anyone looking for an earlier entry after I had written a lengthy preview yesterday. I work on Capitol Hill, and as you may or may not have seen, it's been pretty busy up there.