Jan. 27, 2002
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#18 Missouri Tigers (15-5, 5-2)
at #2 Kansas Jayhawks (17-2, 6-0)
Game# 21 - Jan. 28, 2002 - Lawrence, Kan.
TIPOFF: 8:00 p.m. (central time).
ARENA: Allen Fieldhouse (16,300). Opened in 1955. KU is 517-99 there alltime, including 32-14 vs. MU. KU defeated MU there last year, 75-59.
RADIO: Tiger Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play/Gary Link , color). Carried on more than 50 stations statewide, and on the Internet at www.mutigers.com.
TV: ESPN. Brad Nessler, play-by-play/Dick Vitale, color/Michele Tafoya, sideline.
RANKINGS: MU is #18 (A.P.) & #20 (ESPN/USA Today), KU is #2 in both polls.
SERIES: KU leads, 153-90 alltime, but the teams have evenly split their 10 previous Big 12 Conference regular-season meetings.
MU-KU RIVALRY TAKES NATIONAL STAGE MONDAY IN LAWRENCE
One of the nation's most storied rivalries takes center stage Monday, as the Missouri Tigers (15-5 overall, 5-2 in Big 12 Conference play), travel to Lawrence, Kan. to take on the #2-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (17-2, 6-0).
Mizzou will be looking to keep within striking distance of the league-leading Jayhawks. The Tigers are coming off an 86-74 home win Saturday over Kansas State. MU has won 4 of its last 5 games and 6 of its last 8 since suffering a 3-game losing streak in December.
Kansas continued its perfect romp through Big 12 play Saturday with an 86-74 win of its own at Texas A&M. The Jayhawks have won four straight since losing at UCLA on Jan. 12th, and had won 13 straight prior to that defeat. KU boasts the Big 12's leading scorer (20.6 ppg) and rebounder (11.8 rpg) in junior forward Drew Gooden.
Kansas leads the series with Missouri, 153-90, including 78-33 in games played in Lawrence. MU stands 14-32 alltime at Allen Fieldhouse vs. KU, which is the 2nd-most wins by any opponent there. Only Kansas State (17-30) has more wins there than MU.
Missouri hopes to keep an impressive streak alive Monday. For each of the past 6 seasons (dating back to the last year of the Big Eight), Mizzou has dealt Kansas its first conference loss of the season (1996-2001).
Monday will mark the 1st time in 9 years that MU and KU will play their initial meeting in Lawrence. Fore each of the past 8 seasons, the two rivals have met first in Columbia, followed by the rematch in Lawrence.
Missouri has knocked off ranked Kansas teams 6 straight years, and 11 times overall since 1989. Nine of those wins, including 1 each in 5 of the last 6 seasons, came against top-10 Jayhawk teams.
Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference (1996-97 season), Missouri is an even 5-5 (.500) against Kansas in regular-season conference play. The rest of the Big 12 is just 11-66 (.143) against KU during that same stretch.
MU's 3-pronged attack of Kareem Rush (19.4 ppg), Clarence Gilbert (16.4 ppg) and Arthur Johnson (11.9 ppg & 8.3 rpg) provide one of the best inside-outside threats around. Rush and Gilbert rank 1-2 in the Big 12 in 3-pt. field goals, while Johnson leads the league in blocked shots, and ranks among the leaders in rebounding and FG%.
Clarence Gilbert scored a game-high 26 pts. last Monday at OU, and tied a school record by making 8 3-pt. field goals (in 13 attempts). He tied the record established three times previously.
Clarence Gilbert is the Big 12's active leading career scorer (and ranks 11th alltime at MU), with 1,402career points. He needs 3 pts. to move past former Texas standout Chris Mihm for 9th on the Big 12 list, and needs 20 points to move into MU's alltime career top-10.
After outrebounding opponents in 13 of its first 17 games, MU was outrebounded in consecutive games by Colorado (45-28) and at Oklahoma (43-26). The two foes have outrebounded the Tigers by a massive 42-18 edge on the offensive glass. MU got back on track Saturday vs. Kansas State, as they outrebounded the Wildcats 38-36. MU improved to 12-2 this season, and 29-5 under Quin Snyder, when they win the battle of the boards.
