Jan. 15, 2006
Columbia, Mo. -
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Missouri (9-5, 2-1 Big 12) looks to rebound from a last-second defeat to Colorado on Saturday when it hosts the University of Kansas (10-5, 1-1 Big 12) on ESPN "Big Monday" in Columbia ... The contest is also part of the Midwest Ford Dealer's MU-KU Border Showdown and is worth 1.5 points in the standings ... Kansas currently leads the annual competition 8.0-to-4.5 ... Missouri will unveil its 30-member All-Century Team at halftime of the contest ... The team will be comprised of the school's 20 consensus All-Americans and 10 at-large selections, which were voted on by fans ... The Tigers will go from facing the nation's oldest club (Colorado has 10 seniors) to squaring off against a youthful Jayhawk squad that boasts 11 underclassmen ... Missouri will look to equal its best Big 12 start in school history with a win ... A victory would make the Tigers 3-1 in Conference play, equaling the 3-1 starts recorded during the 1998-99 and 2000-01 seasons ... Tonight's meeting will be the earliest (calendar-wise) for the Tigers and Jayhawks since Jan. 14, 1999 ... That 1998-99 season was Norm Stewart's final as head coach of the Tigers and Kansas won that game 73-61 in Columbia ... Missouri and Kansas will meet for the first time as unranked foes since Jan. 19, 1991 ... That's a run of 32 consecutive meetings with at least one of the two programs being featured in either the Associated Press or USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 polls ... FYI, Kansas won that game 91-64 in Lawrence ... Missouri is 11-18 all-time in ESPN "Big Monday" games and is 43-61 in 104 all-time appearances on ESPN or ESPN2 ... Mizzou is 6-22 on ESPN and 13-26 on ESPN or ESPN2 under Quin Snyder ... The Tigers have actually dropped their last seven games on ESPN (not including ESPN2) dating back to a Dec. 6, 2003 win at Indiana ... As we noted above, Missouri is coming of a 74-71 defeat to Colorado ... The Buffs drilled 13 three-pointers, the last coming with two-tenths of a second remaining to get the three-point win ... Thomas Gardner and Jimmy McKinney paced Mizzou with 22 points apiece, but Richard Roby's career high 33 propelled Colorado to the thrilling victory ... Rebounding proved critical in the loss and Colorado finished the game with 18 offensive boards and rebounded more than half of their 35 misses on the evening.
Getting To Know Today's Foe
Kansas enters tonight's contest 10-5 on the season and 1-1 in Big 12 Conference play following a 59-55 home loss to Kansas State on Jan. 14 ... Prior to Saturday's defeat, Kansas reeled off seven consecutive victories, including an impressive 73-46 dismantling of Kentucky at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 7 ... Kansas is playing just its second road game of 2005-06, but is 1-0 following a 75-63 win at Colorado on Jan. 11 ... The Jayhawks have played five neutral-court games and are 2-3 in those affairs ... KU and Mizzou have shared two common opponents thus far, Arkansas and Colorado ... While the Jayhawks defeated the Buffaloes, Mizzou fell at home to CU on Saturday 74-71 ... Kansas lost to Arkansas 65-64 at the Maui Invitational, while Missouri lost in Fayetteville 66-63 on Dec. 2 ... Freshman Brandon Rush leads Kansas in scoring at 13.0 points per game ... A former teammate of Tiger sophomore Glen Dandridge at Mt. Zion Academy and brother of former Mizzou great Kareem Rush, Rush is shooting 51.1 percent from the floor and an impressive 50.0 percent (20-of-40) from three-point range ... Sasha Kaun is the only other Jayhawk in double figures (10.1) and also paces the club with 6.5 rebounds per game ... While just two KU players average double figures, the Jayhawks are winning games with rebounding and defense ... Kansas leads the Big 12 in FG % defense (35.4) and are holding foes to just 58.4 points per game, which is second in the league ... Kansas' 41.2 rebounds per game rank second in the league.
Family Affair
A Rush will once again roam the hardwood in Columbia, Mo., but this time it's in an opposing uniform ... Kansas freshman Brandon Rush, the younger brother of former Tiger great and current Charlotte Bobcat Kareem Rush, will make his first appearance against Missouri this evening and enters the contest leading KU with 13.0 points per game ... A native of Kansas City, Mo., Rush attended Mt. Zion Academy in North Carolina, where he teamed with current Tiger sophomore Glen Dandridge ... For another unique twist to the Kareem Rush - Brandon Rush story, be sure to pay attention to Missouri's half time ceremony honoring the program's newly announced 30-member All-Century team (wink-wink).
Here is a list of Kareem Rush's career accomplishments in three seasons at Missouri.
Kareem Rush Career Records At Missouri
Rank Category Statistic
1st Career 3-Point FG Pct. 43.9
1st Consec. Games with a trey 40
2nd Career 3-Point Field Goals 226
2nd Career 3-Point FG Attempts 536
4th Career Scoring Average 19.4
10th Career FG Attempts 1,235
11th Career Points 1,584
Kareem Rush Honors
** First Round NBA Draft Pick, 2002
20th overall, Toronto (to Los Angeles)
** First Team All-Big 12, 2000-01
** First Team All-Big 12, 2001-02
** HM All-American, 2000-01
** HM All-American, 2001-02
** Big 12 Freshman of the Year, 1999-00
Mizzou Series With The Kansas
Monday's game marks the 254th all-time meeting between Kansas and Missouri with the Jayhawks holding a 161-92 series advantage ... In Columbia, KU leads 61-54, but Missouri did narrow that gap last season with a 72-68 win over the No. 7-ranked Jayhawks ... Tonight's game will be the first since Jan. 19, 1991, when both clubs entered unranked ... That's a stretch of 32 consecutive games ... Mizzou is 1-0 vs. Kansas in Mizzou Arena (last season's win) and head coach Quin Snyder is 4-10 lifetime vs. KU, including a 3-3 record at home.