Border Showdown Moves to Lawrence for "Big Monday"
2/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2008
Missouri Tigers (13-9, 3-4 Big 12) at Kansas Jayhawks (21-1, 6-1 Big 12)
Regular Season Game 23 - February 4, 2008 - Lawrence, Kan.
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FOR OPENERS
- Missouri continues a tough road of playing four ranked teams in a stretch of five games on Monday when it travels to Lawrence, Kan., to face the nationally-ranked Kansas Jayhawks ... The Tigers opened this gauntlet with a 77-74 win over No. 22 Kansas State, before playing Monday at Kansas and Saturday vs. the Top 25 Texas A&M Aggies ... Mizzou concludes the run with another game vs. the nationally-ranked Wildcats on Feb. 16 in Manhattan.
- Missouri is looking to snap a four-game skid to Kansas and an eight-game streak to the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse ... Missouri's last win in Lawrence came during Norm Stewart's final campaign leading the Tigers, a 71-63 triumph on Jan. 24, 1999.
- A unique aspect about the Mizzou-Kansas series is that four of the last six match-ups have been decided by six points or less, including two of three games under Head Coach Mike Anderson's watch ... Last season on ESPN Big Monday, the Tigers and Jayhawks battled to the wire, with Kansas earning an 80-77 win when Matt Lawrence's three-point attempt at the buzzer fell off the mark ... Earlier this season Missouri and Kansas battled back and forth inside Mizzou Arena with the second-ranked Jayhawks grabbing a 76-70 victory.
- While Missouri's schedule is a daunting one over the next couple of weeks, the Tigers have played one of the nation's toughest slates this season ... Including Monday's game vs. the Jayhawks, Missouri has played seven games vs. teams that have been in, or are currently in, the Top 25, including a road game at Mississippi State (No. 25 in last week's Top 25) as well as a win over the Big Ten leading Purdue Boilermakers ... The Tigers also had contests vs. Kansas, Kansas State, Texas and Michigan State ... Missouri is 2-2 vs. those last four teams and their two losses came by a combined nine points.
- Although Missouri is playing with a short bench due to suspensions, every available Tiger has risen to the challenge ... Six Tigers have played career highs in minutes and four have recorded new career highs in points, including J.T. Tiller, who is on a streak of back-to-back career highs in scoring, initially with 14 vs. Nebraska, before dropping in a career-best 20 vs. No. 22 Kansas State to lead Missouri to the upset win ... With no scholarship guards on the Tiger bench, Tiller averaged 35 minutes in both games, while donating averages of 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 50.0 percent shooting from the floor.
MIZZOU QUICK-HITTERS
- Mizzou continues its 102nd season of college basketball on Monday when it travels to Kansas for an ESPN Big Monday telecast.
- The Tigers are looking for their third win over a ranked opponent this season and second consecutive Big 12 win on the road.
- Mizzou is 12-19 all-time on Big Monday and 2-3 on the ESPN family of networks this season.
- Monday's contest will be the fifth all-time meeting between Missouri sideline boss Mike Anderson and Kansas coach Bill Self ... Self and the Kansas Jayhawks defeated Anderson and the UAB Blazers in the Sweet Sixteen in 2003-04 and the two have met three times as the head coaches of Mizzou and Kansas.
- The Tigers are coming off a 77-74 upset win vs. No. 22 Kansas State on Saturday, despite playing with a short-handed bench.
- Missouri did regain the services of forwards Leo Lyons and Marshall Brown on Saturday and Lyons scored 13 points and dished five assists.
- Prior to that game, Missouri nearly recorded an improbable win over Nebraska, despite playing with just six scholarshipped players and two walk-ons.
- Missouri played that contest without 46.9 percent of its scoring, 37.1 percent of its rebounds, 66.5 percent of its assists and 50.0 percent of its steals, but nearly managed to gut out an inspiring Big 12 Conference victory.
- Included in Mizzou's 13-9 record early on in Big 12 play the Tigers have been close in nearly every game this season and have dropped seven games by eight points or less, including two games to opponents currently ranked in the Top 10, No. 2 Kansas and No. 7/8 Michigan State ... Don't feel too sorry for the Tigers though, they also have Top 25 wins against then-No. 12 Texas, No. 22 Kansas State, as well as Big Ten leading Purdue and annual ACC power Maryland.
- As is the case with many teams across the country, Mizzou has been a buzz saw at home this year ... In running their mark to 11-2 at Mizzou Arena, the Tigers have averaged a 19.5 ppg. margin of victory on Norm Stewart Court.
- In fact, Mizzou has enjoyed double-figure wins in 10 of its 11 home victories this year, with six coming by 30+ points ... Included in that impressive run is a 97-84 win over then-No. 12 Texas.
- Another area of improvement for Mizzou has been in the rebounding column ... Missouri has out-rebounded its foes in 11-of-22 games this season ... Last season the Tigers won the battle of the boards just 13 times in 30 tries, including just six times in Big 12 play.
- Although the Tigers are clicking offensively, the team's defensive pressure is keeping pace ... The Tigers have forced 402 turnovers (198 steals) in 22 games this season ... Last year, Mizzou led the Big 12 with 10.1 steals and 18.9 turnovers per game and are averaging 9.0 steals and 18.3 turnovers forced per game this year, including the 23 turnovers forced vs. 2007 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Maryland and Arkansas.
- Conversely, the Tigers are turning the ball over just 13.6 times per game, which ranks among the nation's leaders.
- Mizzou has done an excellent job converting off those miscues and are averaging 21.5 points per game off turnovers ... When you break down the numbers, Missouri is scoring nearly 30 percent of its points off of turnovers (21.5-of-79.7 ppg).
- Overall, the Tigers are forcing a turnover once every six possessions, which allows them to average 7.5 more shots per game than their opponents.
- In addition to steals, a trademark of Mike Anderson-coached teams has been assist totals and the Tigers are recording assists on 60.3 percent of their buckets this season (390 assists on 647 FG's).
- When you take Missouri's 63 “put-back” buckets out of the equation, the Tigers are averaging assists on 70.4 percent of their field goals.
- Overall, Missouri's 17.7 assists per game rank No. 15 nationally and has the club on pace to finish third all-time with 565 assists.
- Missouri has flashed a balanced playing rotation, as nine Tigers (eight active) are averaging at least 12.8 minutes per game and no active player is averaging more than 27.1 minutes.
- Missouri has topped double figures in three-point makes four times this year, including a season high 12 vs. Texas ... The Tigers also hit 11 three-pointer vs. McNeese State and 10 three-pointer vs. Michigan State and Southern.
- ESPN's Pat Forde named Mizzou Arena the No. 1 “New School” college basketball arena in America ... Who can argue?, the place is loaded!
TIGER TIDBITS (Individual Notes)
- The Junk Yard Dog has had a major impact in just his first season ... DeMarre Carroll, also known as J.Y.De, has reached double figures in 17-of-22 games this season to rank first on the team in double-figure scoring contests this year.
- Carroll has also been the team's most consistent rebounder, and is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game in Big 12 play, including 13 boards at Iowa State and 12 vs. Kansas and Nebraska.
- Carroll has actually been close to producing double-double efforts in 14 games this year and is averaging 13.7 points and 7.6 boards to rank among team leaders in both categories.
- Carroll has been at his best at home, where he is averaging 14.8 points and 8.2 boards and 2.0 steals on 59.2 percent shooting from the floor.
- The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year front-runner also ranks fifth in the Big 12 Conference in field goal percentage (.549), while ranking among the Top 12 in scoring (13th) and rebounding (6th).
- Even more incredible is that he is producing those numbers in just 25.6 minutes per game.
- Despite his size and position, Carroll ranks among the Big 12's leaders (14th) with 1.4 steals per game.
- Carroll always seems to find a way to impact the game for Missouri and while he was saddled with foul trouble vs. Purdue, the junior forward blocked a career high three shots in the final 4:11 to help lead Missouri to the come-from-behind win ... Carroll actually scored three points, had three blocks, two assists and a steal in the final 7:35 of the MU win vs. Purdue ... The Birmingham native also added a career-high tying four steals vs. McNeese State and UMKC, showing another way he has impacted a Tiger win.
- Carroll was recently named one of Seth Davis' (Sports Illustrated) Key Faces in New Places for 2007-08.
- ESPN's Andy Katz also said “there may not be a harder working interior player -- outside of Tyler Hansbrough -- than DeMarre Carroll.”
- In case you were wondering, Carroll dominates the classroom too and needs seven hours in the spring semester to finish his degree and begin his Masters work in Administration.
- Stefhon Hannah will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a fractured jaw that was suffered on Jan. 27 ... Prior to the injury Hannah had reached double figures in 24 of his last 27 games, including a four 20-point efforts this season.
- Hannah seemed to step up his game in Big 12 play and has reached double figures in 19-of-22 career league games, including a run of 10 consecutive Big 12 contests dating back to last season.
- Prior to the injury, Hannah's scoring numbers were up dramatically in Big 12 action and the senior led the team with 16.8 points per outing ... In non-conference play Hannah averaged 13.9 points per game, marking a 2.9 ppg. improvement.
- Hannah has also improved his assist numbers this year and ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 with 5.3 dimes per game.
- Included in that improved assist average was a season high 11 dimes vs. UMKC, helping the senior record his second career point-assist double-double.
- Hannah flashed his toughness vs. Maryland on Nov. 20 when he played with the flu and still managed 14 points and five dimes ... The Chicago native wasn't able to eat all day and spent the early portion of the second half in the locker room, but returned to score eight second-half points, leading MU to the win.
- Hannah broke out of an early offensive slump with 20 points vs. No. 11 Michigan State on Nov. 20 ... The consistent lead guard has reached double figures in 36-of-43 career games for MU.
- For his efforts, Hannah was named to the CBE Classic All-Tournament Team in Kansas City.
- Hannah scored a career high 28 points at Arkansas, marking the 10th 20-point effort of his career.
- In addition to his scoring numbers, Hannah's assist totals were on the rise ... When you factor in his 5.3 assists per game this year, the senior guard is actually accounting for 26.9 of Mizzou's 80.8 points per game (including assists on three-point field goals).
- Hannah's 5.3 assists are the second most in school history, behind the 5.8 dimes per game dished out by Anthony Peeler (1989-90).
- Hannah also has 105 assists and 38 steals on the year ... For his short career, Hannah has had five or more dimes 28 times (including 14-of-20 games this year) and multiple steals 30 times, which is no surprise since the 6-foot-1 senior was named the nation's ninth-best perimeter defender by Fran Fraschilla and ESPN.com.
- As you would expect, Hannah is a preseason candidate for the Bob Cousy National Point Guard of the Year Award.
- Not to be outdone, Keon Lawrence has reached double figures in 20 of his last 29 games, including a career-high tying 24 point at Texas Tech.
- Lawrence became the fifth Tiger to reach the 20-point plateau this season and continued his strong play vs. the Big 12 South ... In nine career games vs. “The South”, Lawrence has reached double figures six times, including 24 points vs. Baylor, 18 points at Oklahoma State and the game-winning jumper vs. Oklahoma last season.
- Lawrence also dumped in 18 points in the win over No. 12/13 Texas ... At one point, Lawrence scored 10 consecutive points in the first half for the Tigers setting the stage for the upset win.
- The dynamic guard is also second on the team with 14 blocks.
- As was documented by the Kansas City Star, there are no “off days” for Lawrence, as he makes 1,000 shots each day the team is given off by head coach Mike Anderson.
- J.T. Tiller continues to be the team's top perimeter defender and ranks second on the team with 77 deflections this season.
- Tiller has simply been outstanding for the short-handed Tigers over the last two games and is averaging 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in games vs. Nebraska and No. 22 Kansas State, contests where Mizzou had zero scholarship reserves in the backcourt in both games.
- Tiller scored Mizzou's final five points to lead the Tigers to the upset win over K-State, including both ends of a 1-and-1 with the Tigers ahead just 75-74 and just :06 seconds remaining ... He finished the game with 20 points to lead all scorers.
- Tiller was outstanding in his second career start vs. Nebraska, recording then-career highs of 14 points and eight boards in a then-career long 35 minutes.
- Tiller played all 20-minutes of the second half vs. Nebraska, as did Keon Lawrence and DeMarre Carroll.
- The Georgia native earned his first career start vs. Coppin State and responded with 10 points, three assists and two steals in 25 minutes.
- Tiller also reached double-figures vs. Illinois on Dec. 22, scoring 10 points in a career high 28 minutes.
- While his scoring totals are up, Tiller played some key defensive minutes late vs. Purdue, helping to hold the Boilermakers to just one field goal in the final 7:47 of the game en route to Mizzou's game-winning 24-4 run.
- Forming Mizzou's kamikaze line along with Tiller is senior forward Darryl Butterfield ... Butterfield leads the team with 15 charges drawn this year, while adding 16 steals in just 15.6 minutes per game.
- The Miami native has drawn multiple charges four times this season, including four vs. Maryland.
- Matt Lawrence poured in a career high 28 points on Dec. 30 at Mississippi State ... The 6-foot-7 guard hit 6-of-11 treys and tied a season high with six rebounds.
- Over his last 17 games, Lawrence has hit multiple treys in 13 of those contests.
- A vocal leader for the Tigers, Lawrence tied up Kansas State's Bill Walker under the Wildcat basket in the final seconds to help lift Mizzou to the win, a Walker put-back would have put K-State in front with just seconds remaining.
- In fact, the St. Louis native has been at his best on the road throughout his career and his shooting 44.1 percent from beyond the arc (48-of-109) from three-point range away from Mizzou Arena.
- Leo Lyons has played much-improved basketball this season and has reached double-figures in 11 of his last 14 contests.
- Lyons' has already reached double figures 13 times this season, surpassing the nine double figure games he enjoyed his first-two seasons combined.
- Lyons led Mizzou to its 66-62 win at Colorado on Jan. 26, scoring 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting ... Lyons scored 16 of his points and dished all-three of his assists in the second half.
- He then returned from a one-game suspension to score 13 points and dish a game-high five assists in a head-to-head match-up with Kansas State and Michael Beasley.
- Lyons recorded his first of three 20-point games in his hometown return to Kansas City and scored a career high 23 points and grabbed 11 boards vs. Maryland.
- Lyons earned Player of the Game honors from Dick Vitale and Co. as he hit 8-of-11 shots and 7-of-11 free throws en route to his first career double-double.
- Lyons also torched UMKC for 22 points on a career-best 10-of-12 shooing from the floor.
- Lyons recorded his second double-double of the year in the win over Purdue, chipping in 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- Lyons flashed his versatility vs. Western Illinois when the 6-foot-9, 240-pounder dished a career high six assists and recorded two steals ... Lyons has 31 assists, which is tops among Tiger post players.
- He just goes about his business quietly, but senior guard Jason Horton has dished out 58 assists compared to just 27 turnovers this season, to rank No. 3 in the Big 12 in assist-turnover ratio at 2.2-to-1.
- Horton now has 378 career dimes, which is No. 7 all-time in school history and the Dallas native needs just five more assists to move into the MU career top five.
- Horton needs just four more assists to pass Mike Sandbothe (380) for sixth all-time.
- Horton is also closing in on the career top 10 in steals and needs 10 more thefts to pass Melvin Booker for No. 10 with 147.
- Senior forward Marshall Brown is closing in on 1,000 career points ... The Austin, Texas native currently has 840 tallies and needs 160 points to become the 38th member of the Mizzou 1,000-point club.
- The selfless senior was named team captain in December by teammates and coaches.
- The Texas product then earned his first start of the year vs. Coppin State and later scored a season high 14 points vs. his hometown Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 opener.
- Freshman Justin Safford graced ESPN's Top 10 Plays on Nov. 8 with his alley-oop slam vs. Missouri Western ... Safford checked in at No. 6.
- The versatile rookie has enjoyed increased playing time over the last two games, including a career effort vs. No. 22 Kansas State, where he scored a career high nine points, dished two assists and blocked two shots in a career high 21 minutes ... The post player also hit a pair of first-half treys to keep Missouri close in the opening period.
- Safford enjoyed a great game at Mississippi State on Dec. 30, scoring four points and grabbing four boards in nine second-half minutes vs. the Bulldogs.
- The Bloomington, Ill., native played a career-long 18 minutes vs. Nebraska on Wednesday and grabbed four rebounds.
- Senior forward Vaidotas Volkus earned his first career start vs. Kansas and recorded then-career highs of eight points and two assists ... Volkus also hit 4-of-5 shots from the floor vs. the Jayhawks.
- The Lithuania native returned to the starting rotation vs. Nebraska on Jan. 30 and scored a career high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while grabbing four rebounds in a career-best 26 minutes of action.
ABOUT KANSAS
Kansas (21-1, 6-1 Big 12) is coming off a 72-59 win at Colorado on Saturday ... The Jayhawks were led by Darnell Jackson, who tossed in 18 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the foul stripe, while Brandon Rush added 15 points and six rebounds ... Overall, the Jayhawks are led in scoring by Darrell Arthur who is averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 boards a night, while Jackson (12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds), Rush (12.3 ppg) and Mario Chalmers (12.0 ppg) round out the double-figure scorers ... Kansas continues to be one of the nation's more complete teams as they shoot 51.5 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from the three-point arc ... Kansas has also been dominant on their home floor, as they are a perfect 15-0 at Allen Fieldhouse this season including a 3-0 ledger in league play.
THE SERIES WITH THE JAYHAWKS
Monday's game marks the 259th all-time meeting between Kansas and Missouri, with the Jayhawks holding a 165-93 series advantage ... In Lawrence, KU holds an 84-31 series lead and has won eight consecutive meetings in Allen Fieldhouse dating back to Jan. 24, 1999, Norm Stewart's final season at the helm of the Missouri program ... Last season on Big Monday the Tigers and Jayhawks were locked in a back-and-forth tussle, but Kansas claimed an 80-77 win ... Saturday's game marks the 101st year of Mizzou - Kansas Border War, with the initial contest coming nearly 101 years ago on March 11, 1907 in Columbia ... Mizzou won that contest 34-31.
FAMILY AFFAIR
A Rush will once again roam the hardwood along with the Missouri Tigers, but this time, it's in an opposing uniform ... Kansas junior Brandon Rush, the younger brother of former Tiger great Kareem Rush, will make his sixth appearance against Mizzou on Saturday and enters the contest among Kansas' leading scorers with 11.7 points per game.
20-SOMETHING: SIX TIGERS HAVE 20-POINT GAMES
Keon Lawrence's career-high tying 24 points at Texas Tech and J.T. Tiller's career high 20 points vs. No. 22 Kansas State made the sophomore duo the fifth and sixth Tigers to top the 20-point barrier this season ... Lawrence and Tiller joined DeMarre Carroll, Stefhon Hannah, Matt Lawrence and Leo Lyons as other Tigers to reach 20 points this season.
Mizzou is actually the league leader with six different 20-point scorers ... Baylor, Kansas State and Texas have had five different players reach 20 points this season.
WITH A TIGER WIN:
- Missouri would push its Big 12 Conference record to 4-4 and improve to 14-9 on the year.
- Missouri would enjoy its third win over a ranked opponent this year ... Mizzou toppled No. 12 Texas on Jan. 12 and No. 22 Kansas State on Saturday.
- The Tigers would have back-to-back wins over ranked opponents for the first time since March 14-15, 2003, in the first two rounds of the Big 12 Championships in Dallas ... The Tigers defeated No. 23 Oklahoma State 60-58 and No. 4 Kansas 68-63 in back-to-back days.
- The Tigers would earn their second consecutive road win of the year and first in Allen Fieldhouse since Jan. 24, 1999, a game the Tigers won 71-63.
- The Tigers would stop a four-game skid to Kansas.
- Head Coach Mike Anderson would earn his first win over Kansas.
- Overall, Anderson would improve to 121-62 in his six seasons as a head coach.
- Missouri would earn its 14th win of the year, moving within four victories of last season's 18-win mark.
- The Tigers would move to 32-20 all-time under Mike Anderson.
GRADUATING TIGERS
October through March are typically the busy months throughout college basketball playing circles, but as head coach Mike Anderson pointed out, May could be the busiest month of all for Missouri Basketball ... The Tigers anticipate having seven current or former student-athletes walk the stage this particular spring to receive their diplomas as seniors Marshall Brown, Darryl Butterfield, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Vaidotas Volkus and juniors Michael Anderson, Jr., and DeMarre Carroll are scheduled to graduate from school this year.
TILLER THE THRILLER STEPPING UP
J.T. Tiller has become Missouri's go-to man in the absence of seniors Stefhon Hannah and Jason Horton over the last two games, as the sophomore guard is averaging 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in back-to-back contests vs. Nebraska and No. 22 Kansas State.
Prior to his breakout efforts, Tiller averaged just 5.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game (first 20 games), marking a sharp increase in playing time and productivity for the improving guard.
Tiller opened the scoring surge with a then-career high 14 points and eight rebounds vs. Nebraska ... The Marietta, Ga., native played a career high 35 minutes vs. the Huskers as the Tigers had just eight players (six on scholarsihp) available for the game.
The fast-paced guard then scored a career high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting vs. No. 22 Kansas State on Saturday as he led Mizzou to the upset win ... Once again, Tiller played 35 minutes as the Tigers had limited depth in the backcourt (no scholarship reserves in the backcourt) and scored Missouri's final five points of the game, including a pair of free throws with just :06 seconds left to lift MU to the 77-74 final advantage.
Tiller's back-to-back games have been indicative of his sophomore campaign as a whole ... The hard-working guard is averaging 17.6 minutes per contest this year after logging 13.6 minutes per game as a rookie ... In addition, his averages of 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists per game are well up from his freshman year norms.
HANNAH SIDELINED WITH INJURY
Senior guard Stefhon Hannah will miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a fractured jaw on Jan. 27 ... Prior to the injury, Hannah was leading the Tigers with 14.7 points per game and was No. 2 in the Big 12 with 5.3 assists per outing.
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Missouri's win at Colorado may have given the Tigers a sense of déjà vu ... Last year Mizzou had lost 11 consecutive road games heading into Boulder, Colo., before leaving with a 79-65 win ... On Saturday, the Tigers had lost six straight on the road, but earned a 66-62 Rocky-Mountain win to halt that skid as well.
Another carryover Missouri is hoping will repeat itself is their ensuing road success after that win last season ... Including last season's win at CU, the Tigers proceeded to win three of their next four road games, including a win at No. 18 Oklahoma State.
