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Stay updated full coverage of the Big 12 Championship tournament. Senior Staff Writer Ross Taylor will be filing live analysis, full game stories and videocasts from the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, along with photo updates by Dann Wunderlich and Andrew Feiler. Make The Maneater your hub for the tournament from the opening round to the championship game.
March 14, 2009
Photos: Big 12 Championship Game
The Missouri men's basketball team defeated Baylor 73-60 on Saturday at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City to win the 2009 Big 12 championship, the first conference title in team history. Photos by Dann Wunderlich.
My official All-Tournament Team ballot
While we wait for Missouri players and coaches to become available for interviews, here is what I turned in on my official ballot for All-Tournament Team:
-- Zaire Taylor, Missouri (most outstanding player)
-- Curtis Jerrells, Baylor
-- DeMarre Carroll, Missouri^
-- James Anderson, Oklahoma State
-- Mike Singletary, Texas Tech
_indicates selection to official All-Tournament Team_
^indicates selection as official Most Outstanding Player
The official All-Tournament Team is as follows:
-- DeMarre Carroll, Missouri (most outstanding player)
-- Kevin Rogers, Baylor
-- Zaire Taylor, Missouri
-- Dexter Pittman, Texas
-- Mike Singletary, Texas Tech
UPDATE: Here are some of my thought processes on my ballot:
-- I wrestled with deciding between Taylor and Carroll for Most Outstanding Player for a LONG time. I gave the nod to Taylor for his ability to pull Missouri along when the offense was stagnant, but I certainly have no issues with the award going to Carroll.
-- I'm stunned Jerrells didn't make the final team. Jerrells' composure and hot shooting at the point for Baylor flat out willed the Bears into the title game. I also was ready to make a case for LaceDarius Dunn, whose 3-point shooting was one of the big reasons Baylor beat Kansas in the quarterfinals.
-- There was no doubt about Singletary, who set a Big 12 Tournament record with 43 points against Texas A&M. This is perhaps the only case where one great game can carry you.
-- The biggest departure on my ballot was leaving off Texas' Pittman in favor of Oklahoma State's Anderson. Pittman was fantastic in the first two rounds, but I feel like Pittman's lack of stamina and ineffectiveness in the semifinal against Baylor cost his team the game. Anderson came off the Oklahoma State bench and was the Cowboys' most consistent offense for three games when he was on the floor. The Missouri/Oklahoma State game turned in Missouri's favor for good when Anderson picked up his fourth foul and was taken off the floor by OSU coach Travis Ford.
Full audio of postgame news conference
Below is the full audio of Missouri's postgame news conference, including coach Mike Anderson, seniors DeMarre Carroll, Leo Lyons and Matt Lawrence and junior Zaire Taylor. The audio was pulled from my handheld recorder, so pardon the quality. (Audio runtime - 18:34)
Missouri Tigers: 2009 Big 12 Tournament Champions
The celebration is on here at the Ford Center. The clock struck midnight on the Cinderella No. 9 Baylor Bears, as the Missouri Tigers are the 2009 Big 12 Tournament champions.
Missouri wraps up its first Big 12 title in school history in Oklahoma City tonight with a 73-60 win over the Baylor Bears.
Stay by TheManeater.com for continuing coverage.
Missouri 3:31 from Big 12 title
You can't count a team with offensive firepower like Baylor's out of any game, but there's certainly a light at the end of the tunnel right now for Missouri.
With 3:31 to play, Missouri leads Baylor 67-56.
M-I-Z chant has begun
At a media timeout with 6:45 to play, Missouri leads Baylor 61-48.
The Missouri fans are starting to smell blood. A "M-I-Z, Z-O-U" chant echoed around the Ford Center during the media timeout, much to the chagrin of rather quiet Baylor fans.
Taylor and Carroll coming up big
Buzz is going around press row about DeMarre Carroll and Zaire Taylor's candidacies for the All Tournament Team. In a stretch just before a Baylor time, the two showed why.
Carroll finished two great baskets, including a three-pointer, thanks in part to the work done by Taylor to set him up. Right before the timeout, Taylor made a great pass fake in the lane before hitting a runner for two points.
Baylor fighting back
The pickup of a third foul by DeMarre Carroll has changed the complexion of the game, as his absence from the floor has helped spark Baylor.
Baylor has six consecutive points and will shoot for a seventh after a media timeout with 11:38 to play. Missouri leads, 51-46.
True to form, Missouri surging at start of second half
Just like they've done all year and in their first two games of the Big 12 Championship, the Missouri Tigers have come out of the gate flying in the second half.
The half began with J.T. Tiller stripping Baylor's Curtis Jerrells of the ball and feeding DeMarre Carroll for a one-handed tomahawk dunk. Most recently, Tiller just drove the lane and underhand fed Matt Lawrence for the lay-in. The points put Missouri on a 9-2 run after the break.
With 16:18 to go and Missouri leading 46-35, Baylor coach Scott Drew called a timeout to try to kill the Missouri momentum.
Missouri leads Baylor at halftime
Missouri freshman guard Kim English passes the ball around Baylor senior center Mamadou Diene during the first half of Saturday's championship game at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.
Yet again, Missouri finds itself having trouble scoring in the first half, but, yet again, Missouri doesn't find itself out of the game at halftime. At halftime here at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Missouri leads Baylor, 37-33.
Baylor has opted to play a style of defense similar to the one played with success by Oklahoma State last night. Baylor is sitting in a 2-3 zone, with two players coming within arm's length to help deny Missouri the ball inside. As a result, the Tigers are once again settling for threes, of which the Tigers have hit 5-of-10.
Baylor has five players with at least six points, led by senior guard Curtis Jerrells' seven. Jerrells has twice beat the shot clock with fantastic finishes, once from 3-point range, and once on a layup after spinning by Leo Lyons.