Tourney Tracker — March 14, 2009
Video Report: Big 12 Championship semifinals recap
Senior Staff Writer Ross Taylor briefly recaps the day's semifinal action at the Big 12 Championship at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.
Game reports for both games can be found below:
No. 9 Baylor 76, No. 5 Texas 70
No. 3 Missouri 67, No. 9 Oklahoma State 59
Odds and Ends: More on Missouri's win over Oklahoma State
Just a couple of quick hitters as I sit in the bowels of the Ford Center after Friday's semifinal action:
-- Missouri had three players in double figures in points, led by Zaire Taylor's season-high 19 points. Matt Lawrence and Leo Lyons had 11 and 15 points, respectively.
-- Yet again, Missouri won the turnover battle, 17-10. OSU's Byron Eaton was the culprit in eight of OSU's 17 turnovers. At times, Eaton appeared to be playing the game faster in his mind than his body would allow. Eaton threw several errant passes away while in midair, and even threw passes with such velocity that his teammates couldn't hold on to them.
-- I couldn't mention it in the game story, but the game hinged around OSU's James Anderson. Anderson was a beast on the break for Oklahoma State. Anderson had 20 points and changed the game's flow in OSU's favor when he was on the floor. However, Anderson quickly accrued four fouls, and his absence on the floor late in the game swung the tide in Missouri's favor.
-- According to the reporter from the Oklahoma State student newspaper, this was the first time OSU guard Keiton Page had been held scoreless.
-- Oklahoma State really disrupted Missouri with its 2-3 zone. Missouri players and coach Mike Anderson said the Cowboys were really "sagging" to keep Missouri on the perimeter. It forced Missouri to jack up a lot of threes, and it took DeMarre Carroll out of the game offensively. It'll be interesting to see what approach a very small Baylor team takes against Missouri in the championship game.
-- Missouri's matchup with Baylor means that a Big 12 North team will square off with a Big 12 South team in the finals for the fourth consecutive year.
-- The Big 12 Championship finals appearance is Missouri's third in school history. The Tigers are winless in their two previous appearances, including their most recent finals game, a 49-47 loss to Oklahoma in 2003.
Women's update: All top-four seeds advance to semis
No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Iowa State and No. 4 Texas A&M have all advanced to Saturday's semifinal round of the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.
Photos: Big 12 Championship - Semifinals
Missouri defeated Oklahoma State and Baylor beat Texas in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. The Tigers will take on the Bears in the title game at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
What to expect when you're expecting: Baylor edition
It's three hours into Saturday, and even though I still haven't slept, that means I can officially start previewing the Big 12 Championship final between third-seeded Missouri and No. 9 Baylor.
The last time these two met was on Jan. 31, as Missouri ran away from Baylor in the last five minutes en route to an 89-72 win at Mizzou Arena.
Here's the game flow from the teams' last meeting:
Of course, the Baylor team Missouri will face Saturday evening is far different psychologically than the one they faced in January.
Before the season, Baylor was nationally ranked and thought to be among the Big 12's elite. The Bears were picked in a tie for third by Big 12 coaches in the preseason poll, even garnering two first place votes. Baylor coach Scott Drew has developed a small but deadly shooting team.
But as the season progressed, Baylor began to lose its identity and tailspin into Big 12 mediocrity. The Bears went on a six-game conference losing streak from Jan. 24 to Feb. 11 before beating Texas A&M at home to end the slide. Baylor finished conference play 5-11 in the Big 12.
However, something clicked for Baylor's players as soon as they stepped foot in Oklahoma City. Baylor has since reeled off upsets of No. 8 Nebraska, No. 1 Kansas and No. 5 Texas.
After the win over Kansas on Thursday, Drew broke down Baylor's roller coaster season.
"We were playing good ball [in non-conference]. And then got into conference and 3-1, we start losing a couple. Couple tight ones. We go to some places that are tough to play," Drew said. "We lose and then it was like putting a weight vest on. That was 10 pounds after losing four games in a row. Then when we lost five in a row, went to 20 pounds.
"I mean, it is tough when you have expectations, you were not meeting them and you are frustrated. I mean, that's how the conference season went for us. Now, once we got to the conference tournament, the vest came off because it is a new season. We were great in the non-conference. We want to be great in the conference tournament in the post season."
But Drew perhaps summed up Baylor's run best when he referred to a strong senior class that's refused to tarnish its legacy.
"When you have seniors that care and you want to go out in style, it makes [them] a tough out," Drew said.
Missouri still in 'uncharted waters' as it readies for Baylor
Senior forwards Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll carried the Tigers over the Bears on Jan. 31 at Mizzou Arena with 30 and 25 points, respectively. The teams will face off again tonight for the Big 12 title game.
Before Missouri's semifinal showdown against Oklahoma State on Friday, Mike Anderson said his team was in "uncharted waters." Not only does Anderson's statement still ring true heading into Saturday's Big 12 Championship final against Baylor, it now takes on even more meaning.
"It is special but it can really, really get special," Anderson said. "I think these guys have paid a price and you are seeing the rewards."
Asked by a reporter if Missouri was putting pressure on itself because of Baylor's propensity for "upset specials" in the Big 12 Championship tournament this year, Leo Lyons quickly dismissed the notion.
"I don't consider it an upset because we are not that type of team you have to come out and dominate somebody," Lyons said. "We are going to stop what they are doing because their guards have been hot. We witnessed it before."
After Missouri's win over Oklahoma State, Anderson noted the role conditioning and fatigue played in the game. Like the OSU game, when Missouri faces Baylor, the Tigers will have had an extra day of rest on its opponent thanks to Missouri's first-round bye.
"There is a lot at stake for both teams, and so I think sometimes the conditioning and all that stuff kind of goes out the window," Anderson said. "You get an opportunity to play in the championship game, that's a big deal."
Anderson was also extremely complementary of Baylor's run through the Big 12 Championship tournament thus far.
"They are playing awful well. As a matter of fact, it brought back some flashbacks from two years ago," Anderson said. "You got [guard Curtis] Jerrells and [guard] Tweety [Carter] playing well, [guard/forward Kevin] Rogers playing well. Of course, the addition of LaceDarius Dunn. He was unconscious."
And, in wrapping up his postgame news conference, Anderson perfectly summarized the common theme surrounding Saturday's title game.
"I know everyone didn't come to this particular championship game in, but it should be an exciting game to say the least," Anderson said.
Need further proof of the game's magnitude?
Just in case you're somehow missing the significance of today's Big 12 Championship final between No. 3 Missouri and No. 9 Baylor, look no farther than the media advisories that line press row today (see photo).
ESPN announcers Ron Franklin and Fran Fraschilla will be in the house for an ESPN HD broadcast, and the Ford Center presentation crew will be pulling out the full stops, from dimming the lights for more dramatic player introductions to warning press members about the two confetti cannons that will be discharged after the game.
All year long, coach Mike Anderson has said his team would "be in the hunt for something, we just don't know what." The focus of that hunt is clear today, as Missouri sits one victory away from its first Big 12 title.
Keys to the Game: Baylor edition
Missouri and Baylor are set to tipoff in about an hour in the Big 12 Championship final here at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Here's a couple keys to the game for Missouri to end the evening with a Big 12 title in hand:
-- Baylor's legs: After Missouri's win over Oklahoma State on Friday night, Missouri coach Mike Anderson insisted that conditioning played a big role in the Tigers' victory, as Oklahoma State was playing its third game in three days. Tonight, Baylor will be playing its fourth game in four days after three consecutive upsets to reach the final. Does Baylor have enough left in the tank to keep pace with Missouri's frenetic style of basketball?
-- Identify the ace: Baylor is unlike most teams in the country in that they are loaded with firepower without any identified go-to scorer. The Bears are loaded with guys capable of putting the ball in the hole at alarming rates on any given night. Baylor's top three weapons in the tournament have been seniors Kevin Rogers and Curtis Jerrells and sophomore LaceDarius Dunn. All three will end up with their points, but it's imperative that Missouri doesn't allow any of them to go off.
-- Win the battles in the fast break and turnover categories: Missouri had issues slowing down Oklahoma State on the fast break last night, as the Cowboys counterpunched Missouri's up-tempo style with some speed of their own. In a pregame interview with Missouri radio announcer Gary Link, Baylor assistant coach Matthew Driscoll noted the importance of Baylor winning the battle of the break and avoiding falling victim to the Missouri press.
"When they get turnovers, they get easy buckets," Driscoll said.
Driscoll also placed the onus on Baylor's offense to capitalize whenever the guards are successful in breaking the Missouri press.
In Missouri's 89-72 win over Baylor in January, Missouri won the turnover battle, 18-14.
-- Eyes on the prize: With ESPN cameras filming B-roll of the Big 12 Championship trophy at mid-court, Missouri freshman guard Kim English walked by and began doing pushups next to the trophy, pretending to kiss it on the way down. Missouri has to walk the fine line of playing with urgency in the championship game without letting nerves affect their play.
No. 3 Missouri vs. No. 9 Baylor: Starting Lineups
No surprises on the Big 12's announcement of today's starting lineups. Both teams are riding the lineups that got them to this point.
NO. 3 MISSOURI
1 D. Carroll
4. J.T. Tiller
5 L. Lyons
11 Z. Taylor
33 M. Lawrence
NO. 9 BAYLOR
0 C. Jerrells
23 K. Rogers
24 L. Dunn
45 T. Carter
50 J. Lomers
Missouri off in shootaround
You can't put too much stock in shootarounds, but if you could, they'd be a bad omen for Missouri.
Baylor looked loose and locked in on its jumpers in shootaround, meanwhile Missouri seems to have carried over its poor shooting from last night's game against Oklahoma State. At one point, I counted nine consecutive Missouri misses before Keith Ramsey (of all people) hit a DEEP three.
Again, shootarounds are not a barometer for success, but I thought it might be of note...
Ford Center crowd slow to arrive
It remains to be seen whether or not the absence of an Oklahoma-based team will put a dent in today's attendance at the Ford Center. Since Thursday, sessions involving either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State have been near sellout status. Other sessions have been far less attended.
Right now, the arena isn't even 40 percent full, with 23:00 until tipoff. The "home court" edge right now appears to favor Baylor, whose fans appear to be finding their way to their seats earlier than Missouri fans.
UPDATE: The Ford Center is probably 70-80 percent full now, with an edge going to the Baylor fans.
Neither team shooting well early
Neither Missouri nor Baylor has come out shooting the ball well early in the Big 12 Championship final. It's been like a carbon copy of the Missouri-Oklahoma State game last night with half the intensity, believe it or not. The teams are a combined 5-of-20 from the field.
With 15:13 to play in the first half, Baylor leads, 7-5.
Momentum to Baylor early
Missouri didn't start particularly well in either of its two Big 12 Championship games before facing Baylor, and the Tigers appear set to continue that trend. Missouri trails Baylor, 15-9.
The Tigers are having trouble offensively, shooting 28.6 percent from the floor.
The game has been relatively clean, with only two fouls in the first eight minutes. The game does not appear to be as physical or as fast as the games these two teams played in the semifinals yesterday.
Missouri takes lead in unexpected fashion
Kim English has been mired in a month-long shooting slump. Keith Ramsey has had trouble at the free throw line all season long. Miguel Paul hasn't found the shooting touch that was promised during his recruitment to Missouri.
But those three players are curing their ails and have help spot Missouri out to a 23-19 lead with 7:23 left in the first half. Ramsey helped Missouri spark a run to catch Baylor by hitting 2-of-2 free throws after being hacked by Mamadou Diene. Paul and English have combined for 3-pointers to give Missouri the lead.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.