Basketball loses thriller in Lawrence
Tigers 0-4 in conference play for first time since 1985.
Published Jan. 16, 2007
LAWRENCE, Kan. — With 6-foot-11-inch junior Sasha Kaun guarding the paint for the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks, the Missouri Tigers figured they would have to live and die by the three-pointer in order to pull off the upset at legendary Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night. But when the Tigers needed a basket to bury Kansas, they wound up dying by the three.
The Tigers (11-6, 0-4 Big 12) shot just 7-for-30 from long range, and missed their last five from behind the arc. Junior Matt Lawrence air-balled a three pointer at the buzzer and MU fell just short of shocking the rival Jayhawks (16-2, 3-0), losing 80-77 in front of a sellout crowd of 16,300.
After Kansas freshman Sherron Collins hit a lay-up with 32 seconds left to give the Jayhawks an 80-77 lead, MU junior Stefhon Hannah missed a three, seemingly ending MU's chances.
But KU junior guard Russell Robinson threw the ball out of play, giving the Tigers one last shot. After running the clock down under five seconds, junior Jason Horton was unable to get open, and the ball went to Lawrence, who missed a 26 footer while falling backwards.
"Their defense did a good job," coach Mike Anderson said. "We were trying to set screens, and they read it."
Missouri is now 0-4 in the conference for the first time since 1985. They've lost games in the Big 12 by one point, four and now three. Lawrence said that he takes no comfort from what reporters were trying to call a "moral victory."
"We still lost," he said. "We need to start winning these. I'm tired of the almost; I'm tired of the moral victories."
Anderson agreed, saying he feels there's "no such thing as a moral victory. There's only two columns: the W and the L."
Missouri stayed in the game by being tenacious rebounders. It out-rebounded Kansas 43-42, pulling down 13 offensive boards.
"Everybody was focused on rebounding," junior forward Marshall Brown said. "We were really physical down there."
The game was close all the way through, with the largest lead being Kansas' eight-point edge with less than14 minutes left in the game. But a 15-2 Missouri run put the Tigers ahead 65-60 inside of eight minutes.
But the Tigers were unable to stretch the lead any further. Brown mistimed a dunk, and Hannah missed a three. KU rallied with an 8-2 run of its own to take a four-point lead.
"We took really quick shots once we got the lead," Brown said. "[Anderson] was telling us that we were settling too much."
Lawrence led the Tigers with 19 points, while Hannah had 15 and Brown 14. Freshman J.T. Tiller started strong, scoring all 11 of his points in the first half.
Collins led the Jayhawks with 23 points in 26 minutes, earning praise from his coach, Bill Self.
"That's the Sherron we recruited," he said. "This was a big game for him; as good as Lawrence was and as good as Brown was, Sherron was the man tonight."
Although Lawrence was disappointed, he said that Monday's game would serve the younger Tigers well.
"It's a confidence builder," he said. "They know that if they come in and play well, they can play with any team in the country on any given night."