Tigers seek revenge against Jayhawks

By Ryan Huber and Sam Wilson

Published Feb. 9, 2007

Even in the Tigers' first two sellouts of the year, seats remained empty. Expect that to change Saturday when the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks come to town for the Border Showdown.

The Missouri campus has been abuzz all week for this weekend's main event. "Beat KU" T-shirts have been on sale in Brady Commons all week, and Zou Crew begins its preparations at 5 a.m. on Saturday.

Last time the Tigers played the then-No. 5 Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan., the game ended in an 80-77 defeat. But MU coach Mike Anderson said the team is different since that loss on Jan. 15.

"Hopefully, we will have a little bit better understanding about what it takes to make winning plays," he said. "KU is a very good basketball team. They are playing well right now."

Anderson has said all season that the next game is always the team's biggest game. And though he is willing to partially acknowledge the extra magnitude of the Kansas game, he won't say it would be a signature win for him.

"I look at it as a big game," he said. "If anything else, it will be the first ranked team we have in here this year."

Anderson's team appears to have adopted his philosophy.

"We try not to get caught up in thinking about signature wins," junior guard Nick Berardini said. "We need to take the mind-set that every game is Kansas, every game is an NCAA tournament game, every game is like playing for the national championship."

But there's no denying that Saturday's game is like no other game in the season.

"Kansas is very special, no doubt," Berardini said. "Obviously, I've enjoyed it the first two years. There's no feeling like being the first guy to warm up an hour and a half before the game and seeing the entire student section full and screaming."

MU is fresh from a win against Iowa State on Tuesday in which freshman guard Keon Lawrence broke into the starting line-up for the first time in his college career. Anderson said he would most likely stick with the same lineup for Saturday.

"I think he's ready," Anderson said about Lawrence. "I think he's healthier and I think he gives you another option. He presents a lot of problems for opponents."

But for Lawrence, starting was only a minor adjustment.

"It was kind of different starting," he said. "But I came out and gave us everything I had."

Early foul trouble has been a problem for junior forward Marshall Brown, especially in big games like MU's win against Texas Tech on Jan. 27. But he said it won't change his approach against Kansas.

"I can't change anything," he said. "I can't be worried about getting into foul trouble. I think that's when I start picking up the fouls. I just have to be aggressive and physical and not worry about it."

For the Tigers, maintaining the momentum from Tuesday's win against Iowa State will be key, especially in rebounding.

"I think it's important," junior Kalen Grimes said.

In all of the team's wins this season, it has out-rebounded the opponent, and Grimes said that out-rebounding the Jayhawks is a realistic goal.

"We know we can do it, it's a matter of doing it," he said.