Huskers trip up MU Tigers

With five players suspended, the Tigers relied on the crowd’s support.

By Mike Bushnell
Feb. 1, 2008

Freshman forward Justin Safford and junior guard Matt Lawrence attempt to block Nebraska freshman guard Cookie Miller on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers managed to keep the game close, despite having only seven players on the bench. MU lost the game 66-62.

Three days after hearing their leading scorer suffered a broken jaw in a fight, and two days after coach Mike Anderson announced he would suspend three-fifths of his starting lineup, Missouri found themselves on the cusp of pulling off maybe their best win of the season.

Yes, their best win of the season could have come at home against the worst team in the conference. But after hanging close with just six scholarship players, MU couldn’t complete the storybook finish.

Trailing 62-60 to Nebraska with 20 seconds left, Nebraska sophomore guard Ryan Anderson intercepted Missouri sophomore guard J.T. Tiller’s pass.

Anderson scored and ended the Tigers’ hopes in what became a 66-62 loss for MU.

“I didn’t even know what was going on,” sophomore guard Keon Lawrence said of Anderson’s steal. “All I heard was ‘Awww,’ and he went the other way and we lost.”

Playing without Stefhon Hannah, Leo Lyons, Darryl Butterfield, Jason Horton and Marshall Brown, who all violated team rules, the Tigers relied on the emotional and supportive Mizzou Arena crowd, which was on its feet much of the game.

“That was a gutsy performance by our guys,” Anderson said. “And the crowd was right behind us the entire way, which was really great to see.”

With only six scholarship players available, MU needed sparsely used reserves to play heavy minutes. Tiller, who came into Wednesday’s game averaging 16 minutes per game, played 35.

Four players — Tiller, Keon Lawrence, junior guard Matt Lawrence and junior forward DeMarre Carroll — all played at least 35 minutes.

“We knew we were going to have to play heavy minutes,” Keon Lawrence said. “But that’s the way it goes, and I thought we were prepared.”

Without Butterfield inside, Nebraska senior center Aleks Maric was able to score the first six Huskers points on easy layups, and had 11 points and 10 rebounds at halftime.

But he was held to just one field goal in the second half, and fouled out with two minutes left in the game.

But the Tigers (12-9, 2-4 Big 12) could never take advantage of the Huskers’ mistakes and pull ahead. Their largest lead in the second half was just 1 point, and they stayed close to Nebraska (12-6, 1-4) until the end of the game, unable to get the one basket they needed to pull ahead.

“We were always just one or two stops away,” Carroll said. “We couldn’t get over that hump, and that was really frustrating.”

Also frustrating, was MU’s inability to press hard defensively the way they are accustomed to, Lawrence said.

With only seven players on the floor, he said Anderson played a zone defense more to keep his team from getting burned out.

“With only seven guys, we were still getting them tired,” Lawrence said. “But we couldn’t do as much as we wanted shorthanded.”

Keon Lawrence, who scored just 6 points in 35 minutes, said he missed having Horton and Hannah in the backcourt.

“I hope Horton gets unsuspended soon,” he said. “They kept coming after me, and it’s hard for me to create shots and be effective without him.”

Horton may be back for Saturday’s game against Kansas State. Anderson said the suspended players’ status would be re-evaluated “down the road.”

He said those five had to suffer through the frustration of not being able to help their team win a close game.

“They had to sit in street clothes and just watch,” he said. “I know how tough that was for them.”

Matt Lawrence said Anderson doesn’t believe in moral victories, but he praised his undermanned team for keeping the game improbably close until the final seconds.

“Coach told us he’s been coaching basketball for a long time,” Lawrence said. “And he’s never been more proud of a group of guys than he was tonight.”

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Huskers trip up MU Tigers

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