Rebounding woes continue for MU

By Sam Wilson

Published Feb. 12, 2008

Five different Texas A&M players had more rebounds Saturday than the leaders for MU in a 77-69 Tiger loss. Junior forward Leo Lyons and freshman forward Justin Safford led the Tigers with four rebounds.

Sophomore forward Bryan Davis led the Aggies with 11 rebounds, and senior forward Joseph Jones had nine. Junior forward Josh Carter was the only Aggie starter with less than four rebounds, claiming two. Freshman center DeAndre Jordan came off the bench, claiming six.

“We just hit the boards hard,” Davis said. “We didn’t let go. On the defensive end and the offensive end, we had to fight for them.” Overall, the Aggies outrebounded the Tigers 42-25 in the game.

“I think that’s what’s really killing us right now,” sophomore guard Keon Lawrence said. “Everybody’s just throwing the ball up there and getting second shots, so we’ve got to do a better job with that.”

The Aggies have a size advantage on the Tigers. Lyons is the tallest Tiger, the only one listed at 6-foot-9-inches. Both Davis and Jones are 6-foot-9-inches. Jordan is 7 feet tall.

“They’re one of the better rebounding teams in the country, not only in our conference,” MU coach Mike Anderson said of the Aggies.

That being said, Lyons said the Tigers didn’t play to their rebounding potential. “Usually we rebound with quickness and try to rebound with a bunch of people in the paint,” Lyons said. “Today we just didn’t do that.”

The team’s rebounding woes did not begin on Saturday. Last Monday, Kansas out-rebounded MU 48-25 in a 90-71 Jayhawk win. Even in the team’s 77-74 win against Kansas State on Feb. 2, it was still out-rebounded 38-33.

“We did a much better job against Kansas State,” Anderson said. “They had some great rebounders on their team. But again, to me that’s energy and that’s effort.”

It certainly doesn’t help the Tigers that junior forward DeMarre Carroll is still dealing with an injured ankle. Carroll leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game. Lyons is second on the team with 4.2 rebounds per game. But Carroll was limited to just two rebounds Saturday as he was still affected by an injury he suffered Monday in the Kansas game.

“I can’t get up,” Carroll said. “I can’t jump. So all I can do is box out. I tried, but I guess it wasn’t good enough. So, hopefully, I just keep getting treatment and hopefully I get this thing under control.”

Things don’t seem to be getting any easier. The team’s next game is Wednesday night at Nebraska, which features Nebraska senior 6-foot-11-inch center Aleks Maric. He had 13 rebounds when the teams met in Columbia Jan. 30, and the Huskers won 66-62. Due to suspensions, the Tigers only dressed eight players that night. They will likely dress 12 on Wednesday.

“He’s a big guy, he’s just one of them guys that you can’t let him get position,” Carroll said. “We’ve just got to get in there and fight like we did here. But we’ve got more guys and won’t be afraid to get in foul trouble.”