Tigers Kansas State loss builds determination
Published Feb. 19, 2008
MANHATTAN, Kan. —What a difference two weeks make. The MU men’s basketball team earned a 77-74 win against Kansas State at home on Feb. 2, but Saturday’s game in Manhattan was far different, a 100-63 victory for the No. 18 Wildcats.
Kansas State freshman forward Michael Beasley had a dominant game Saturday. He scored 40 points and 17 rebounds in just 27 minutes of playing time.
“There’s no question about it,” MU coach Mike Anderson said. “He came a lot more focused in this particular game.”
The Tigers had at least been able to contain Beasley on Feb. 2, holding him to 17 points and 10 rebounds. Coming into Saturday, Beasley was averaging 25.1 points and 12.4 rebounds.
“He’s an excellent player,” Tiger freshman forward Justin Safford said. “It seemed like everything he did, we couldn’t stop him.”
Another problem MU had to deal with was Beasley’s teammate, freshman forward Bill Walker, who came up with 18 points and nine rebounds in the game.
Beasley scored 10 points with 14:50 left to go in the first half. Despite his initial burst, Missouri (14-13, 4-7 Big 12) was able to hang with Kansas State (18-6, 8-2) early on in the game. At one point in the first half, the Wildcats led only 19-18. With 11:28 to go in the half, there was a timeout on the floor with K-State leading 22-18. From there, the game got out of control. A 21-1 run built the Wildcats a 40-19 lead.
The halftime deficit was 52-31. MU recovered from a 44-34 halftime deficit in the previous win on Feb.2, but the game Saturday went in a different direction.
“They said that wasn’t going to happen this time,” junior guard Matt Lawrence said. “They got their lead. We tried to chip away at the start of the second half. They kind of stepped on our neck. They’ve got some good players.”
The game was the seventh sell-out this season at the 12,258-seat Bramlage Coliseum.
“This has become one of the toughest places to play in the Big 12 along with Kansas,” Lawrence said. “The fans here are really good, they show up real early. They get on you in shoot-around, it kind of lasts the whole way.”
When MU beat K-State, it lost the rebounding battle by a slim 38-33. But Saturday, the Wildcats completely dominated that area, 47-25, including an 18-10 edge on offensive rebounds.
“It seems like they’re only going to give you one shot,” Anderson said. “So, if you’re going to get a shot, you better get a good one.”
Lawrence said the Tigers were unable to execute a strategy that could shut down Walker and Beasley.
“Those are the two big guns,” Lawrence said. “I think we were able to get them into foul trouble at our place. We didn’t do that here tonight. We didn’t attack the basket.”
The team has a week to prepare for its next game at home against Colorado on Saturday.
Unless the Tigers can win the Big 12 Tournament next month, they will most likely play in the National Invitation Tournament, the newly formed College Basketball Invitational, or not qualify for the postseason.
“We’ve got five games left and we’re in the hunt for something,” Anderson said. “I don’t know what it is. But we are in the hunt for something and we’re going to continue to work and get better.”