Missouri ready for KU rematch

The match is an away game in Lawrence, Kan.

By Ross Taylor

Published Feb. 26, 2009

After Missouri's 94-74 win against Kansas State on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena, seniors Leo Lyons, DeMarre Carroll and Matt Lawrence were asked if their minds ever drifted to Sunday's game against Kansas.

"I thought of Kansas," Caroll said. "Kansas State."

With Missouri's date with Kansas State now wrapped up, the program's attention can begin shifting to Sunday's nationally televised grudge match with the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan.

Missouri (24-4, 11-2 Big 12) will enter Lawrence ranked No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll to face No. 15 Kansas (23-5, 11-1). The Tigers have not won in Lawrence since a 71-63 victory in 1999 and are 5-20 in their last 25 trips to Allen Fieldhouse.

But if a rematch of Missouri's 62-60 win against Kansas on Feb. 9 wasn't enough, the stakes of Sunday's showdown were raised once again last Monday, when Kansas went on the road and defeated No. 3 Oklahoma.

The Sooners only had one conference loss before falling to the Jayhawks. With Kansas and Oklahoma next on Missouri's schedule, the Jayhawks' win gave Missouri full control of its destiny in the hunt for a regular season Big 12 championship.

Although the players weren't allowed by coach Mike Anderson to talk about Kansas until after the K-State game, it's clear the Missouri players have an idea of what it will take to win in Lawrence.

"We've got to go there with the mindset to match their intensity," Lawrence said. "We know they're going to be hyped at the beginning, but if we stick around and stick around, I like our chances."

Lyons even said Missouri's poor play in the first half against Kansas is one of the primary reasons the Tigers are confident heading into Sunday.

"We've got a lot of confidence on our hands right now," Lyons said. "We played a horrible game and still got the win. We know if we put the pieces together and put two halves together, we can come out with another victory."

Anderson said he wasn't surprised at all that the Missouri players weren't timid heading into a historically tough place to play.

"It's on the road, it's at their place, it's a nationally televised game," Anderson said. "That's why they play the game."

Although the players can focus on taking one game at a time, the big picture remains the same: Win out, and the Missouri Tigers are Big 12 champions.

"We've put a lot of time and effort in and a lot of hard work, and it's starting to pay off," Lawrence said of he and Lyons. "But the task is, we still control our own destiny. That's the position we want to be in."