Missouri wins Big 12 title

It is the team's first since joining the conference.

By Ross Taylor

Published March 14, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – All season long, Missouri coach Mike Anderson said that his team was going to be in the hunt for something, they just didn’t know what. The goal of that hunt -- a Big 12 Championship -- finally became crystal clear Saturday night.

The hunt concluded with No. 3 Missouri taking home its crystal prize, the 2009 Big 12 Tournament championship trophy, after a 73-60 victory against the No. 9 Baylor Bears at the Ford Center.

As recently as November, Missouri faced questions about its youth, its trouble with the law the previous season and about the future of coach Mike Anderson. Five months later, the Tigers’ biggest question is whether they can secure a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“I told these guys they could have a special season,” Anderson said. “And it continues.”

The conference championship is Missouri’s first since joining the Big 12 and first since the Tigers won the Big Eight Conference tournament in 1993.

With the final seconds of the game ticking down, senior forward Matt Lawrence hurled the ball into the air in celebration as confetti cannons fired. Players hugged one another and got “Big 12 Champions” T-shirts, and freshman guard Kim English sprinted to high five Missouri radio announcers Mike Kelly and Gary Link.

All year long and after the Baylor win, Missouri players and coaches called this Tiger squad “the ultimate team,” a band of unselfish players who could all step up on any given night. That was on display Saturday, as Missouri’s five starters each contributed in their own particular way.

DeMarre Carroll finished with 20 points and nine rebounds en route to being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Zaire Taylor, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team, had four assists and a couple of huge early buckets with Missouri struggling from the field.

The contributions go on down the line. Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year J.T. Tiller helped slow a potent Baylor offense. Senior forward Leo Lyons came up with big jumpers in the second half to keep Baylor at a distance. Lawrence went three-of-six from 3-point range.

Carroll, Lyons and Lawrence are all members of an embattled senior class whose tenure at Missouri has been marked by stark highs and lows.

“It’s definitely been a roller coaster ride, and credit goes out to the guys on our team that all came in here and were all about one thing: winning,” Lawrence said. “That reflects our coach. Coach Anderson’s been nothing but honest with us, saying that he’s going to bring a championship to the school.

It was the collective effort of that “ultimate team” that helped Missouri outscore Baylor 36-27 in the second half.

But for as huge of an accomplishment as the Big 12 title is for Missouri, even when addressing the crowd on the trophy podium, Anderson refused to lose perspective.

“We’re just getting started,” Anderson said.