Update #10: FINAL, KU wins 80-77
Rush hit both of his free throws after the timeout, putting KU up 71-70 with three minutes to play.
Marshall Brown again took it strong with a twist to the basket, and off of his spin drew a foul from Darrell Arthur to get himself to the line. Brown hit both free throws, giving him 12 points and putting MU up 72-71.
Collins continued one of his best offensive nights of the season, slashing sideways to the basket and hanging in the air to hit a leaner, putting KU back up, 73-72, and giving him 18 points.
Lawrence missed a three right at the two-minute mark, and the board was pulled down by Julian Wright – his ninth – and a Collins three put KU up by four. But a Matt lawrence headfake drew him an and-one layup, with a chance to make it again a one-point game. He hit the free throw, pulling Mizzou to a 76-75 deficit with just over a minute to play.
Darrell Arthur scored two easily inside to put KU up by three, and Marshall Brown had a clean look swatted by Arthur on the other end. Though on the second chance, Arthur’s second block was called a foul. Brown went to the line and hit two more freee throws.
But Collins, once again, went in and laid the ball in to put KU up by three with less than 30 seconds to go. Missouri missed a three, but KU turned the ball over on a baseball pass to Brandon Rush which sailed over his head, giving MU the ball back with 11.1 seconds left.
Matt Lawrence shot a contested three at the buzzer with Brandon Rush in his face, but it sailed well short. Sherron Collins led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, including 15 in the second half. Lawrence led Mizzou with 19 points.
Now, after three games in five days improved KU to 16-2 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play, KU takes a little break before playing Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech squad down in Lubbock Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Update #9: 3:02, second half, MU leads 70-69
Sasha Kaun hit one of two free throws after the break, and after a Lyons missed three, Sherron Collins sank one from the wing – his third of the game – to pull KU within one at 65-64.
Lyons got back to earn a free throw line trip, only to miss the first one. He made the second, extending Mizzou’s lead to a bucket.
Arthur then turned the ball over on the baseline with the crowd begging for a foul, and Keon Lawrence scored his first points of the game on the other end to put MU up by four.
Arthur got to the free throw line and hit one of two free throws after getting hacked as the game gets near the five-minute mark. Then, after a Mizzou miss, he drew an over-the-back call from Kalen Grimes.
Arthur went to the line again, this time thanks to the bonus, but banged the first one around the rim until it eventually spilled out. Russell Robinson then was whistled for his second foul, but Jason Horton couldn’t hit a free throw, and Arthur scored his first field goal on the other end to make it a one-point game at 68-67.
Missouri called a quick 30-second timeout, but Leo Lyons was called for a travel atop the key out of it to give Kansas a chance to take the lead. Collins missed a three, but Julian Wright was called for an over-the-back foul, putting Missouri at the line again.
Mizzou again missed the front end of its bonus trip, and Arthur put KU back ahead on a lightning-quick feed to the post from Julian Wright with 3:30 to go.
Marshall Brown looked unfazed, driving the lane, scoring again and giving the game its 17th lead change with MU leading 70-69. Rush was fouled by Horton shooting a long two, sending the game into its final full timeout at the 3:02 mark.
Update #8: 7:25, second half, MU leads 65-60
Hannah hit his free throw, and after a Julian Wright inside miss on the offensive end, Matt Lawrence saved a loose ball for Mizzou and called a timeout while going out of bounds.
Leo Lyons took the ball to the basket out of the timeout and drew a foul on Darrell Arthur. He then hit both free throws to continue Mizzou’s 8-0 run and tie the game.
Brandon Rush and Julian Wright then each missed inside looks, and Marshall Brown came down on the other end to put Missouri ahead 60-58.
KU called a quick timeout, and did nothing but turn the ball over on the offensive end. After Missouri missed a three, Sasha Kaun dunked the tying two points in transition, but that was followed by Hannah again matching KU with a banked jumper on the other end. Rush tried a bank shot of his own, but missed the iron completely. Mizzou turned it over after forcing another KU turnover, but gave it right back on a carry. Brandon Rush, though, couldn’t tie the game after getting called on a charge going down the baseline.
Matt Lawrence followed it by splashing home his fourth three-pointer of the game, making it a 15-2 Tiger run and putting the visitors up 65-60.
KU called a quick timeout, which was followed by Brandon Rush missing a corner three, but Hannah matched the brick on the other end of the floor.
Darnell Jackson then turned it over, but KU forced a bad transition look and got the ball back on the defensive glass, only to turn it over again.
Hannah was called for his fourth foul at the 7:25 mark on a tie-up with Kaun after missing a layup, but Missouri heads into a full timeout still with a five-point lead.
Update #7: 11:47, second half, KU leads 58-55
Tiller threw up an airball out of the break, and Brandon Rush answered with a three-pointer to put KU up 51-48. Grimes answered with his third inside field goal, giving him six points and nine rebounds.
Sasha Kaun cleaned up sloppy misses from Rush and Darrell Arthur on the other end for two points, and then Rush swatted a shot inside to get the ball back in KU’s possession before heading to the bench after getting whacked in the nose.
Sherron Collins hit two free throws to put KU up 55-50, and then drew a Missouri foul in the backcourt. That was followed by driving to the lane for an and-one, escalating KU’s lead to seven points heading into a timeout at 13:43.
Collins hit his free throw to make it an eight-point game, and Hannah’s three-point attempt on the other end flew off the back iron. KU had a turnover to follow the defensive board, and a Leo Lyons three again made it a five-point game.
KU continued to struggle with turnovers, as Mario Chalmers dribbled the ball off of his lower body and out of bounds for the second time in the game. That turned into a tough inside and-one for Stefhon Hannah heading into a full timeout before the free throw with KU still up three.
Update #6: 15:47, second half, game tied 48-48
Missouri squandered an offensive chance to open the second half, but Mario Chalmers turned it right back over for KU after slipping out of bounds while starting a transition break.
StefhonHannah, though, was blocked by Wright off of the inbounds, and it turned into an and-one layup for Brandon Rush on the other end. He hit the free throw to put KU up 43-39.
Sasha Kaun inside and Mario Chalmers from three misfired on offense, and Chalmers’ tough stretch continued after forcing a turnover on defense, but then throwing it right back to J.T. Tiller for an easy layup. Kalen Grimes then rebounded a Rush missed three, and that turned into three for Tiller, putting Mizzou up 44-43.
Brandon Rush continued to be aggressive, getting to the line on the other end, hitting one of two to tie the game, but Grimes scored again inside to put Mizzou up two. Sasha Kaun tied it up quickly, though, with a dunk on a fee dfrom Russell Robinson.
Matt Lawrence faked a KU defender out of his shoes and pulled up for a long two to take the lead back, but Chalmers picked up the pace right with him, scoring on a spinning layup, to tie the game 48-48 with 15:47 left in the game.
Update #5: HALFTIME, KU leads 40-39
KU again tried to get too cute out of the timeout, this time with Julian Wright trying to throw a pass behind his back which instead went out of bounds off of his lower leg.
Then, after Wright missed a baseline jumper, Kalen Grimes put in a close-range, one-hnded shot to pull Mizzou within one point.
Bill Self called a timeout just outside of the two-minute mark to get KU in control, but Sasha Kaun clanked a shot off of pure backboard out of the break, and then Matt Lawrence drew a foul inside to get to the line, where he hit both shots and put Mizzou up 35-34.
Sherron Collins didn’t let that last, though, as he hit his second three of the game. His Chicago rival Stefhon Hannah hit a deuce on the opposite end to tie it at 37-37.
Russell Robinson then canned his second three to put KU up by three. Hannah hit a runnier in the lane to make it a one-point game at halftime. Matt Lawrence has 11 points to lead all scorers, while Hannah has 10. Sherron Collins leads KU with eight, while Brandon Rush has seven.
Update #4: 3:55, first half, KU leads 34-31
Hannah hit one of two free throws after the timeout, but on the second, the loose ball scooted out of bounds, giving the ball back to Mizzou. Hannah missed a three from up top, though, and the ball was ripped down by Darnell Jackson.
Jackson hit a phenomenal shot on the other end off of a loose ball with the shot clock melting, but KU couldn’t get back quick enough on defense, as J.T. Tiller made it a seven-point game again.
Tiller scored again after a missed Rush three from the corner, and KU was subsequently called for three seconds. Vaidotas Volkus scored cutting across the lane afterwards for Mizzou, but Sherron Collins again quickly negated it with a layup of his own.
Right before the four-minute mark, Hannah scored in the lane for the Tigers to keep them within one possession at 34-31.
Chalmers then had a poor personal stretch. First, he missed the front end of a bonus free throw trip, then after a steal dribbled the ball out of bounds off of his knee, heading into the half’s final full timeout at 3:55.
Update #3: 6:55, first half, KU leads 30-22
Mario Chalmers hit two free throws to tie the game again out of the timeout, but Leo Lyons, a local product from Kansas City, Kan., threw home two on the other end to keep Mizzou ahead.
Darnell Jackson, also recently in the game, hit one of two free throws on the other end, but Mizzou still held a 17-16 advantage. Jackson then drew a blocking call while spilling down the lane after a Mizzou turnover thanks to a feed from the Mario Chalmers’ spot on the wing. Jackson hit both free throws on his second trip, putting KU back ahead.
That didn’t last, as Mario Chalmers’ second foul came while J.T. Tiller was hitting a jumper off the glass. He missed the free throw, but the lead exchanged yet again.
Russell Robinson hit a three just past the 10-minute mark to give KU some breathing room, and then a Brandon Rush defensive board gave the Jayhawks a chance to extend it. Collins missed a three, but Brandon Rush drew a foul off the rebound. He missed the first shot in a bonus trip to the line, but Julian Wright collected the garbage and threw it in to put KU up 23-19.
Rush then swatted a shot on the other end, and Wright again feasted, this time giving KU a six-point lead and forcing Mike Anderson to whistle for a timeout.
Missouri on its first possession out of the timeout, the Tigers lost the ball out of bounds, but KU couldn’t hit an open three look. Then, after Hannah hit one to break a drought for Mizzou, Rush hit his first three of the game to negate it, putting KU back up six. Rush followed it with a beauty of a drive and a scooping layup to give KU a 30-22 edge. A KU defensive foul brought a stoppage of play at the 6:55 mark.
Update #2: 11:31 , first half, MU leads 15-13
Darrell Arthur came into the game during the break, and immediately hit a pair of free throws out of it. On KU’s next possession, Collins tried to throw him an alley-oop, but to no avail. Matt Lawrence wound up canning his second three of the game to pull Mizzou within one, and then MU drew a foul on Arthur off of a defensive board.
Brown put MU back up by one on a bank shot in the lane, but Chalmers scored his first points just moments later by going coast-to-coast. Lawrence then hit another three, putting the Tigers up two with just under 12 minutes left.
Update #1: 13:54, first half, KU leads 9-7
Off the opening tip, Missouri’s backcourt pressure forced a tie-up between Mario Chalmers and Jason Horton. Though Missouri was unable to do anything about it, and on the opposite end, Sasha Kaun gave KU an early 2-0 lead.
The play got more than sloppy from there, with turnovers and offensive fouls galore, and KU took advantage of the possession arrow by forcing Marshall Brown into a two-on-one tie-up two possessions later. That resulted in an easy inside layup for Julian Wright to put KU up 4-0.
Matt Lawrence, though, hit a deep three for Mizzou, and a Kalen Grimes layin off of a Chalmers miss put the Tigers up 5-4.
Facing an early deficit, Sasha Kaun missed badly on a baby hook inside, but then rebounded a Stefhon Hannah miss inside, and Brandon Rush slashed to the basket on the other end for two, putting KU back on top.
Russell Robinson was called for a charge trying to extend the lead, and Marshall Brown took advantage by hitting an 18-foot jumper on the left wing. KU was forced into a hurried shot at the other end with the shot clock dwindling, and it resulted in a Sherron Collins missed three. Collins, though, hit a three one possession later after missing a stretching layup to put KU up 9-7. A Missouri defensive foul sent the game into its first full break.
Pregame
After having to slug out an overtime win over the weekend at Iowa State, it’d be hard to use exhaustion as an excuse tonight, as KU takes on Missouri in the first of two regular season clashes at Allen Fieldhouse.
While Kansas is trying to stay undefeated on the young Big 12 conference season, Mizzou limps into Lawrence on a three-game losing streak to start its league slate. The most recent setback was an 85-81 loss to Kansas State in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday.
One storyline to watch will be a reunion of a rivalry between KU freshman Sherron Collins and Mizzou junior Stefhon Hannah. Collins, a product of Crane Tech in Chicago, played against Hannah when the Tigers’ leading scorer was at Hyde Park. Hannah comes in averaging 15.4 points, 4.8 assists and 3.4 steals per game in a do-it-all role for Missouri.
Collins is one seven Jayhawks entering tonight’s game with an average of at least 6.1 points per game. He’s become integral in KU’s running game over the past several contests, getting easy points for the Jayhawk big men as of late.
