The 6-foot-1, 183-pound standout is back in his hometown of Chicago recovering from a fractured jaw suffered Jan. 27 in an altercation outside a Columbia, Mo., bar.

He’ll be missed during today’s 8 p.m. Big Monday battle, say KU’s players, who wish no ill will on one of the best guards in the Big 12 Conference.

“I do feel for him,” KU senior point guard Russell Robinson said. “He was playing so well. He’s what makes them go. He’s the point guard, a big scorer, a good player. That’s tough for any player. I wish him the best.”

Hannah, who likely will miss the rest of his senior season, averaged a team-leading 14.7 points off 43.0 percent shooting (45 of 117 threes for 38.5 percent) with 105 assists against 58 turnovers for the Tigers, who enter today’s clash 13-9 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12. KU is 21-1, 6-1.

“I feel terrible for him,” said KU backup guard Sherron Collins, a friend of Hannah’s who also hails from the Windy City. “I don’t know if him being out will ruin their team, but it takes away a lot from their team, what he can do defensively and offensively.”

The Jayhawks say the Hannah situation – second-year MU coach MIke Anderson suspended Tigers Marshall Brown, Darryl Butterfield, Jason Horton, Leo Lyons and Hannah for violating team rules for being in the bar with the guard – was unfortunate.

“Oh man, you just have to watch where you are at and who you hang around with. That can happen to anybody, even one of you guys (media),” senior Darnell Jackson said. “You never know when. It can happen to anybody.”

MU coach Anderson – he reinstated Lyons and Brown for Saturday’s shocking 77-74 victory over Kansas State – has a midnight curfew on weekends that the players violated. Team policy prohibits players from hanging out in bars.

“When kids make mistakes, you’ve got to discipline them,” Anderson told the Associated Press. “These are kids we’re talking about. I’m a teacher, too, and I’m trying to teach them about life. There have been some hard lessons.

“I’m building a program, trying to change a culture,” added Anderson, who booted Kalen Grimes off the team after the player’s arrest last summer but did not pull his scholarship and will see Grimes graduate this spring.

“I want to see young men come in here and go out as men, and go out and be productive citizens,” Anderson added in his interview with the AP.

The Hannah incident occurred just hours after the Tigers’ 66-62 victory at Colorado. With just six scholarship players available because of the suspension, MU fell at home to Nebraska, by the same 66-62 score.

“Hannah is a big key to that team. He is captain of that team,” KU’s Jackson said. “The way he handles the ball and pressures, he brings a lot of energy to that team.”

Sophomore guard J.T. Tiller has filled in admirably for Hannah in the backcourt. He scored a career-best 20 points Saturday against Kansas State.

“I think they’re a lot different team now,” KU’s Brandon Rush said. “Hannah is their playmaker. He can shoot it, create his own shots, and it’s going to be big (his absence). I don’t know how they beat K-State without Hannah, but it’s a good thing they did.”

KSU’s loss to MU – paired with KU’s victory at Colorado – moved the Jayhawks back atop the league standings, a half game ahead of the Wildcats, who beat KU last Wednesday.

“You can find out a lot about teams when they go through some adversity,” KU coach Bill Self said. “Obviously Missouri has risen to the occasion. We saw first-hand what they can do. It was a six-point game (76-70) in Columbia. Last year they could have beaten us at our place,” Self added of KU’s narrow 80-77 victory, which was not assured until Matt Lawrence’s three-point attempt at the buzzer missed.

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Carryover?: Mizzou trailed K-State by 15 points before rallying on Saturday.

“What it means Monday? It just tells you that on any given night anything can take place in our league,” Anderson told the AP.

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Carroll upbeat: MU junior forward DeMarre Caroll, who had five points off 2-of-11 shooting in the first meeting versus KU, scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds in 25 minutes against K-State.

“Every day it’s just moving forward,” Carroll told the AP, referring to life without Hannah. “If you’re with us, you’re with us, and if you’re not, you’re not. Like coach said, the train is going to keep going.”

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Chalmers led way at MU: Mario Chalmers had 18 points, while Brandon Rush and Darnell Jackson hit for 13 apiece in KU’s six-point victory in Columbia.

“It was very important for us to have a grind-it-out game like that. Things weren’t going right for us, so we had to change things up and still came away with a win,” Rush said.

The Jayhawks hit just 40 percent of their shots and four of 12 threes. MU hit 38 percent of its shots – five of 28 threes.

“They came to play with us,” Rush said of the Tigers. “Shots weren’t falling for either one of the teams, but we still managed to get the win.”

Of the first meeting, KU coach Self said: “We didn’t play our best. Missouri had a lot to do with that. They missed shots. We missed shots. We didn’t execute well on the offensive end. We didn’t play great the second half, but never relinquished the lead.”

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Traditional battle: KU’s Russell Robinson is 5-2 versus Missouri. “I do think of the rivalry. It’s way before me and will be here way after me. As long as I’m here, I’ve got to try to hold down the fort,” Robinson said.

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Border War facts: KU leads the all-time series 165-93. KU is 84-31 against MU in Lawrence. The Jayhawks have won four straight over MU and have won eight in a row over their rivals in Allen Fieldhouse. … Missouri’s last victory in Lawrence came during Norm Stewart’s final season – 71-63 on Jan. 24, 1999. … Four of the last five games in the series have been decided by six points or fewer. …