Kansas @ Missouri Preview

By Mike Wynn Sports

Kansas travels to Columbia Missouri Saturday to take on the Missouri Tigers in what figures to be a interesting game. Kansas fresh off their big home win over Kansas St has now secured the regular season Big12 title and most likely a number 1 seed on Selection Sunday. Missouri Tigers at 21-8 overall and 10-5 in conference are a lock for the NCAA tournament but a big win here could improve their seeding dramatically. Throw in the fact that this has been a pretty heated rivalry and this game has the makings of a classic. So let’s take a look at both schools starting with the visiting Kansas Jayhawks.

No doubt that Kansas has earned a coveted number 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Bill Self has a very talented bunch playing very good basketball right now and he may have the best team leader in the country in Sherron Collins. The senior has been nothing short of brilliant this season leading the Jayhawks in scoring with 15.4 points per game and assists at 4.3 per contest, but it’s his ability to hit big shots and make big plays when his team needs them that really make this guy something special. Junior center Cole Aldrich has been solid this season averaging nearly a double-double with 11.4 points and 9.8 boards a game. Kansas is also a deep team with 8 guys getting significant minutes and that’ll certainly serve them well in the Big 12 tournament and NCAA’s. Kansas has all the makings of a Final Four team this season and they’ll be one of the favorites to win it all, and I certainly wouldn’t bet against them.
Missouri Tigers will be looking to earn some respect when they take on Kansas here Saturday in a nationally televised CBS game. Head coach Mike Anderson is in 4th season at the helm at Missouri and he plays the style of game that many teams don’t want to face at tournament time. Anderson preaches the 40 minutes of hell style of basketball with heavy defensive full court pressure defense that forces turnovers and gets easy buckets. Like Kansas, Missouri has 8 players that get significant playing time and they’re led in scoring sophomore guard Kim English and his 14.1 points per game. English is also one of four players that averages 1.4 or more steals per game as his 6-6 frame gives opposing guards problems. Missouri has a nice mix of veterans and youth and the future is bright as the Tigers top 3 scorers on the team are sophomores. Missouri made a terrific run to the Elite Eight in last years NCAA Tournament and will be another tough out this year.
Looking at the trends and angles in this one I think it’s a spot for a nice Missouri upset. Kansas as I mentioned wrapped up the Big12 title Wednesday night with the win over Kansas St and they should be a lock for a number 1 seed. I think Bill Self will have a tough time getting his squad fully focused for what is going to be a very energized and focused Missouri team. Kansas put a 19 point thumping on Missouri earlier this year in Lawrence and the Tigers will be itching for payback. These two teams have played some classics in the past and I think this game is going to be a dandy. We won’t be getting a lot points with Missouri but they’ll be worth taking.