This is going to be short on actual analysis and thoughts, (despite the title) as I picked up and extra shift at work late last night and passed out nearly as soon as I got home and have to be back there at noon today. Many apologies. Warden has a full-on KenPom preview coming today, so he'll suffice your desire for complete thoughts and statistical base.
This is the one that is a contest. Not to start off sounding like I'm bashing Missouri, because I'm not; it's just the cold, hard truth. Kansas plays Missouri twice a year. In one of those games, they stand a very slim chance of winning. That is the game in Allen Fieldhouse, of course. There are various reasons; the Allen Fieldhouse effect and Missouri's well docuented struggles on the road being tops. The other game, though, played in Mizzou Arena - host to one of the nation's better homecourt advantages - is always a different story. We saw how evident that is last year when the Tigers pulled out a last second win in Columbia before being thumped by 25 in the Lawrence rematch. It never matters how superior the Jayhawks seem to be when trekking west to Columbia; they always get a highly contested battle from their Civil War rivals.
Backcourt Comparison
Kansas - Sherron Collins, Tyshawn Taylor, Xavier Henry, Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed
Missouri - Zaire Taylor, Kim English, Marcus Denmon, J.T. Tiller, Michael Dixon Jr., and Miguel Paul
| Kansas | Missouri | |
| PPG | 45.9 | 53.4 |
| RPG | 12.4 | 15.2 |
| SPG | 6.0 | 7.1 |
Frontcourt Comparison
Kansas - Cole Aldrich, Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey
Missouri - Keith Ramsey, Laurence Bowers and Steve Moore
| Kansas | Missouri | |
| PPG | 34.8 | 17.2 |
| RPG | 25.7 | 12.9 |
| BPG | 5.7 | 3.3 |
Record: 22-8 (10-5)
Best Win(s): Old Dominion, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas
Worst Loss(es): @Oral Roberts, @Oklahoma
Informative Missouri Links
Player rotation from their Yahoo! team page:
Player Rotation: Usual Starters—F Keith Ramsey, F Laurence Bowers, G Zaire Taylor, G Kim English, G J.T. Tiller. Key Subs—G Marcus Denmon, F Steve Moore, G Michael Dixon, G Miguel Paul.
|
Bill Self (remove) |
Mike Anderson (remove) |
|
| Career Summary | ||
| NCAA Tourneys | 11 | 4 |
| NCAA Tourney Champions | 1 | 0 |
| Final Fours | 1 | 0 |
| Conf Tourney Champions | 4 | 1 |
| Draft Picks | 11 | 1 |
| Career Record | ||
| Overall Record | 402-146 (0.734) | 173-83 (0.676) |
| Conference Record | 178-53 (0.771) | 84-53 (0.613) |
| NCAA Tourney Record | 24-10 (0.706) | 6-4 (0.6) |
| Close Record | 63-56 (0.529) | 31-36 (0.463) |
| Blowout Record | 153-21 (0.879) | 63-8 (0.887) |
| Overtime Record | 15-10 (0.6) | 6-4 (0.6) |
| Career Team Stats | ||
| Field Goal Pct | 0.472 | 0.454 |
| Free Throw Pct | 0.693 | 0.678 |
| 3-pt Field Goal Pct | 0.366 | 0.344 |
| Points per game | 76.0 | 77.4 |
| Rebounds per game | 38.3 | 34.4 |
| Assists per game | 16.7 | 16.3 |
| Turnovers per game | 15.2 | 13.4 |
| Fouls per game | 19.4 | 20.1 |
Like I said, look for a KenPom preview later on today...