Columbia, Missouri — Tough week for the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, who not only lost twice but also saw the team that beat them inspire a court-storming on their home floor.
After falling to Creighton on Wednesday night, the Jayhawks followed a similar path to defeat on Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena, falling to the Border War rival Tigers, 76-67, in front of a wild Mizzou fan base that didn’t just storm the court when the final buzzer sounded — they sank it.
• PHOTO GALLERY FROM KU-MIZZOU •
With bodies flowing from the student section at a seemingly endless rate, Tiger fans roared in celebration while the Jayhawks quickly exited stage right, leaving the floor through the opposite tunnel that they came onto the court earlier in the day to ensure the players’ safety.
That was about the only time Kansas was safe in this one, as the Tigers (8-1) dominated from start to finish, leading by as many as 24 points midway through the second half before holding on to win.
KU turned it over 22 times and gave up 23 points off of those give-aways. Missouri turned it over just 10 times in the win and also out-shot KU at the free throw line 31-11, making 26, compared to just 9 for Kansas.
All of the stats in the world will paint a picture for you, but the key issue in this one — for the second game in a row — was the Jayhawks’ slow start.
Next up, KU (7-2) will return home for the first time in over a week, when they play host to NC State on Saturday after another week between games.
KU has just three games the rest of the month — Saturday vs. NC State, Dec. 22 vs. Brown and Dec. 31 vs. West Virginia — before diving into the Big 12 gauntlet full bore to start the new year.
There was a lot of talk about this team finding its identity after this loss, and it’s clear from looking at the schedule and calendar that they better do it quick.
Here’s a look back at some of Sunday’s Border War action.
LIKES
• Second-half signs of life – After reaching a low point of being down by 24 (57-33) midway through the second half, the Jayhawks hit the Tigers with a monster 15-0 run that pulled Kansas back into the game and put a little actual pressure on the Tigers to make plays, get stops and hold off their Border War rivals. The run featured a trio of KU 3-pointers from different players, but it came because KU buckled down and got consecutive stops. Two of those stops were shot-clock violations and KU not only crawled back into it but also looked to find a little bit of confidence again. Even when Missouri pushed the single-digit lead back to 11 or 12, Kansas kept coming. It wasn’t always pretty, but Kansas didn’t quit. Give them that. With 3:21 to play, the Jayhawks trailed by just 5 (62-57) turning that 15-0 run into a 24-5 run. They eventually got it all the way down to 2 (65-63) before the Tigers held on for the win. Something to take away from this game there, though.
Said Self of fighting to make it a game: “Did we quit? No. Did we keep fighting? No. Were we prideful? Absolutely.”
• Dickinson’s rim protection – Hunter had one of his best games as a shot blocker to date in this one. And his 7-2 frame and long limbs showed up early and often against the Tigers. It wasn’t enough to change the outcome or push Kansas over the top. But think about what it would’ve looked like if he hadn’t been on in that area. This could’ve been a 20-point loss real easily. In addition to a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds, the KU big man added 4 blocks and 4 assists to his line on Sunday.
• Atmosphere & energy – KU fans hate Mizzou and Mizzou hates Kansas. That’s what makes this rivalry so great and has for more than a century. It might not be packed like this or loud like this every time the Tigers play, but it sure was on Sunday. The student section was full well before tipoff and the boos started raining down on anyone wearing blue nearly 2 hours before the game even started. Things only intensified from there, with the home crowd being fueled by the Tigers’ play on the court in the first few minutes and throughout the first half. You don’t have to compliment anything Mizzou if you don’t want to, but, when it’s rockin’, they’ve got a great home-court environment with incredible energy, even if it is a little vulgar from time to time. The lights, the juice, the roar, the passion. It was all there on Sunday.
• Refs let ‘em play early – In a game like this, one of the worst things that can happen is for the officials to call it super-tight and take some of the flow out of the game. While Kansas might’ve preferred for that to happen in this one — perhaps limiting the KU turnovers — it was certainly nice to see the officials allow for a fair amount of contact and bumping, inside and out, throughout the start of the game.
DISLIKES
• Awful start (again) – For the second game in a row, KU struggled to match the early intensity of its opponent on its home floor and watched the Tigers, like Creighton, build a significant early lead that also brought the crowd into it in a big way. KU went down 22-11 in the game’s first 10 minutes, in part because of the intensity of the Tigers and the building and also because of a 4-of-13 shooting clip on the offensive end, including a 1-for-5 mark from 3-point range and 7 turnovers. That’s a big time recipe to get you beat – anywhere against anybody.
• Body language an absolute F in the first half – Coming off of a road loss early in the week, after which the court was stormed on you, you would’ve thought the Jayhawks would be itching to get back out there. Against anybody. But the energy and juice by the guys in blue was severely lacking on Sunday, from start to finish, really. You know it’s a problem when the moments Kansas was turned up are easier to spot than the moments they weren’t. Lethargic, frustrated, defeated and more. Those were the emotions that the Jayhawks body language conveyed for most of this game, while their counterparts in gold were playing every possession like it was for a national championship. You can laugh at that if you want, and I get that KU is everyone’s Super Bowl, but the Jayhawks know that, too, and they should be used to responding and countering that at home or away in games big and small.
• The search for a 5th starter – Kansas’ four-man crew of Dajuan Harris Jr., KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson and Zeke May has been pretty solid and steady this season, but the fifth spot has been a bit of a revolving door. The starting nod went back to Diggy Coit on Sunday, and, for the most part, the Northern Illinois transfer responded with a solid game in terms of both effort and production. He finished with 14 points and made 4 3-pointers in 26 minutes and helped KU compete. But, as solid of a rotation piece as he can be, he’s not a starter for a national title contender. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, right now, neither are Rylan Griffen and AJ Storr, the other two who have been given the opportunity this season. One of them will emerge. It’s still semi-early, and there is still time. But it’s quite clear that the way they’re going to have to do it starts in practice and with consistency and not by simply trying to show up and do it on game night.
Said Self on the topic: “I know who should be our starters in theory, but it hasn’t translated from practice to games or anything else like that yet. So, we’ll just have to hang in there and see if we can develop that, because, at this time, I don’t feel great about that.”
WHAT THE?
• Two court-stormings in a week? – I’ve been doing this a long time, and following the program even longer. There are plenty of memories that come back about a pair of losses in the same week, but back-to-back court-stormings? That’s pretty incredible. And I can't remember seeing that at Kansas or maybe anywhere. What’s more, they were so similar in that KU started slow, the crowds were electric and they even sang the same song, “Mr. Brightside,” complete with the “F#ck K-U” chant to add a little color. This week will sit with the Jayhawks for a while. Some of them will remember it the rest of their lives. The only good thing that came from it was the fact that no one was injured — or even close — in either court-storming. At Creighton, the ushers and security team cleared an easy path for the Jayhawks to leave the floor as the crowd spilled onto the floor. This one — and this Mizzou crowd — was a little more difficult to navigate, but MU coach Dennis Gates did his part to help by calling timeout and telling Self and company to leave before the storming out of the tunnel that the Tigers normally use.
Said Self of the timeout by Mizzou: “That was a classy move by Dennis. Let’s just call it like it is. Because somebody could’ve got hurt because that was a big time court-storm. And I was glad he did that because that gave us a chance to get to the side.”
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