Robinett: the rules of the road welcome a Missouri victory

Monday, February 4, 2008

Admit it. You were cheering for Missouri on Saturday when the Tigers played Kansas State. It’s OK. I let my guard down, too, and was eager to see every Missouri basket during its 14-point comeback in the second half.

Kansas State sat on top of the Big 12 men’s basketball standings. It was undefeated in conference and one game ahead of Kansas after breaking “The Streak” in Manhattan with an amazing display of willpower. I’m sure that in the back of many KU minds was, “What if the Wildcats really are that good? They could win the Big 12!” The thought had at least crossed my mind.

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Big 12 Conference Road Records

Team Conference Road Record

Kansas 2-1 Kansas State 2-1 Baylor 2-1 Missouri 1-2 Texas 1-2 Texas A&M 1-2 Nebraska 1-2 Oklahoma 1-2 Texas Tech 0-3 Colorado 0-3 Iowa State 0-4 Oklahoma State 0-4

But it isn’t so easy to play on the road, is it, K-State?

“They protected their home court, which is what you have to do to be a good basketball team,” Kansas State head coach Frank Martin said after his team’s 77-74 loss to Mizzou.

The victory for the Tigers was even more remarkable considering that three players remained indefinitely suspended, and leading scorer Stefhon Hannah was injured with a broken jaw. Who knew they could pull it off?

Well, anyone who knows much about college hoops. It really is much tougher to play on the road. Even if a team is outmatched, the home side at least has a decent possibility to win.

Does it mean Missouri is better than Kansas State? No. Just as when Kansas State defeated Kansas on Wednesday, it didn’t mean the Wildcats were better than the Jayhawks.

“All this is, is the first time a bunch of freshmen are playing in this arena,” Martin said. “We played a good team; we didn’t play a bad basketball team. They battled through some adversity. Give their players some credit. They stuck together, they dealt with it and then they came out today and played like the team they’re capable of.”

And maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the 12,000-plus fans screaming their lungs out for Missouri. It has to be easier to make up for a stupid turnover when the home crowd is behind you and harder to do so when you feel the crowd’s adversity all game.

“Here’s the deal,” Martin said. “You want to play Missouri on the road, you better not turn the basketball over. We turned it over. We had I think either 10 or 11 turnovers in the second half. We do that on offense and then just don’t defend, we’ve got no chance to win.”

So the next time you hear about an “upset” on the road, don’t put too much stock into it.

After browsing through the KUsports.com message boards, I liked the way user WaHawk04 sarcastically put it: “After today’s game, I think it is obvious that Missouri is a better basketball team than KSU. Also, Mike Anderson is a better coach than Frank Martin. Same logic has to apply to all games, right?”

— Edited by Katherine Loeck

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