Montemayor: Kansas playing well now

Thursday, January 15, 2009

The thing about early conference match-ups is that there is a sense of urgency that is not experienced by a league’s teams in unison any other time of year.

Forget preseason polls and expectations. Contenders and pretenders can either set the tone for a championship season or find themselves swiftly passed by.

This is why last night’s women’s basketball Border Showdown had the feeling of a gladiatorial contest; the victor moved along and the loser succumbed to whatever beast one’s Greco-Roman imagination can fathom. The contestants: Missouri — 2-14 in the Big 12 last season — and Kansas — a program yet to find its way in the conference this millennium.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Women's Basketball vs. Missouri

A photo gallery of the women's basketball game Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse against Missouri.

Kansas 75, Missouri 58.

Before Sade Morris’ buzzer-beating lay-up at the half, the two squads spent much of the half dead even in scoring and debilitating errors. When the two weren’t answering each other with baskets, a Kansas turnover here (they had 20) and a foul there (they had 25) kept it close. Morris’ basket at the buzzer over a cloud of defenders sent her team to the locker room with a momentum not relinquished upon return.

Both teams needed this win, but Kansas needed it more. After winning the inaugural Big 12 regular season championship in 1996-97, the Jayhawks followed with three straight 11-5 finishes until being hit hard by their own Y2K bug.

After the 1999-00 season, Kansas plummeted and has yet to recover. Including this year’s 1-1 start, the Jayhawks are 29-101 (.223) in the Big 12 since 2000-01. During that stretch, they have yet to win more than five conference games — their lowest point occurred in 2001-02 when they finished 0-16.

Considering Jan. 10’s Massacre in Manhattan, the Jayhawks desperately needed to leave the court with their chins up last night. A poor conference record just might be enough to qualify for postseason play. But more often than not, averaging 3.5 conference wins over eight seasons usually is a prognosis of a flawed squad.

Handling the Tigers in Allen Fieldhouse — where Kansas is now 9-0 — was imperative in gaining the momentum necessary to face a strong Big 12 slate ahead. Eight more ranked opponents loom. And Saturday’s opponent, unranked Texas Tech, topped No. 16 Texas last week.

Try staring down that schedule with a 0-2 record.

— — Edited by Grant Treaster

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