KANSAS 90, MISSOURI 65

Game Over

Kansas absolutely tore through Missouri's attack all day, and it resulted in a 25-point victory.

The Jayhawks are now in great position to claim at least a share of the Big 12 title when they go down to Lubbock on Wednesday.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. Missouri

A photo gallery of the Jayhawks 90-65 win over Missouri Sunday.

The Kansan will get you ready for that game and have plenty of postgame coverage on this game coming Monday.

KANSAS 86, MISSOURI 60

2:10 left in the second half

This is going to be a huge victory for Kansas, both in margin and meaning, but it's not what I was hoping for. This game has been over for the entire second half. It's basically been a chance to add to the highlight reel, which Aldrich has done with a couple of sweet alley-oops.

KANSAS 66, MISSOURI 41

11:41 left in the second half

The Jays are slicing through the Tigers' pressure like butter. The one thing Missouri could count on to slow down Kansas' attack and keep the game close isn't working at all.

The Jayhawks have passed their way out of the full-court pressure time and again, then run out some clock before getting an easy shot. The Jayhawks have completely out-played the Tigers, and that's more than surprising.

KANSAS 54, MISSOURI 33

15:32 left in the second half

The Tigers took a small bite out of their lead, but they need plenty more this afternoon. Lyons is still pacing Missouri with 18 points, and Carroll has bumped his total to eight.

The Tigers need to keep feeding those two big men because both Morris twins are in foul trouble and Aldrich just picked up his first.

KANSAS 45, MISSOURI 19

Halftime

Missouri needed to do whatever it could to claw back into this game. Instead, Kansas went on a 7-0 to end the half and kill almost any shot the Tigers have of coming back in this game. They were down 16 at home and came back, but a team doesn't come back from a 26-point halftime deficit in Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas is hitting 55 percent from the floor while Missouri is still just 8-of-38 for just 21 percent.

More telling is the three-point field goals. Kansas has hit 5-of-7 behind the three-point line while Missouri is 0-for-9.

The Tigers' only chance, and it's awfully small, is to start hitting shots in enormous bunches and digging up that "40 minutes of hell" defense they talk about.

KANSAS 38, MISSOURI 19

2:31 left in the first half

Apparently Blake Griffin's dive over press row yesterday has inspired the rest of the Big 12 to do the same.

Two players (Tyshawn Taylor and Justin Safford) have already dove over Kansas' bench after loose balls. There hasn't been too much chippiness yet, but the intensity of a rivalry game is certainly present.

I predicted that Leo Lyons would be a key for Missouri to hang in this game. That's been true and false, as Lyons has 11 points but Missouri is still down 19.

I figured Lyons' production would give Carroll more room to operate, but so far he's only 2-of-6 from the field and has stayed around the perimeter.

KANSAS 30, MISSOURI 12

7:42 left in the first half

Brady Morningstar can hustle, but that doesn't mean he can dunk.

The Lawrence product made a nice steal at midcourt chugged towards the basket. I thought he'd play it safe with a layup, but Morningstar wanted the flush so he elevated and did everything except score. Collins was trailing the play and got fouled on his layup attempt.

That's about the only negative for Kansas thus far. Collins already has eight points while Markieff Morris is close behind with four.

To make it a game, MIssouri needs to cut the deficit to at least 10 by halftime.

KANSAS 21, MISSOURI 7

11:50 left in the first half

Well, I didn't think Missouri could play as poorly in the opening minutes as it did in Columbia. I was wrong.

The Tigers haven't found any kind of offense and right now their defense is suspect, at best. Collins has six points and the Jayhawks are shooting 64 percent from the field, compared to the Tigers' 20.

KANSAS 13, MISSOURI 5

14:19 left in the first half

This game is going at lightning speed up and down the court right now. The Jays have been speeding up their in-bounds passes to avoid the Tigers' full-court pressure.

Kansas is also playing stellar defense right now, which has produced some easy buckets, including an emphatic one-hand slam from Cole Aldrich.

The big man had already botched one dunk, so he took a little extra time, sized it up and slammed it home. Just like the game in Columbia, Kansas is off to a tremendous start.

How will Missouri respond?

1 p.m.

Prediction time.

I've gone back and forth on this one. I went against my instinct last time around and picked the Jays. That looked like a smart switch until Taylor's last-second shot.

This time around I'm sticking with the logic that I ignored in Round 1: When two teams are this evenly matched, go with the home team. Especially when that team owns a 39-game home court winning streak.

It will come down to the wire and I don't expect Missouri to struggle as much offensively. That means we could see the score 62-60 with about eight minutes left.

With everything that's on the line, one almost forgets about the simple hatred between these two. That will certainly show at times, but I expect a hard-fought game that should keep everyone completely entertained.

Mak me down for an 82-77 Kansas victory.

12:45 p.m.

I can't believe it's come to this. It's the biggest game in Allen Fieldhouse this season, and the fans just busted out The Wave. Really? The Wave?

I'm rarely ashamed by the home crowd, but there's no excuse for ever partaking in a wave. That's just clown stuff.

Anyways, besides that one lapse the crowd is jacked and the environment keeps getting better as seconds tick off the clock.

If there's an x-factor in this game, I'd say it's Tyrel Reed.

Reed has a knack for hitting big shots at big moments. More than that, Reed placed blame for the Mizzou loss on himself for his poor late-game defense on Zaire Taylor. He's never going to be much of a defender, but look for him to try to make up for it with more-than-a-few threes.

12:30 p.m.

Hate is in the Allen Fieldhouse air this afternoon.

These teams don't like each other, the fans don't like each other and the states don't like each other. On top of that, today's game is for control of the regular season Big 12 crown. It doesn't get much bigger than that this time of year.

On the court, I'm looking in the paint for the marquee match-up between Cole Aldrich and DeMarre Carroll/Leo Lyons. Carroll is a beast, but Aldrich should be able to put a lid on him. The question is how much can Lyons step up to take the scoring load off Carroll. If both of them are on fire, then Aldrich and Kansas' trio of fours (Morris twins and Mario Little) will have serious trouble keeping the score down.