Border War should be a blast
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
LAWRENCE | If you came to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday looking for clues to predict Monday’s ginormous Border War pitting Jayhawks and Tigers, you left confused and eager to watch Mizzou at Iowa State later in the evening.Kansas had little trouble slapping Oklahoma State 78-67, but the Jayhawks didn’t exactly display the midseason precision that will be necessary to derail the red-hot Tigers inside Mizzou Arena.
The Big 12-unblemished Hawks turned the ball over 17 times, unspooled 23 threes and went too many stretches without Cole “Young McHale” Aldrich flicking a turnaround jumper. A repeat of that recipe will get the Jayhawks spanked at The Zou.
The Morris Twins still look a little lost and timid when catching the ball in the low post. It’s easy to envision them getting rattled on the road in a big-game atmosphere.
I came to Saturday’s game determined not to nitpick Sherron Collins. He’s in tremendous physical condition. His on-court, verbal and body-language leadership is obvious. It’s his team. He knows it, takes pride in it and does his very best to provide confidence to his inexperienced playmates.
On Saturday, I liked the way he didn’t force anything offensively. He shot just 12 times. What I didn’t like was he settled for too many three-pointers (eight attempts) and failed to go aggressively to the hole.
I’m sorry. I can’t help but nitpick Collins. He’s as physically gifted a player as has played at Kansas since Danny Manning. I watch Sherron and I see Chris Paul. You can’t be Chris Paul without savagely going to the hole and diming Aldrich and the Morris Twins for dunks.
I suspect we’ll see some of that Monday. The Tigers are going to force the tempo with full-court pressure. The pace will scream for Collins to go 30-n-10. But will he? We have no clue. On Saturday, he shot four of 12 from the field and finished with just two assists.
The best thing about the Jayhawks on Saturday was swingman Mario Little. It was my first time seeing the junior-college transfer in person. Love his game, love his energy, love his savvy, love his creativity.
In 26 minutes, Little scored 13 points, sank six of eight shots, grabbed five rebounds and passed out three assists.
Kansas’ best shot at winning on Monday is with Little starting, playing 30-plus minutes and scoring 20 points.
Little can score from anywhere on the court. He has the range to drain threes, the body to post inside, the handle to get in the lane and the athleticism to finish at the rim.
Little can play at Mizzou’s pace. The Morris Twins? Not so much. They’re likely to get sped up and erratic. Markieff Morris turned the ball over three times in six minutes of action on Saturday.
Little was signed to get heavy minutes this season. He’s supposed to be a high-impact player. He’s played 30 minutes one time this season — at Nebraska, an important, gritty road victory for KU. With road games at Missouri and Kansas State this week, Bill Self might as well unleash the Full Mario.
Mizzou is going to have plenty of problems trying to contain Aldrich. The Tigers don’t have a big man equipped to deal with Aldrich’s size. Little’s craftiness could create a different kind of problem for DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons.
I’m writing this column as I watch the Tigers do what they rarely do — win at Ames. It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen a Missouri team playing at this high of a level in conference play. Quin Snyder had a team make a nice tournament run. But good teams reveal themselves during the grind of conference play.
The Tigers, 20-4 overall, 7-2 in the Big 12, are good. They’re better than Kansas right now. Collins and Aldrich have far more professional potential than anyone on the Missouri roster. Carroll, Lyons and head coach Mike Anderson have more to prove than Collins, Aldrich and Bill Self.
I’m not going to pick the Tigers to win in a squeaker because I don’t want to be accused of jinxing their breakthrough season.
Monday night is going to be the most fun Kansas and Mizzou have had since Norm Stewart retired.
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