Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Nothing's Easy in Big 12, but Kansas Has Winning Look

Well, it is March, and the madness has already begun in the Big 12 as Missouri upset Oklahoma and virtually handed the Big 12 championship to Kansas, losers at Texas Tech, 84-65.

Missouri got off early against Oklahoma, had a 15-point lead midway through the second half and cruised to an upset win over the 3rd ranked Sooners, 73-64.

With the Missouri-Oklahoma score flashing on the scoreboard, Kansas knew they could capture the Big 12 title outright with a win at Texas Tech or at home against Texas on Saturday.

Kansas shot just 32% in the first half (8-25) as the Red Raiders forged a 39-28 lead at intermission, but the Jawhawks used an 11-2 run to start the second, drawing to within two of Tech. But the Red Raiders went on a run of their own, quickly rebuilding their 11-point edge.

The game devolved as time wore on and Tech continued to pour in threes. Kansas cut the lead to five at one point, but the players knew the game had lost much of its meaning. Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins suffered through horrible shooting nights, going a combined 4-22 and scoring a season low 19 points between them.

Kansas hosts Texas at 4:00 pm ET on Saturday.

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