Rush Leads Jayhawks To 90-71 Victory Against Missouri Monday
Feb. 4, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Brandon Rush scored 19 points to lead a balanced Kansas offensive attack as the fourth-ranked Jayhawks raced to a 90-71 win against Missouri in Big 12 basketball action Monday night.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
With the win, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas improved to 22-1 overall and 7-1 in Big 12 play. Missouri dropped to 13-10 and 3-5.
The Jayhawks have now won five straight against Missouri and complete the regular-season sweep against the Tigers, as KU posted a 76-70 win at Columbia on Jan. 19. It marks the fifth straight year Kansas has posted at least one double-digit victory against the rival Tigers.
Rush’s 19 points matched his season-high he had scored at Nebraska earlier in the year. The junior ignited the crowd right at the start with a three-pointer on the opening possession. The crowd got even louder when Darrell Arthur’s dunk made it 5-0 after two possessions.
Rush was joined in double-figure points by Mario Chalmers (15), Arthur (13), Sherron Collins (12) and Sasha Kaun (12).
Missouri was led by Keon Lawrence, who scored a game-high 25 points on 10 of 13 shooting. Three other Tigers scored 13 points in DeMarre Carroll, J.T. Tiller and Leo Lyons. Lyons was the only Tiger to come off the bench and score.
The Jayhawks got off to a quick start as eight of the nine players that attempted a field goal, made their first shot in the contest. While KU shot 51 percent in the first half, the Jayhawks cooled off in the second half, making just 41.9 percent of their attempts.
With the score 18-17 in the first half in favor of the home team, Kansas went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 25-17. That started an 18-6 run which pushed the margin to 33-21 with seven minutes left in the half.
KU took a 45-33 lead into halftime before Missouri opened the second period scoring three straight points to make it 45-36 Kansas. However, that was as close as Missouri would get the rest of the way.
Arthur, who played just two minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, returned to action and scored nine straight for Kansas from the 12:54 mark to the 9:36 mark. The sophomore post outscored MU 9-4 in that time span.
Moments later Rush scored seven straight points for the Jayhawks and Kansas led 81-56 before closing out the game.
For the game, KU out-rebounded Missouri 48-25 and recorded seven blocked shots. The Jayhawks made 21 of 25 free throws, while Missouri was just 15 of 25 from the line. Kansas made seven of 21 three-pointers, while Missouri was 0-of-10 from behind the line.
Rush made three three-pointers marking the seventh time in the last eight games he made at least two threes in a game. The exception was an 0-of-four night at Missouri on Jan. 19.
Kansas will return to action when it hosts Baylor on Saturday at 7 p.m. That game will be televised on Jayhawk TV. Missouri will host Texas A&M on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
