Tigers Get Last Laugh

Down 8, three minutes left, 15,061 loud as hell at Mizzou Arena. M-I-Z-Z-O-U.

Denmon steals a ball from Connor Teahan (WilliamGreenblattPhotography.com)

Missouri has won 13 straight at Mizzou Arena. It’s not hard to understand why. The place was on fire last night. Literally the loudest basketball game I have ever attended. The opening introductions are NBA-esque. Fireworks, music, dark, spotlights, the building had a bolt of energy all night. A+ showing for Tiger fans on national TV. The crowd stood the entire game, as they should. I sat next to a reporter from ESPN America who typed his game log on his laptop standing, pretty impressive. Mizzou is 19-0 when they lead at half.

Basketball still comes down to hitting free throws. Phil Pressey missed a big one late with Mizzou up 72-71. The Tigers were in the bonus and Pressey’s miss led to another opening for the Jayhawks.

Luckily, Tyshawn Taylor missed BOTH of his chances with :42 seconds remaining. Credit Mizzou fans. Loudest point of the evening…and did it ever pay off. Michael Dixon made 2 clutch FT’s with :10 seconds to give MU a 74-71 final.

Elijah Johnson had a look before he jacked up the final shot. It was the same play that Mario Chalmers hit to win the NCAA championship.

Steve Moore did a great job stepping up to take away the look. Moore battled all night, earning credit from Bill Self:

Kim English gets past Thomas Robinson (WilliamGreenblattPhotography.com)

Marcus Denmon…Wow. After the Texas game, I mentioned Denmon had been struggling (8/36 shooting) Well all he did was add 29 points with 9 rebounds. Denmon hit two huge three pointers with 1:33 and :56 remaining. He scored 9 of MU’s last 11 points to complete the comeback. He answered Connor Teahan’s big three at 5:02 in which Teahan decided to chirp about. Denmon got the last laugh.

Bill Self is a character.His presence on the court is fun to watch. He is constantly berating the officials. He is very animated with his emotions. Self opened the post-game presser with “don’t be scared to ask questions, I’m not that pissed off”. He claimed that 3 minutes in both halves cost KU the victory. He made a bad comment though. I’ll let you listen and decide. Seems childish to me.

If this rivalry is over for a while, that’s too bad. It’s too bad for the players, the coaches, the cities, the fans, and the sport itself. But it’s a new day for Missouri fans. Enjoy the challenges that lie ahead with some of the great traditions of the SEC. Kansas looks like the stubborn stepchild who didn’t get invited to the dance. Poor Jayhawks. One last meeting 2/25 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Remember Matt Painter? No. Remember the Miami booster scandal? No. Frank Haith has Missouri fans on cloud nine. Of course next season his recruits will have the spotlight.

Finally, Mizzou bars close at 1am. This is awful, probably the worst thing about Columbia. When Alabama fans show up for a big football game, I have a hard time believing they’ll be content with bars shutting down at 1. Just sayin’.

Bill Self: Credit Mizzou for big time plays