Battling a lingering illness and distraught as his grandmother
battled a terminal illness, Cole Aldrich wasn't the same fun-loving
goofball he had been during first two months of the season.
His lungs and his mind finally clear, the big fella is
starting to enjoy himself again.
Aldrich dominated Missouri inside with 12 points, 16 rebounds
and seven blocked shots, helping No. 2 Kansas run over the rival
Tigers 84-65 Monday night.
"Over the last few games, I'm starting to get back into the
groove where I was last year," said Aldrich, who tied Danny Manning
for fifth on KU's all-time list with 200 blocks. "I'm just having
fun again."
Kansas (19-1, 5-0 Big 12) dominated inside and hounded
Missouri defensively to turn the Border Showdown into a beatdown.
Marcus Morris scored 11 of his 17 points to help Kansas build
a 20-point lead by halftime and twin brother Markieff Morris
grabbed 11 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who haven't lost to Missouri
at home since 1999. Tyrel Reed was 4 for 4 from 3-point range and
had a career-high 14 points to help extend the nation's longest
home winning streak to 54 games.
The rout started with Aldrich.
The junior has steadily gotten better with each game since
his grandmother, Ann, died in Minnesota on Jan. 15. He had 10
points while still grieving against Baylor, then a double-double in
a convincing road win over Iowa State on Saturday.
Against Missouri, the athletic 6-foot-10 center used his
pterodactyl-like wing span to score at the rim and harass Missouri
all night. He was seemingly everywhere in the first half, grabbing
12 rebounds -- most in a half for KU since Wayne Simien in 2003 --
blocking five shots, and even wiping up his sweat from the floor
after diving for a loose ball.
"He's got a freer mind now," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
"Cole never lets anyone know what's going on. When he plays well,
he plays poorly, whatever it is you can't tell by looking at his
face. He kind of keeps everything inside and he's had a lot of
things weighing on him. I think he's had a little bit of a release
the past week or so."
The Tigers (15-5, 3-2) needed a good shooting night to end a
10-game losing streak in Lawrence and didn't get it. Missouri had
trouble getting shots off inside against Aldrich and couldn't hit
from the outside, either, shooting 28 percent.
Justin Safford had 19 points to lead the Tigers, who got 17
combined points from leading scorers Kim English, Marcus Denmon and
Laurence Bowers.
Surprisingly, even defense was a problem for Missouri.
The Tigers haven't consistently gotten "The Fastest 40
Minutes of Basketball" revved up this season, ramping up their
frenetic pressure only in spurts. Been more like "The Fastest
30-to-32 Minutes of Basketball."
Against Kansas, it was about 4.
Even in turning it over 23 times, the Jayhawks made
Missouri's press seem almost at a standstill, whipping passes up
the court for layups and dunks on the way to shooting 49 percent.
Kansas had its way inside, too, outscoring Missouri 36-18 in the
paint, grabbing 28 more rebounds and scoring 17 points off 18
offensive boards.
"You create some turnovers but at the same time you have to
put the ball in the hole," Missouri coach Mike Anderson said. "If
you're on the road, you have to put the ball in the hole. We didn't
do that tonight."
The Jayhawks were clearly ready for the start of their
rivalry week, which concludes Saturday at Kansas State.
Kansas brought in 70s rocker Eddie Money for an enthusiastic
rendition of the national anthem and the fans had Allen Fieldhouse
roaring like a jet hangar just before tipoff, creating shifting
walls of blue as they jumped up and down.
Unlike Baylor, which left during the pregame video and player
introductions in the last game at Allen Fieldhouse, the Tigers
stood around and took it, then went right at the Jayhawks.
Missouri took Kansas' initial hit, even opened the game with
an 8-3 run in The Phog.
Then it went dark for the Tigers.
Kansas started hitting shots and swarmed Missouri inside and
out, holding the Tigers scoreless for over 5 minutes during a 15-3
run.
The Jayhawks never gave Missouri a chance after that.
Aldrich combined with Markieff Morris for 22 rebounds in the
first half -- seven more than Missouri -- and Kansas had a 28-6
advantage inside to build a 50-30 lead.
Brady Morningstar capped the half with an off-balance,
pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer that banked off the glass, hovered
above the rim for a second then dropped in as the crowd followed
along with "ooh-ahh-yeah!"
It was that kind of night for Kansas.
"The first 10 minutes we kind of had the game going the way
we wanted," Safford said. "Then they gave us one punch, we folded
and guys just went separate ways."
