HALF: Kansas 50, Missouri 33: Tigers make it too easy
The Border War is back, and if you listened to narratives coming into this game, you would have thought that this was going to be a competitive game from start to finish (guilty). Instead, Missouri has taken a lot of gambles, and Kansas has had some unlikely stars. Here are some quick thoughts at half:
Kansas defense is benefitting from lack of inside presence for Missouri
The Jayhawks have a phenomenal defense, and the question coming into the game was how well they would be able to slow down a prolific Missouri offense. And while you can say that Kansas has had something to do with it, the Tigers have missed plenty of wide-open shots on their way to 33% in the first half, including just 3-13 shooting on threes.
Kansas has been very successful in playing good defense straight up on Missouri, which has helped to affect some shots, but they are still giving up a ton of offensive rebounds. That means a bunch of extra shots that Kansas has been fortunate haven't gone in.
Adams' time to shine
Bill Self himself said that KJ Adams is not able to match up physically with a lot of bigger post players, but Missouri doesn't have one of those. This has led to him being very effective in this game. His quick feet has allowed him to take advantage of an aggressive Missouri defense and get multiple open dunks. He is tied with Gradey Dick for the lead with 15 points.
Kansas won't be intimidated
The Jayhawks came into this game with a lot more energy, seeming to feed off of the crowd that was trying to disrupt their play. And the high level of energy paid off in multiple ways, as they were able to take advantage of an undisciplined attack from the Tigers and then turn that into easy points.
And as things got tougher and the Tigers started to make shots, it didn't take much for them to break momentum each time to get back on track. No matter how many times Missouri started to make a comeback, Kansas was able to settle things down and push the lead out again.
We'll be back with some quick thoughts and a full recap after the game.
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