A quick look at Sunday’s matchup against Missouri.
In Wednesday’s 3 Things to Watch post from David, he mentioned that it was KU’s first true road game of the season and we all know how that went. For better or worse, the Jayhawks get to go on the road again to what may be the most hostile environment the team will see this year as part of the renewed Border War at Paige Sports Arena Mizzou Arena.* Once described as the “oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi” due to the two schools sharing a conference from 1907 to 2012, but that ended when the Tigers left the Big 12 for the SEC. Since the games were started back up in 2021, Kansas is 3-0 with wins by 37, 28, and 9 points with the closest game actually coming last season in Lawrence.
*I don’t expect it to be that bad because despite what the suits think this rivalry has lost the juice since they jumped to the SEC.
Missouri is sitting at 7-1 coming off a big home win against the Cal Bears on Tuesday where they erased a 16 point halftime deficit to win 98-93. The Tigers have been putting up a lot of points so far this year but they’ve also played the 363rd toughest schedule according to KenPom. Yes, that’s the 363rd out of 364 teams. Pomeroy’s rating currently has Mizzou at 61 and Torvik is in agreement with them currently at 63. They’ve gotten off to the hot start with excellent offensive numbers with the 5th best eFG% of 59.8, the top 2pt% in the nation shooting 64.7%, and strong offensive rebounding numbers.
Are the Tigers for real this time?
They’re certainly looking better than they did last year even if the records are very similar to this point in the season. Missouri started last season with a 7-2 record with early losses to Memphis and Jackson State prior to the matchup with KU. However, they also finished the season with only 8 total wins. Looking at their Torvik individual game scores show this to be an improved squad over the 2024 team. In their first 7 wins last year, they had 1 individual game score above 85. This year’s team currently has four above 85. For reference, KU has been above 90 for all games except Wednesday’s loss at Creighton.
The offense is more consistent across the 4 factors and they have been elite in making shots, especially inside the 3 point line. Defensively they’re still allowing opponents to score against them through a combination of poor defensive rebounding and putting teams on the free throw line. Hopefully Missouri’s penchant for putting teams on the line benefits Kansas as that’s one area that has been a struggle for the Jayhawks.
How does KU respond to their first loss in another road game?
The Jayhawks took their first loss on the season on Wednesday at Creighton in their first true road game. As they head to Columbia, it will be interesting to see how they respond and what the atmosphere is like for the rivalry game. The team has not had an issue in other venues this year but home crowds aren’t neutral site crowds, so it is something to watch. KU struggled to get Dickinson involved thanks in part to Creighton having a center with size, something Missouri also has with both Josh Gray (7’) and freshman Peyton Marshall (7’, 300 lbs). With Dickinson stymied, DaJuan Harris took way too many shots Wednesday going 5-20 and that can’t happen again or we’re going to see a struggle.
Prediction Time
Kansas continues to keep America safe from Missouri and wins this one without too much trouble, lets go 84-63.
Author’s note: Had an emergency come up work and had to cut it short. Sorry but the real job pays the bills.