Missouri Tigers: Mizzou's Big 12 title chances hinge on trip to Kansas

February 24, 2012|Chris Replogle, KY3 News | Twitter @ky3tigertalk or on Facebook @KYTV TigerTalk

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou knows the road to a Big 12 Championship goes through Lawrence.

The No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks (23-5, 13-2) will clinch of its eighth-straight Big 12 Championship with a victory Saturday against rival No. 3 Missouri (25-3, 12-3). The game is the last regular-season match-up between the border rivals. Mizzou will play in the Southeastern Conference next season.

Missouri defeated Kansas earlier this month in Columbia. The Jayhawks controlled the game late, but could not close out the Tigers in the last two minutes of the game. Senior guard Marcus Denmon scored 29 points in the win.

Tip-off is at 3:00 p.m. on CBS.

News and Notes:

*11-0: Mizzou finished off Kansas in the first meeting with an 11-0 run to end the game. Senior guard Marcus Denmon scored nine of those points in the final two minutes of the game.

*High-Scoring: Mizzou leads the Big 12 Conference in scoring at 73.7 points per game. Kansas is No. 2 in the league, scoring 73.5 points per game.

*Top-Ten Meetings: This is the fourth time the two rivals have met while ranked in the Associated Press Top Ten poll. Mizzou won the last meeting in Columbia. The Tigers swept the Jayhawks in 1990, both times Kansas was top-ranked.

*Rivalry: The schools have played since 1907 when both were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Kansas holds a 171-95 all-time record against Missouri.

Tyshawn Taylor Said It About the Last Mizzou-KU Game:

"We're still bitter about the first time we played them," said Taylor. "We felt like we let that one slip away, so we're going to try and bounce back at home."

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