Jayhawks jolt Tigers

Brandon Rush posted 19 points and six rebounds as fourth-ranked Kansas crushed Missouri, 90-71.

Mario Chalmers added 15 points and six assists while Darrell Arthur donated 13 points and six boards for the Jayhawks (22-1, 7-1 Big 12), who have won two straight after an 84-75 setback to Kansas State last Wednesday.

"I like that we are off to a 7-1 start in conference," Brandon Rush said. "We didn't expect to lose to Kansas State, but they come back here March 1st and we will be ready for that game. That loss showed us some things that we needed to work on."

Keon Lawrence had a game-high 25 points and added six assists for the Tigers (13-10, 3-5), who have dropped five of their last seven games.

"They were a lot quicker to the ball," Missouri coach Mike Anderson said. "There were some situations where we had position and we just didn't come up with it. At times, their size was to their advantage."

It was a tight contest through the first several minutes, but with the Jayhawks holding an 18-17 lead, Russell Robinson drained a jumper to start a 7-0 run for Kansas that saw the team holding a 25-17 lead on a Sherron Collins layup with 10:39 left in the first half.

The Jayhawks later ripped off six straight points to pad their lead to 33-21 after Darnell Jackson put in a jumper with a bit over seven minutes left in the first half.

The Tigers used a 5-0 run to cut their deficit to eight points, 36-28, after Leo Lyons' layup with 3:34 left, but Kansas closed the half scoring nine of the final 14 points and took a 45-33 lead into the locker room.

Missouri started the half with the first three points as Lawrence put in a layup and DeMarre Carroll made 1-of-2 from the line to make it a 45-36 game.

Robinson, though, followed with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws from Chalmers gave Kansas a 14-point lead.

Missouri got to within 11 points as J.T. Tiller put in a layup to make it a 58-47 game with over 13 minutes to play.

That was as close as the Tigers got, though, as Arthur scored the next six points and Kansas continued to build on its lead on the way to the blowout.

Game Notes

It was Kansas' 20th straight home win and secured a season sweep of the Tigers...Kansas hosts Baylor on Saturday...Missouri hosts Texas A&M on Saturday...The Jayhawks have won five straight against the Tigers and lead the all-time series, 166-93. Also, Kansas has won nine straight against Missouri in Lawrence...Kansas shot 47 percent while Missouri connected on 46.7 percent of its shots...The Jayhawks dominated the boards, 48-25, including 19 offensive rebounds...Kansas held Missouri scoreless from the three-point line. The Tigers were 0-of-10 for the game, marking the first time a KU opponent has not knocked down at least one three-point basket in a game since Colorado on March 9, 1996. The last time a Kansas opponent was held without a three-point field goal in conference play was Missouri on January 19, 1991.