Tigers hope to rescue season by beating rival

Over the years, many a mediocre Missouri season has been rescued somewhat by a victory over a vastly superior Kansas team. The Tigers find themselves in just that situation heading into today's regular-season finale against the seventh-ranked Jayhawks in Columbia, Mo.

Missouri (14-15, 6-9 Big 12) is definitely not peaking heading into tournament time, coming off an 18-point loss at Iowa State on Wednesday marred by 22 turnovers and 4-for-22 3-point shooting that resulted in a season low point total. It was Missouri's second straight setback, after a four-game winning streak.

"We've been a fairly resilient team, and this is no time to feel sorry for ourselves," coach Quin Snyder said. "We've done things these last couple of games to beat ourselves.

"We've got to play mistake-free basketball to be in the game, and that'll be the same against Kansas."

Guard Jason Conley said a repeat of the Iowa State performance will get the Tigers blown out on senior day.

"If we play like that against Kansas, we won't really stand a chance," Conley said.

The Jayhawks (22-4, 12-3) have a chance to wrap up at least a share of the Big 12 championship. And though Missouri had a lot of success in the border state rivalry series in the 1990s, Kansas has won four straight regular-season meetings.

That includes a 73-61 victory in Lawrence, Kan., on Jan. 31, in which Kansas erased an eight-point halftime deficit. And a two-point victory last year at Missouri in the final game played in the Hearnes Center.

"It was a fabulous game," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Their seniors were great that night. That ranks as one of the best wins I've ever been a part of."

Missouri is in jeopardy of being shut out in the postseason after a first-round NIT exit last year, and needs at least a .500 record to make it back to the NIT. The Tigers are 13-4 in the new Mizzou Arena with victories over top 25 opponents Oklahoma and Gonzaga, so there's still hope for salvaging something.

They'll likely be a No. 9 or 10 seed in the conference tournament next week.

"We've still got Kansas and the Big 12 tournament so we'll see what we can do," freshman forward Marshall Brown said. "We just have to take advantage of the opportunities that are ahead of us."

As he has much of the season, Snyder frets about his players' seeming lack of urgency.

"That's been kind of our growth process," Snyder said. "Part of it is understanding who you are. If you're not having success doing something a certain way you've got to learn to adjust.

"We need to focus on playing the right way, and to be competive."

Kansas has been more resilient than Missouri, recovering from a three-game losing streak to Texas Tech, Iowa State and Oklahoma and returning to strong play. Wayne Simien is having the best season of his career, leading the Big 12 in scoring (19.5 points) and rebounding (11.2), and he's totaled 57 points and 32 rebounds the last two games.

"We had hoped to win them all, but it wasn't going to be a terrible downer if we came out of there with a scratch or two," Self said. "The guys never lost it, lost their confidence so to speak, but I do think it was a humbling deal for them.

"I didn't wish that on our team but it certainly made us dig deep and play tougher."