College Basketball Odds - Missouri at Kansas

You would think that unranked Missouri (13-9, 3-4 Big 12) has little shot of pulling the upset Monday night at Kansas (21-1, 6-1) - oddsmakers at WagerWeb.com list the Jayhawks as 18.5-point favorites - but then
those Tigers had little shot to beat ranked and red-hot Kansas State on Saturday, which they did anyways, 77-74.

That's the same Kansas State team that handed Kansas its first loss of the season, 84-75, last Wednesday. Like that game, Monday's Mizzou-KU tilt is one of those rivalry games where you can truly throw the records out.

Kansas State was the hottest team in the Big 12 after ending its 24-game homecourt losing streak against Kansas. Then a shorthanded Missouri team rallied from a 15-point deficit, building momentum for the school that Kansas State just handled.

"What it means Monday?" Missouri coach Mike Anderson asked with a smile. "It just tells you that on any given night anything can take place in our league."

MU guard Matt Lawrence said: "With coach Anderson's style, I don't think anybody can blow us out. We're going to Kansas to get a win."

Anderson suspended five players last week for either breaking curfew or being involved in an incident last Sunday; the suspensions of two of those players - Marshall Brown and Leo Lyons - were lifted, and they played against Kansas State.

The fate of the other two available Tigers – Jason Horton and Darryl Butterfield - probably won't be known until just before tonight's tipoff. Stefhon Hannah, who suffered a broken jaw in the incident, is probably out for the season."I don't know how they beat K-State without Hannah (Mizzou's leader in scoring and assists)," KU guard Brandon Rush said. "But it's good that they did." Kansas coach Bill Self agrees.

"I told the guys I'm happy Missouri won," Self said. "But we don't want to feel too good about those guys. They are probably our most hated rival. We've got to be ready Monday."

However, tonight will be Mizzou's third game in six days, and the Jayhawks beat these full-strength Tigers 76-70 at Missouri on Jan. 19 and have won four in a row in the series and eight consecutive at Allen Fieldhouse, where Kansas looks to win its 20th straight contest.

"Obviously," Self said, "they can play with us."

Kansas shot just 40.0 percent -- its lowest in Big 12 play -- against Missouri last month, but held the Tigers to 38.0 percent shooting and outrebounded them 52-43.

Sophomore J.T. Tiller has stepped up his play of late, scoring 14 points in a close loss against Nebraska but then a career-high 20 points in the upset of KSU.

Anderson has a theory for the sudden emergence of a player who entered the Kansas State game averaging six points.

"Probably the coach letting him play," Anderson said. "A coach getting out of his way. It's good to see. He's the ultimate team player, and you never know when the opportunity is going to come."

Missouri, which is 1-5 on the road, hasn't won consecutive games against ranked opponents since defeating then-No. 23 Oklahoma State and then-No. 4 Kansas during the 2003 Big 12 tournament.

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