The Daily Gus: February 10th

Kansas led rival Missouri by 14 at halftime and by 11 with under seven minutes to play before allowing Missouri to creep back into the game and eventually win it 62-60. KU had 27 turnovers, but managed to lead the entire way due in large part to their tremendous advantage on the glass. Tyshawn Taylor was KU's leading scorer with just 11 points, but the Jayhawk defense was the reason they were in the game. Kansas held Mizzou to 36% shooting, a season low and a dismal 24% in the first half. Although KU surrendered the ball 27 times unnecessarily, this is a young team that went out on the road to an upstart rival squad and faired very solid. Kansas may be slightly overrated to have a #16 ranking, but as of last night I feel they deserve in the top 20. Winning at Missouri is a tall task, but for 35 minutes KU had this game in its arms. It was Missouri's 16th consecutive home win (21-4), a mark head coach Mike Anderson has got to take pride in and feel comfortable welcoming Big 12 teams to Columbia. The two teams were a combined 4 of 29 from three point range; it was 40 minutes of defensive strife which has become the Big 12 mainstay. Looking forward, Missouri might be able to play a role in the Big 12 championship race. Although Oklahoma controls its own destiny as the only unbeaten team in the league, the Sooners must travel to Columbia and Missouri's schedule is favorable the rest of the way, having only a tough road test in Lawrence which will certainly be a revenge game. This win could very well boost Missouri into some consideration for a top 25 mainstay the rest of the season. A far cry from the dismantling they took from Illinois back in December.

Shoot-Around
- Fresno State has been tremendously disappointing in the WAC this season, compiling a 1-7 league record going into Monday night's home game against Boise. Boise came in at 6-3 and was trying to put some distance between themselves and third place Nevada, but faltered on the road, giving up a 16-point halftime lead to Fresno. Boise clawed their way back, cutting it to four with 30 seconds remaining, but could not stop Paul George all night. George had 29 and 10 for Fresno on 9 of 11 shooting in 37 minutes. Boise allowed Fresno to shoot over 50%, the main reason why Boise is now caught in a WAC mish-mash with Nevada and New Mexico State. They are all eons behind Utah State; bubble teams everywhere will pray for Utah State to win the WAC tournament.

- Radford is having its first significant season since the late 1990s within the Big South this season, being the team to beat alongside VMI. Monday they entertained Coastal Carolina where they almost squandered the game to the eighth place Chanticleers. In a game that featured 34 turnovers (17 each) between the two teams, it went to overtime where Radford captured a 71-67 win, their 11th in 12 games. It was only the second single-digit win for Radford all season long, proving their Big South dominance. Radford now sets out on a three game road trip concluding with a contest in Lexington against 20-4 VMI, a trip they must go 3-0 on to maintain hope for a Big South regular season crown.

- A team not getting nearly enough national love is MAAC leader Siena. Siena won again last night, beating Loyola (MD) 73-60 at home, making them 12-0 at home this year. It moved the Saints to 12-1 in the league and 19-6 overall, their only league loss coming last Saturday at Rider by a last second basket. Siena's losses include Kansas, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Oklahoma State, all of which credible losses for a mid-major team to have. They are a balanced attack with three players averaging in double figures and the main core returning from last season's second round NCAA team. If Siena gets beat in the MAAC tournament, they will be an interesting case with a tremendously high RPI. They will be favored in every game the rest of the way, their toughest game at Niagra on Feb. 27. An RPI of mid 30s, a 25-7 record with a fantastic SOS when Selection Sunday comes a-hollerin? Watch out.