Missouri

Player of the Year Anthony Davis, only a freshman, highlights CollegeHoops.net's 2012 All-America Team. Davis, the nation's leading shot-blocker, led Kentucky to a 30-1 regular season record. Davis is joined on the First Team by Thomas Robinson of Kansas, Draymond Green of Michigan State, Doug McDermott of Creighton, and Isaiah Canaan of Murray State.

 

The line's been written many times over the years by many writers: death, taxes and Kansas winning the Big 12. All three seem to essentially be guarantees, but many (myself included) felt that this would be the season in which that would change given the Jayhawks' personnel losses from last year's Elite 8 team. No Morrii, Brady Morningstar of Tyrel Reed meant that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year of sorts for Bill Self and his staff...or so many thought.

Late offensive fouls and the foul line made the difference in the first meeting between #5 Kansas (23-5, 13-2) and #3 Missouri (25-3, 12-3), with the Tigers gaining the edge in both categories and ultimately winning 74-71. There's a lot more on the line in the rematch as the Jayhawks can clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title with a win, but a Missouri win would not only move the Tigers into a tie for first but also give them the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker.

NO. 3 MISSOURI (25-3, 12-3 Big 12) AT NO. 5 KANSAS (23-5, 13-2 Big 12)

 

Time: 4 p.m.

 

In the recap of Tuesday's big game, Pierce Hornung led Colorado State to a key win over New Mexico. The rest of Tuesday's key happenings include:

While Mississippi State's (19-8, 6-6) NCAA tournament prospects won't boil down to just one game there's no mistaking the importance of their game against #1 Kentucky (26-1, 12-0) in light of their three-game losing streak. It's one thing to drop three straight games at this point in the season and another to have those defeats come against Georgia, LSU and Auburn. That's not going to get it done for Rick Stansbury's squad, and their inability to take care of the basketball in recent games has been a big reason why.

ACC - Duke (#4 Coaches Poll, #3 RPI), UNC (#7, 5)

Big 12 - Missouri (#3, 9), Kansas (#5, 6)

Big Ten - Michigan St (#6, 2), Ohio St (#9, 7)

None - This year, no one deserves it

None - On principal, no league should get two #1 seeds

With first place on the line in Columbus the expectation was that #11 Michigan State and #3 Ohio State would play a tight, physical affair. And that's exactly what it was, with the visitors from East Lansing seeming to be the more comfortable of the two teams in the first half. Michigan State shot 46.9% from the field but the reason for their 35-25 lead at the half was their defense, as they limited Ohio State to 33.3% and forced eight turnovers.

Saturday is the day that many college basketball fans have been waiting for, with a number of important matchups on the slate. One of those games is #4 Missouri (22-2, 9-2) hosting #6 Baylor (21-3, 8-3) with the Bears looking to keep alive their fleeting hopes of winning the league title. Scott Drew's team is 0-3 in games against the two teams now ahead of them in the standings, most recently being whipped by Kansas in Waco.

NO. 6 BAYLOR (21-3, 8-3 Big 12) AT NO. 4 MISSOURI (22-2, 9-2 Big 12)

 

Time: 1:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. CT)