Feb. 18, 2006

Box Score

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Freshman Mario Chalmers helped trigger a 16-2 run for No. 22 Kansas and the Jayhawks won their ninth straight game, a 79-46 rout of trouble-plagued Missouri on Saturday.

In their second game since the resignation of coach Quin Snyder, the Tigers (11-12, 4-8 Big 12) struggled.

They did not shoot a free throw in the first half and missed 17 of their first 18 shots from the field in the second half while going 6-for-26.

When Marshall Brown hit a 3-pointer against the Kansas second-teamers with 4:26 left, it was Missouri's first basket since Jimmy McKinney's 3-pointer 22 seconds into the second half. By then, the Jayhawks were en route to their biggest win over their archrivals since a 100-66 victory in 1986.

The surging Jayhawks (19-6, 10-2) outrebounded Missouri 41-20 and remained undefeated since the Tigers erased a 5-point deficit in the final 29 seconds and beat them 89-86 in overtime on Jan. 16.

The Tigers, in contrast, are 1-7 since then and some school officials are calling for an investigation into the messy situation surrounding Snyder's resignation.

With about 5 minutes to go, the crowd began chanting, "Just like Baylor, just like Baylor," likening the hapless Tigers to the Big 12's last-place Bears.

Thomas Gardner, who had 40 points in Missouri's victory last month, finished with 15, almost five below his conference-leading average. McKinney also had 15 points and the next-highest scorer for the Tigers was Brown with four.

Chalmers had 14 points for Kansas in Bill Self's 400th game as a head coach, while Brandon Rush added 13 and Russell Robinson 10.

The Tigers, who snapped a six-game losing streak on Sunday with a 74-71 victory over Kansas State in Melvin Watkins' first game as interim coach, slowed Kansas early with a zone defense. But with 8:41 remaining they trailed 24-9 and still had more turnovers (12) than shots (9).