Post by MizzouTiger on Jan 27, 2008 14:58:05 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/story/462685.html
Lyons makes presence known in Missouri road win
By MIKE DeARMOND
The Kansas City Star
BOULDER, Colo. | Leo Lyons might as well have been the Invisible Man. The forgotten Tiger, down at the end of the Missouri basketball bench, next to the team managers.
Then, Lyons said, “I got tired of sitting.”
Good thing for the Tigers, because without Lyons’ 16 second-half points on Saturday, Missouri may well have lost its sixth straight road game to a Colorado team that has lost six home games this season. The Tigers escaped with a 66-62 triumph and improved to 12-8 overall, 2-3 in the Big 12.
Heck, even when he looked at Lyons’ 22-point, seven-rebound, three-assist final line in the box score, Missouri coach Mike Anderson gave Lyons grudging praise.
“Do it again,” Anderson demanded.
Perhaps Anderson will consider starting Lyons against Nebraska on Wednesday. But then again, he might open that game at Mizzou Arena on the bench, where Lyons has begun his last three games.
“My main thing right now is being inconsistent,” Lyons said. “Even though I played good today, he was still just staring, and saying, ‘You’ve got to do it again.’ ”
DeMarre Carroll, who scored just six points against Colorado, said Anderson’s demands that Lyons play up to his talent have gone beyond tough love.
“Coach said, ‘I’m not giving you nothing. I’m not giving nobody nothing no more.’
“He (Lyons) realized if you’re trying to do anything and go anywhere, he’s gotta come to play every night.”
Lyons did not immediately respond after being removed from the starting lineup against Kansas. He played only 13 minutes against KU, and only nine minutes in Wednesday’s loss at Texas Tech.
“If you don’t take it the right way,” Carroll warned, “he’ll forget about you on the bench. Leo probably realized that he was about to be forgotten.”
Every Tiger player was forgettable in the first half at Colorado.
The Buffaloes raced to an 11-0 lead off the opening tip, and the Tigers didn’t score their first basket until Stefhon Hannah hit a 6-foot jumper with 8 minutes, 57 seconds gone in the first half.
Missouri trailed by 12 at one point, rallied back to within 23-20, then trailed 34-24 at the half.
Colorado’s Marcus Hall, who finished with 28 points before fouling out, scored 20 points in the first half.
Colorado increased its lead to 14 points at 47-33 with 12:07 to play.
But a 21-8 run in which Lyons scored 10 points pulled Mizzou within 57-54 with 5 minutes left. And suddenly, Missouri could smell its first road victory of the season.
Matt Lawrence gave the Tigers their first lead — 61-60 — on a three-pointer with 2 minutes to play. And Missouri finished it off.
Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik was livid.
“Being tough isn’t punching somebody,” Bzdelik said, perhaps in reference to Colorado’s Richard Roby and Hannah exchanging elbows early in the game. “Being tough is responding under duress.
“They turned it up and, for some reason, when teams turn it up, we melt.”
This time Lyons made sure that Missouri wasn’t the team that melted away at the end, making his presence known rather than pulling a fade.
Lyons makes presence known in Missouri road win
By MIKE DeARMOND
The Kansas City Star
BOULDER, Colo. | Leo Lyons might as well have been the Invisible Man. The forgotten Tiger, down at the end of the Missouri basketball bench, next to the team managers.
Then, Lyons said, “I got tired of sitting.”
Good thing for the Tigers, because without Lyons’ 16 second-half points on Saturday, Missouri may well have lost its sixth straight road game to a Colorado team that has lost six home games this season. The Tigers escaped with a 66-62 triumph and improved to 12-8 overall, 2-3 in the Big 12.
Heck, even when he looked at Lyons’ 22-point, seven-rebound, three-assist final line in the box score, Missouri coach Mike Anderson gave Lyons grudging praise.
“Do it again,” Anderson demanded.
Perhaps Anderson will consider starting Lyons against Nebraska on Wednesday. But then again, he might open that game at Mizzou Arena on the bench, where Lyons has begun his last three games.
“My main thing right now is being inconsistent,” Lyons said. “Even though I played good today, he was still just staring, and saying, ‘You’ve got to do it again.’ ”
DeMarre Carroll, who scored just six points against Colorado, said Anderson’s demands that Lyons play up to his talent have gone beyond tough love.
“Coach said, ‘I’m not giving you nothing. I’m not giving nobody nothing no more.’
“He (Lyons) realized if you’re trying to do anything and go anywhere, he’s gotta come to play every night.”
Lyons did not immediately respond after being removed from the starting lineup against Kansas. He played only 13 minutes against KU, and only nine minutes in Wednesday’s loss at Texas Tech.
“If you don’t take it the right way,” Carroll warned, “he’ll forget about you on the bench. Leo probably realized that he was about to be forgotten.”
Every Tiger player was forgettable in the first half at Colorado.
The Buffaloes raced to an 11-0 lead off the opening tip, and the Tigers didn’t score their first basket until Stefhon Hannah hit a 6-foot jumper with 8 minutes, 57 seconds gone in the first half.
Missouri trailed by 12 at one point, rallied back to within 23-20, then trailed 34-24 at the half.
Colorado’s Marcus Hall, who finished with 28 points before fouling out, scored 20 points in the first half.
Colorado increased its lead to 14 points at 47-33 with 12:07 to play.
But a 21-8 run in which Lyons scored 10 points pulled Mizzou within 57-54 with 5 minutes left. And suddenly, Missouri could smell its first road victory of the season.
Matt Lawrence gave the Tigers their first lead — 61-60 — on a three-pointer with 2 minutes to play. And Missouri finished it off.
Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik was livid.
“Being tough isn’t punching somebody,” Bzdelik said, perhaps in reference to Colorado’s Richard Roby and Hannah exchanging elbows early in the game. “Being tough is responding under duress.
“They turned it up and, for some reason, when teams turn it up, we melt.”
This time Lyons made sure that Missouri wasn’t the team that melted away at the end, making his presence known rather than pulling a fade.