Mizzou Links, 1-26-09

We pretty much have to start with the biggest result from the weekend, Mizzou Wrestling's road, comeback victory over #2 Cornell in Ithaca.  For those who didn't follow along in The Beef's live thread below, Mizzou fell behind 14-3 before ripping off the last five matches and 15 points of the dual.  After Troy Dolan's tech fall loss in the opening match, Mizzou's weaker lower weight classes hung tough and didn't allow Cornell too many bonus points, and when Nick Marable, Raymond Jordan, Dorian Henderson, Max Askren, and Dom Bradley all had to pull out wins for Mizzou, they did just that. Jordan (#6) took out #5 Steve Anceravage, 10-5, at 174 pounds, and Dorian Henderson upset #16 Justin Kerber at 184.  Askren and Bradley followed with 1-point wins to clinch the upset for Mizzou. Awesome result.  The Missourian has more.

On to basketball, where Mizzou is starting to make some believers of Big 12 opponents.

Texas Tech committed 17 turnovers in the first half and 29 for the game.

"It’s probably my favorite team in the league," a gracious Knight said of Missouri. "The way they play is different than everybody."

...

The Tigers have devastated opponents at Mizzou Arena all season, but Wednesday’s victory at Oklahoma State - or at least the first 35 minutes of it - was an epiphany. The Tigers ran the Cowboys right out of their comfort zone, causing havoc with the press and patiently exploiting OSU’s defensive breakdowns for easy baskets. The system worked, even in a hostile environment against a good opponent, and it was exhilarating to watch.

Granted, the final five minutes of screaming panic tempered that optimistic assessment, as the Tigers did everything in their power to extend the game with silly fouls and turnovers and saw their 20-point lead devolve into a lucky 97-95 victory. If not the masterpiece game of the Anderson era, it was still an invaluable Big 12 road victory and had the Tigers sitting pretty entering yesterday’s formality against struggling Texas Tech.

And since none were posted yesterday, here are a few quick Texas Tech wrap-up links:

• The Trib: Tigers follow Carroll's lead
• The Missourian: Carroll emerging as star player
• Lubbock Avalanche Journal: Red Raiders can't keep up with Mizzou

The endless Ronnie Wingo drama has an end date!  Wingo will announce his decision Tuesday at 6:20pm on KSDK in St. Louis. Wingo visited Illinois this weekend, had two in-home visits last night (MU, KU) and has two more tonight (Minny, Arkansas).  How exhausted must this kid be at this point?

Finally, to Mizzou Baseball, where I direct you to two posts at SimmonsField.com: MU #19 in Composite Poll, and Quotes & Notes: MU Scouting Reports.