The Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, Kareem Rush, will be playing against leading candidate for Postseason Player of the Year honors tonight at Allen Fieldhouse.
"It's going to be fun," Missouri's Rush said of a matchup against Kansas' Drew Gooden.
"Drew's probably playing the best out of anybody in our conference this year and he's one of the best players in the country. We have some big guys down low who are going to contend with him, but he'll get his points. KU as a whole is a great team. I can't wait to play," added Rush.
Same goes for Clarence Gilbert.
"Their crazy fans and the students are going crazy," said Clarence Gilbert, a senior who has had plenty of time to gauge the game's intensity.
"You live your whole life for that. For me, my eyes are already big, but they get bigger. All the fans are out there two hours before the game. That's what coming to the Big 12 is all about."
The game could hinge on how well Arthur Johnson, Missouri's bulky young center, can handle Kansas' inside duo of Nick Collison and Gooden. The Jayhawks' biggest edge may be the 16,300 screaming fans at Allen Fieldhouse.
"It's a tough place to play," said Missouri coach Quin Snyder. "They're as talented as anyone in the country."
Tonight's game might boil down to which Kareem Rush shows. In a victory over Nebraska, he scored eight points on 3-of-13 shooting. At Iowa State, he was sensational with 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting. Last Monday at Oklahoma, he hit four of 15 shots and scored 13 points.
"I've been up and down," Rush said. "I come out and perform well some games, and then when teams switch it up on me, I do poorly. People look at SportsCenter, and they see me shooting 4 for 15. They think, 'Man, Kareem is having a bad year.'"
Rush said he'll be motivated for Kansas.
"I'm in an attack mode against KU all game long," he said. "When the game counts, I'm going to step up."
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