Roy Williams had a brief conversation with his wife, Wanda, before Monday's big Border War battle with Missouri.
"I was very sincere. I told my wife, 'Give me a one-point win and I'll be as happy as I can be,'" Williams, Kansas' coach, said after the Jayhawks' 105-73 win yep, a 32-point annihilation of rival Mizzou before 16,300 delirious fans at Allen Fieldhouse. "I'm happier only because of how well we played."
Using the war analogy, it was as if the Jayhawks used hand grenades against the Tigers' bow and arrows in blowing away MU, 62-31, the second half.
The lopsided half provided KU with its biggest win against MU since a 34-point victory in 1986. It marked the second-most points scored by KU against Mizzou in series history, trailing only a 112-point output in 1974. It was KU's fourth biggest win over Mizzou in Lawrence.
"Beautiful, man it was a lovely experience, lovely," KU freshman point guard Aaron Miles said after collecting eight assists against no turnovers. "To beat 'em by 30, it's amazing. Even if we beat 'em by one we could be proud, but 30 ... it just feels great."
There were many heroes Monday.
Drew Gooden hit his first six shots, scored 17 points the first half and finished with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting with 10 rebounds in 28 minutes.
Kirk Hinrich, meanwhile, not only stuck to MU standout Kareem Rush like a blanket in holding Rush to 6-of-19 shooting and 13 points, but exploded for 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting with six assists against two turnovers.
Also, Nick Collison scored nine points with five boards the second half, finishing with 13 points. Jeff Boschee banged in three threes and scored 13 points.
Keith Langford hit four of five free throws as KU cashed 19 of 21 from the line to go with sizzling 61.9-percent shooting.
The list goes on.
The Jayhawks (18-2, 7-0) punished their rivals (15-6, 5-3) in just about every category.
"The second half, we were sensational," said Williams, who admits he challenged his troops at halftime to do a better job defensively on the Tigers, who hit eight of 15 threes the first half. MU hit just two of 13 threes the second half.
"We did a good job on the defensive end, sharing the ball on the offensive end, had a great assist/error ratio. I'd like to have saved 25 of those (points). I know we'll need them there (in Columbia on March 3). Mark it down, we'll need those 25 when we go to their place."
Yet this was a night for KU the Jayhawks put away Missouri with a 25-5 run to hike a 43-42 halftime lead to 68-47 to enjoy a big victory against a team expected to battle the Jayhawks for the conference title.
Of Gooden, Williams said: "I told him after the game, wipe out two or three possessions and he had a heck of a game."
Gooden was vocal throughout, having a great time on national TV, one time turning down a three and passing to Keith Langford, then turning to Williams and telling him he "really wanted to shoot that three."
Hinrich was amazing on both ends.
"Kareem is almost impossible to guard," Williams said. "Kirk did a great job on him. He's our best defender and did a great job."
Miles gets an A for effort for his defense on Gilbert, who hit just one of six shots the second half, finishing with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
"Aaron gets a little tired, gets tired too quickly," Williams said. "We kept switching Aaron, Boschee, Kirk on him. All three had chances."
The game didn't start as a blowout.
A successful barrage of three-pointers helped Missouri play red-hot KU basically even the first half.
Led by Gilbert, who hit four of five threes, the Tigers banged in eight of 15 threes the first half and trailed 43-42 at the break.
Led by Gooden's amazing 8-of-10 shooting performance and 17 points, the Jayhawks hit 59.4 percent of their first-half shots. Overall, Missouri hit just 44.7 percent the first half.
Gooden hit his first six shots, putting on a highlight-film show for the 20 NBA scouts. Included in his barrage was a steal from Najeeb Echols and vicious slam dunk, plus his storming past sophomore Travon Bryant twice for buckets. On the second, Gooden missed a shot then put in a rebound slam.
MU led, 22-21, with 11:22 left in the half when the Jayhawks went on a 14-3 surge to go up 35-25 at 7:05. Gooden and Hinrich had five apiece, while Miles and Boschee had inside buckets in the run.
MU then went on a 13-3 run to tie the game at 38 with 3:13 left in the half. Gilbert scored eight of MU's 13 points in that surge, Wesley Stokes also hitting a three.
Tied at 38, Boschee responded with a three and Collison an inside bucket to give KU a 43-38 lead. However, MU scored the final four points of the half on buckets by Paulding and Rush, who hit a fadeaway from the corner at :29 to slice the gap to one.
The game was decided with a 25-5 KU run to open the final half. Hinrich had seven points, Boschee six and Gooden four in that run.
"The second half," Williams said, "we were awfully good. I challenged 'em after the game, you should be able to play like that if you work your tails off every day in practice and use your brain, we can get better every day."
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