Kansas University freshman Sherron Collins has yet to experience the Border Showdown up close and personal.

“I guess it’s one of the biggest rivalries we have,” Collins, a backup point guard from Chicago, said of KU versus Missouri.

“That’s what I feed off of,” he added, referring to rivalry games.

He’ll be renewing an old high school rivalry tonight when the Jayhawks (15-2 overall, 2-0 Big 12) meet the Tigers (11-5, 0-3) at 8 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.

The 5-foot-11 Collins, who prepped at Chicago’s Crane High, went 1-1 in head-to-head matchups against 6-1 MU guard Stefhon Hannah’s Hyde Park High team.

“It’s going to add a lot (to the game) for me because I’ve played against him, and now I get to play against him on the college level,” Collins said. “We’re probably going to talk for a few minutes before the game and a few minutes after the game, but during the game not at all.”

Collins was eager to give a scouting report on the former Chipola (Fla.) Community College sensation, who leads the country in steals with 55 in 16 games for an average of 3.4 per contest. He’s also MU’s leading scorer and assist leader at 15.4 points and 4.8 assists per game.

“He’s quick, he’s fast, and he can shoot. He can basically do it all,” Collins said. “You’ve got to play him on the catch, keep him in front of you and just deny him the ball.”

Hannah, who has had five or more steals in a game six times this season for a team that ranks second in the country in thefts, chose the Tigers over Kansas State in recruiting.

“He gives us a guy who leaves it all on the floor. He plays to win,” first-year MU coach Mike Anderson said. “He’s a magnet around the ball. His No. 1 trait is he’s a winner. He has toughness.

“When a guy is like that … the longer he is here, he will command respect because of how hard he plays. He has character,” Anderson added.

Collins also has fared well, especially of late. He has scored in double figures in three of his last four games and seven times this year.

In his last four outings, Collins is 18-for-33 (54.5 percent) from the field, including a 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) effort at Iowa State on Saturday. He has 19 assists in his last five games, including a career-high six against Oklahoma State on Wednesday. For the year, he averages 7.7 points and 2.4 assists a game.

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Exciting brand of ball: MU coach Anderson learned his “40 Minutes of Hell” pressing style from his mentor – legendary former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson.

Anderson worked for Richardson at Tulsa for two seasons and Arkansas for 17 years before taking over as head coach at Alabama-Birmingham and compiling a 89-41 record the past four seasons.

“It’s an up-tempo brand of basketball predicated by our play on the defensive end. Some call it run-and-gun, but it’s actually run-and-execute,” Anderson said. “Our style is attack basketball with an emphasis on the defensive end. We allow our players to showcase their God-given abilities, and when you see our team walk onto the floor, you will see a blue-collar unit that wins games because of how hard it plays the game. It’s a style fans can enjoy and identify with.

“It’s a style we’ll continue to play. Not many play it. Hopefully we’ll get better at it. Hopefully we’ll have success with it in this league.”

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Tough assignment: KU coach Bill Self, who had his team work against the MU press over Christmas break, said: “It will be interesting to see how our guys handle the press.”

His Jayhawks had no trouble in a 100-74 victory over Anderson’s UAB team in the 2004 Sweet 16 in St. Louis.

“We also had a week to prepare. Here we have one day,” Self said. “We need to do a great job attacking their pressure, also guarding their guys.”

Of Anderson, Self said: “Mike has done a great job. That was a home-run hire by Missouri. This is a different-looking Missouri team than we’ve seen since I’ve been at Kansas. Mike should be applauded how hard his kids are playing and how well.”

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Tigers winless thus far: MU, which is 11-5 overall, dropped to 0-3 in conference play following Saturday’s 85-81 home loss to Kansas State. MU has never started 0-4 in Big 12 play.

“This is definitely not a great way to start a conference or to start anything with three losses,” MU forward Marshall Brown told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“We’ve got to come together. We can’t quit. We can’t sulk. We’ve got to put this one behind us and just keep playing.”

Of tonight’s game, MU guard Hannah said: “It’s going to be a quick turnaround. But we’ve got to wake up.”

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Tigers in town: The Tigers had no serious travel problems during an icy three-hour bus ride from Columbia, Mo., to Lawrence on Sunday afternoon. While the team was eating at a McDonald’s at a rest area, the team bus had trouble maneuvering an incline. Sand was put down for the bus to gain traction so it could continue on.

The Tigers held a shootaround in Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday night.

KU also had good luck on its return home from Ames after Saturday’s overtime victory over Iowa State.

The bus traveled the 20 miles to Des Moines Airport with no problems.

A charter flight to Topeka’s Forbes Field also was on schedule with no problems.