Print edition: 
LAWRENCE — When Bill Self says he wants a team that plays with an identity, what he is really saying is that he wants a team that plays inside-out first, a team with a sturdy backbone that can withstand poor shooting with its brawn and sheer power.
And maybe that's why Self fits in so well at Kansas, a program that has built its empire on dominant post play. Of course, there was Wilt and Danny. In tandem, there was Raef LaFrentz and Scot Pollard, Drew Gooden and Nick Collison. On Monday night, in the Jayhawks' 84-65 obliteration of Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse, KU took a huge step toward becoming a team that can hang its hat on that same big-man tradition.
Cole Aldrich and Marcus Morris? Maybe it's a bit premature to put them in the same sentence as those elder statesmen. But their performance against the Tigers offered a vision of what could be as this season barrels on toward March. The Jayhawks punished a smaller MU squad with their size and brute strength.
"Our big guys dominated," Self said.
Aldrich, for the second straight game, looked like the first-team All-American he was billed to be, scoring 12 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking 7 shots. His effort was reminiscent of his triple-double in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament, when Aldrich became a consensus NBA lottery pick in the eyes of many.
This performance showed the kind of player Aldrich came back to school for his junior season to be. And sure enough, he has been joined by another inside player who has looked like his game could be ready for the next level. Morris has been nothing short of outstanding in five Big 12 games, scoring at least 16 points in each game. Against MU, Morris had 17 points and 9 rebounds, and considering he missed two dunks in the first half, it could have been more.
KU pushed Missouri around from the opening tip in front of the most raucous crowd of the season (the decibel level was reported to be around 102.9 at the tip). The Jayhawks outrebounded the Tigers 56-28 (including an astounding advantage of 37-15 in the first half) and outscored MU 36-18 in the paint.
"I felt as though they were small down low," Morris said. "I felt as though we could dominate them in the paint. That's what me and Cole, after one timeout, we came together and said we need to get easy points on the offensive glass."
Defensively, No. 2 KU, now 19-1 and 5-0 in the Big 12, forced Missouri, 15-5, 3-2, into more outside shots than the Tigers should feel comfortable taking. MU shot its way out of Allen in the first half, making just 10 of 40 shots and falling behind 50-30.
If you wanted to pick holes in the performance of KU's big men, you could start by pointing out that they simply took advantage of an overmatched Missouri front line, and you'd mostly be right. But good teams take advantage of other team's weaknesses and utilize their strengths, and those two methods aligned perfectly for the Jayhawks.
KU's big men got some help on the perimeter from Kansas natives Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed during an off night from Sherron Collins, who had just 6 points on 2-of-11 shooting and turned it over 4 times (KU turned it over 23 times as a team compared to just five for Missouri). Morningstar had 9 points and 5 assists, and Reed had 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
But the Jayhawks played big and now can start to think big. Really big. KU will enter its Saturday showdown in Manhattan against Kansas State with the exact identity Self has been looking for.
Even though Aldrich accomplished plenty on Monday, Self was still asking for more.
"I think he got cheated on some blocks and rebounds tonight," Self said. "I thought he had more than that. He was dominant."
MISSOURI (65)
Min Fg-a Ft-a R A TO F TP
Ramsey 27 3-7 0-0 6 0 1 3 8
Safford 32 5-15 8-10 7 1 1 4 19
Tiller 22 2-11 4-5 5 3 0 3 8
Dixon Jr. 13 1-7 0-0 0 1 0 1 2
Taylor 28 2-6 7-7 3 2 3 3 11
Paul 15 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 2 0
Denmon 21 1-1 0-0 2 1 2 2 3
Bowers 15 2-7 0-0 3 0 0 1 5
English 20 3-13 2-2 2 0 1 1 9
Moore 7 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals 200 19-68 21-24 28 8 9 21 65
Team reb. 0
Percent 27.9 87.5
KANSAS (84)
Min Fg-a Ft-a R A TO F TP
MarcMorris 24 6-10 5-6 9 1 1 2 17
Aldrich 30 4-5 4-6 16 2 2 4 12
XHenry 29 3-8 0-0 7 2 5 4 9
Collins 29 2-11 2-2 2 2 4 3 6
Morningstar 27 3-7 2-2 3 5 3 0 9
Robinson 5 0-0 0-2 2 0 0 0 0
Teahan 1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0 0
Withey 1 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1
Taylor 13 2-5 3-4 2 3 4 5 7
Reed 19 5-6 0-0 0 0 1 1 14
Johnson 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
MarkMorris 19 3-4 2-2 11 3 3 2 9
Totals 200 28-57 19-26 53 18 23 23 84
Team reb. 3
Percent 49.1 73.1
Missouri (15-5, 3-2) 30 35 — 65
Kansas (19-1, 5-0) 50 34 — 84
Three-point shooting—MU 6-18 (Ramsey 2-3, Denmon 1-1, Bowers 1-2, Safford 1-3, English 1-4, Taylor 0-2, Dixon Jr. 0-3), KU 9-19 (Reed 4-4, X.Henry 3-7, Mark.Morris 1-1, Morningstar 1-2, Teahan 0-1, Collins 0-4). Blocks—MU 2 (Bowers, Safford), KU 9 (Aldrich 7, X.Henry, Marc.Morris). Steals—MU 9 (Taylor 3, Denmon 2, Ramsey, English, Safford, Paul), KU 4 (X.Henry 2, Collins, Montgomery). Technicals —None. Officials—Steve Olson, John Higgins, Tom Eades. A—16,300.
