Tigers have opportunity to get even

Kevin Young sat and stewed.

A quick tilt of the head tips off his forthcoming jokes, more often than not they’re directed at himself. And he’s not shy about laughing at his own, pointed humor, whether self-deprecating or at his teammates or coaches. That’s the norm after wins.

Understandably, he’s less jovial after losses replacing the tilt with a hang of his head. He’s quiet even, offering a subdued contrast to his normally gregarious personality, frequently answering “I don’t know” to questions. It’s an “I don’t know” given as much to reduce re-living his anguish as it is to relieve him of media detail.

Yet just more than a month ago, after a Jan. 25 blowout loss, Young didn’t shy away. He fumed, sitting at a table in the player’s lounge, refusing to sulk. He wasn’t happy with the way he played (1-of-6 from the field in 23 minutes) and he was downright mad that he and his teammates had just allowed Iowa State to snatch a win from the Tigers at Mizzou Arena. Losing to Kansas State days earlier was one thing. Missouri was bound to come back to earth a little, after a 3-1 start including a win at Oklahoma and “the comeback” against Kansas. Against the Wildcats, it was a road loss; an acceptable, if not good, loss.

But after falling to .500 in the Big 12 to these Cyclones, Young tapped his noggin and said this one would get filed away. His team would remember this one, because it knew it had a shot to return the favor in Ames. He didn’t know it would be the last time the Tigers would be at even in the league; that the losses — from Baylor to Snyder — would only pile on.

Tonight Missouri (11-14, 4-10) has its shot at vengeance in a 7 p.m. game at Iowa State.

That’s assuming the anger hasn’t been replaced by indifference. As MU’s season continues to spiral, Young’s career winds down with it. Odds are the senior will give it his best shot, an honest effort even if the passion he had a month ago has diminished.

The focus looks to be away from the remaining games for both teams; Iowa State (15-12, 5-9) is 2-6 since winning in Columbia and has only the hope of an improbable conference tournament run sustaining its NCAA tourney dreams.

During Monday’s Big 12 teleconference, nobody seemed too concerned with this evening’s matchup.

Missouri interim coach Melvin Watkins fielded questions about his personal experience with rocky situations in his last couple of jobs. He talked about the prospect of keeping his current job, as the head coach, for next year. He was even asked about P.J. Tucker, Texas standout forward who took the Tigers for 20 earlier this year. Missouri may or may not play Texas again this year, depending on the conference tournament, yet the question came instead of any potential analysis of the Cyclones-Tigers showdown.

Mercifully, there was one question that related directly to tonight’s game: Would Marshall Brown play despite a knee injury in Saturday’s game at Colorado? We’ll see, probably, came Watkins answer.

Later on Monday, Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan took his turn, responding to queries about the possibility of tonight’s game being junior Curtis Stinson’s last in Hilton Coliseum, should he elect to go pro (Morgan gave an elongated 50-50 to Stinson’s chances of returning). He defended a belief that Stinson should be first-team postseason Big 12. He talked of his team’s NIT possibilities, briefly.

It seemed attention had fled from the game. Like Young’s anger proved fleeting as a season in angst wore forward, the two teams’ postseason positioning disappeared.

And then, with his allotment on the conference call barely half gone but no questions remaining, Morgan, perhaps convincing himself along with the reporters, offered this morsel:

“Right now we need to think about Missouri,” he said. “That’s what we’re thinking about.”