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Revenge is a dish best served cold. Missouri was colder than the wind chill outside Allen Field House Saturday afternoon. Avenging an overtime loss to the Tigers in January, the 22nd ranked Kansas Jayhawks built a big lead in the first half, continually expanded the lead in the second half and cruised to a 79-46 victory over Missouri. Mario Chalmers led KU with 14 points, Brandon Rush had 13, and Russell Robinson added 10. The rout was a truly a team effort, as KU hit 31 field goals with 22 assists. Kansas shot 53 percent from the field, compared with a mere 32 percent (15-47) for the visitors from Columbia. The Jayhawks out-rebounded Missouri 41-20; with Sasha Kaun leading the way with seven boards and six Jayhawks getting at least four rebounds. Kaun also had half of KU’s eight blocked shots; Julian Wright and C.J. Giles had two blocks each. "Our leading scorer only had 14 points, so that is pretty good balance," said Kansas coach Bill Self. The Kansas bench outscored the Tigers 28-3. Kansas hit 10-22 three-point shots (45 percent) and outscored the Tigers in fast break points 11-0. The only real negatives were turnovers and fouls. KU committed 18 turnovers while forcing Mizzou into 21 and three Jayhawks had four fouls each. "We were ready to play," said Self. "It could have really got out of hand, if we hadn't turned the ball over so much. We could have easily scored 90, we just jacked around for the last eight minutes. Pretty good day for the Jayhawks." The Jayhawks came out on fire when Chalmers hit a three 20 seconds into the game and KU making their first three shots. Meanwhile, Missouri turned the ball over their first three possessions, failing to get a shot off as KU took an early 7-0 lead. The Tigers’ first shot, a three by Marshall Brown, was an air ball. Even Mizzou’s first hoop came on a drive by Jason Horton as the shot clock ran down; the ball hit the rim and backboard before finally dropping. All five starters scored in the first six minutes as KU built a 21-4 lead by the second media timeout, and the lead stayed between 14 and 17 points through the remainder of the half. When Rush dropped a three with five minutes to go in the first half, KU’s lead was 30-19. Thomas Gardner, who lit the Jayhawks for 40 points earlier this season, didn’t score until 5:11 remained in the first half. He went on to hit two more treys before halftime, giving the Tigers a glimmer of hope. The Tiger’s firepower may have been limited somewhat when Jimmy McKinney picked up his third foul with 8:41 left in the half. McKinney and Gardner tied for game-high scoring honors with 15 points each, accounting for 65 percent of the season-low Tiger offensive output. In the first game, the duo accounted for 61 percent of Missouri’s scoring. "We got McKinney out of the game with three fouls in the first half and then we were able to take advantage of that situation," said sophomore guard Russell Robinson. "We were able to contain Gardner for the most part.  I think everyone did a good job of team defense that led to the easy baskets.  We never let them get into a rhythm." Each team hit five shots from beyond the arc in the first half. Jeff Hawkins came off the bench to hit three of four from TreyLand before halftime. Kansas out-rebounded Missouri in the first half 19-6, and the Tigers turned the ball over 15 times to KU’s 10. Missouri did not take a foul shot in the first half, while the Jayhawks hit 3-6 charities. KU’s matched their largest lead when seldom-used guard Jeremy Case hit a two-point jumper with 17 seconds in the half, expanding the halftime margin to 42-23. Then it got really ugly or really beautiful, depending on your point of view. Because it was a Missouri game, it wasn’t all that ugly. McKinney hit a three-ball 20 seconds into the second half, and there was a bit of wondering if Missouri could get hot from three-point land and make a game of it. Instead, it would be the last field goal the Tigers would get for the next 15 minutes as KU demonstrated why they lead the nation in defensive field goal percentage. While not especially spectacular, the Jayhawk lead continued to grow steadily throughout the second half. When Chalmers hit his third trey of the game with 13:39 left KU had doubled-up the Tigers, 56-28. The lead hit a high of 35 when Chalmers hit a lay-up with 8:40 left, and from there it was a matter of running out the clock. Brown’s three at 4:39 finally broke the Tiger field-goal drought, but by then it was way too late for Missouri. All 13 KU players played and 11 scored. Christian Moody, remembered for the missed free throws at Columbia, scored four points in eight minutes. Stephen Vinson hit a three to finish the scoring for KU. Only Roderick Stewart, who played seven minutes when the top three guards got three fouls each with 10 minutes remaining, and Matt Kleinmann didn’t score. During KU’s current nine-game winning streak, their average margin of victory is 19.7 points per game. Only one of the nine games was decided by fewer than ten points. "It wasn't too easy today, but everything was falling our way," said Rush. "We were hitting shots and getting rebounds that helped us get the big win. I think we got out and ran real well today.  It felt good (to win big)." Mark Howe is a freelance writer currently residing in Milford, IN. He is a former ticket taker, usher and security worker at Allen Fieldhouse, and can be reached at mhowe (at) rockchalk (dot) com.