Mizzou knocks off Kansas to capture first win over AP’s No. 1 ranked team in 27 years
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou Men's Basketball has toppled the top-ranked team in college basketball.
MU defeated Kansas in the latest installment of the Border Showdown 76-67 in court-storming fashion, securing the program's first victory over the No. 1 team in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 rankings since the 1997 season.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with head coach Dennis Gates, center Josh Gray and guard Tamar Bates in the video player below.
Sunday's win also marks Mizzou's first victory over the Jayhawks since the 2011-2012 campaign, ending a four-game losing streak to Kansas. The two programs had went through a nine-year hiatus before renewing their storied rivalry in 2021.
Kansas scored the game's first bucket on a layup from Zeke Mayo, but Mizzou responded with a rally to take control of the first half. The Tigers strung together an 11-2 scoring run to build an 11-4 lead, ignited by a layup from Mark Mitchell and a three-pointer from Tamar Bates to give head coach Dennis Gates' group its first advantage of the afternoon.
From there, MU held the lead for the entirety of the first half, maintaining at least a two-possession advantage. With less than eight minutes before the break, the Tigers recorded another lengthy scoring run to build an 18-point first half lead. Mizzou outscored Kansas 11-2 over a 5:07 stretch, highlighted by one of the team's three triples from the opening half.
MU's dominant first half effort was led by Bates, who dropped 18 of his 29 points in the first 20 minutes of the contest.
Mizzou played suffocating defense in the first half, forcing 15 turnovers while holding Kansas to 41.7% shooting. Collectively, the Tigers were also efficient from the free throw line during that span, hitting 14 of their 16 attempts from the charity stripe.
Mizzou's momentum also carried over to the beginning of the second half, outscoring Kansas by 10 points during a 5:45 stretch since exiting the locker room to manufacture a 57-33 lead, the team's biggest advantage of the game.
However, MU's arch rival quickly started to generate a comeback bid. The Jayhawks rattled off a 15-0 rally to cut Mizzou's lead down to nine points with less than 10 minutes left in the contest. Then, in the final stages of the game, Kansas turned this contest into a true nail-biter. The Jayhawks trailed by just two points in the final three minutes, following a three-point play from Rock Bridge alum Dajuan Harris Jr. on a tough drive to the basket.
However, the Tigers held off the rally. Mark Mitchell hit a corner three-pointer to regain a two-possession lead, and Gates' team knocked down some key transition buckets and free throws to clinch a signature win for the third-year leader of Mizzou Men's Basketball.
Bates ended the afternoon as the contest's leading scorer and made 60% of his shots, along with a flawless 9-for-9 effort from the free throw line. Bates was also tied for a game-high five steals with his teammate Anthony Robinson II, who finished the game in double figures.
Mitchell was just three points shy of posting a 20-point performance, and he also made his presence felt on the defensive end of the court, tallying a team-high three blocks. Collectively, the Kansas City duo of Mitchell and Bates combined to score 46 points.
Overall, the Tigers shot 44.2% from the floor and connected on four of the team's 13 three-point attempts. Defensively, Mizzou forced 22 turnovers and turned those takeaways into 23 points. Sunday's edition of the Border Showdown marked the most turnovers that the Jayhawks have suffered in a single game this season.
Up next - MU will work to build on an emotional win and keep its eight-game winning streak alive when it faces LIU at Mizzou Arena on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 11 a.m.
