COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Men’s basketball earned its fifth win in school history over the nation’s No. 1 team, battling to a 76-67 victory over Kansas Sunday afternoon in a front of sold-out crowd of 15,061 at Mizzou Arena.
With the win, the Tigers extend their winning streak to eight games, improving to 8-1 on the season.
MIZZOU LEADERS
Three Tigers scored in double figures to lead MU to victory. Senior Tamar Bates led the team in scoring with a season-high 29 points, while junior Mark Mitchell added 17 points and a team-leading three blocks.
Sophomore Anthony Robinson II posted 11 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Bates and Robinson also had a team-leading five steals in the winning effort.
Graduate Josh Gray snatched a season-high 10 rebounds, adding in seven points and two assists.
GAME RECAP
Missouri jumped out to an early lead and never gave it back, leading for the final 38:13 of the contest. Bates gave the Tigers its first lead, 5-2, with a triple on the team’s third possession – previewing what was to come from the senior on the day.
An 11-3 run stretched the Mizzou advantage to nine early, 16-7, before another 8-0 spurt gave the hosts a commanding 17-point edge, 34-17. Overall, Bates was the man of the hour in the first half as he scored 18 points in the opening 20 minutes, helping the Tigers to a 14-point edge at the break, 39-25.
Forcing turnovers was key for the Tigers in the opening 20 minutes, forcing 15 miscues from one of the nation’s teams of taking care of the ball and scoring 14 points off of them, with three steals from both Bates and Robinson.
The Tigers continued to pour it on in the first five minutes of the second half, stretching their lead to as many as 24 points, 57-33, with 14:15 remaining.
Kansas would make its run however and used a 15-0 stretch to pull within nine, 57-48. Tony Perkins halted the spurt with a bucked with 7:32 remaining, restoring the MU lead to double digits, 59-48. However, another strong stretch of 12-3 by the No. 1 team pulled Kansas to within two, 65-63, with just 2:20 remaining.
Mitchell would come up big for the Tigers, though, sinking a triple on the next possession to quickly put Mizzou back up by five. From there, the Tigers finished off the nine-point win, 76-67.
TEAM STATS
Missouri shot 44.2 percent in the winning effort with a 26-of-31 (83.9 percent) from the free-throw line. The Tigers also held the Jayhawks to 39.7 percent from the field and forced 22 turnovers, which is the most Kansas has had on the year.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will look to maintain their perfect record in the 10-game homestand, hosting LIU on Saturday. First tip at Mizzou arena is set for 11 a.m.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS
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