No. 1 Kansas suffered its second loss in as many outings this week on Sunday in a 76-67 defeat at the hands of rival Missouri in the Border War series. The Jayhawks scored the first points of the game but promptly surrendered the lead and never led thereafter as Missouri in front of its home crowd raced out to a double-digit lead midway through the first half and staved off a late KU run down the stretch.
The win is Missouri’s first in the Border War rivalry since 2012, ending a four-game losing streak for the Tigers in the series that has both historically and recently been dominated by the Jayhawks. In KU’s last three wins during that span, it had won on average by 24.6 points.
Missouri’s win shrinks KU’s all-time lead in the series to 176-96 and gives it its first win over a No. 1-ranked team since 1997, when it beat — you guessed it — then-ranked No. 1 Kansas in double overtime.
Missouri (8-1) led by as many as 24 points in the second half before Kansas (7-2) put together a pair of big runs down the stretch, which included a 15-0 run, to get the game within one possession. Junior forward Mark Mitchell drained a 3-pointer with just over two minutes remaining in the game to give Mizzou a five-point cushion, which effectively served as the final dagger.
The loss for Kansas comes just four days after it suffered a 76-63 road loss to Creighton, all but guaranteeing it will not be ranked No. 1 in the AP Top poll Monday for the first time all season.
KVSP