COLUMBIA, Mo. — The No. 6-ranked Kansas Jayhawks appeared to follow their head coach’s request to “embrace the atmosphere” and “love” playing in hostile Mizzou Arena in claiming a 95-67 victory over the previously undefeated MU Tigers in the latest edition of Border War.
In front of a sold out crowd in Columbia, Jalen Wilson scored 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting; Kevin McCullar scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Gradey Dick added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists as coach Bill Self’s No. 6-ranked Jayhawks (9-1) handed the unranked Tigers (9-1) their first loss in front of fans hoping to see MU even the six-year, six-game resumption of the Border War at a game apiece.
Instead, KJ Adams scored a career-high 19 points to go with six rebounds for the Jayhawks, who defeated the Tigers, 102-65, a year ago in Allen Fieldhouse in the first contest between the rivals since KU’s overtime win over MU in 2012. Dajuan Harris, KU’s point guard from Columbia, had nine assists and six points.
KU raced to an early 19-point lead and led by 17 at halftime. The Jayhawks led by 24 (57-33) points with 18:49 left and by 26 points (59-33) with 17:41 left.
The Tigers got the margin down to 15 points (73-58) at 7:35. MU had just eight assists. The Tigers led the country in assists entering the game..
Nick Honor and D’Moi Hodge had 15 points apiece. Noah Carter added 12 and DeAndre Gholston scored 11 for the Tigers, who were hoping to open 10-0 for the first time since 2013-14.
MU, which hit 6 of 19 3-pointers to KU’s 10 of 22, has lost eight of nine in the series. KU is 176-95 vs. the Tigers overall and 68-57 in Columbia. Bill Self improved to a 17-4 vs. MU and 6-4 in games played in Columbia.
The Jayhawks, who led by 19 points (36-17) with 8:16 left in the first half, led at halftime, 33-19.
Dick, a guard, and Adams a forward, scored 15 points apiece in the first half. Dick hit 6 of 8 shots including 3 of 4 3s while Adams was 7 of 9 overall. Dick also had six rebounds and four assists in the half. Wilson had seven points.
Missouri was led in the first half by Hodge and Honor, who had seven points apiece. Hodge also had five rebounds. MU was 3-of-13 from three and KU was 6-of-10 at the break.
KU jumped out to a 26-12 lead just over six minutes in thanks to 10-of-12 shooting out of the gate. KU missed its first two shots then hit 10 in a row. KU hit its 11th straight and led 28-14 at 12:59.
Dick had 12 of KU’s first 26 points on 5-of-5 shooting (2-of-2 from three). McCullar and Adams had five apiece in that early surge for KU. Dick had eight straight points in the run.
KU scored on back to back 3s by Dick and Joseph Yesufu and upped the lead to 19 points (36-17) with 8:16 left in the first half. At that point, Dick was 6-for-6 shooting (3-of-3 shooting on 3s), good for 15 points.
While the score was lopsided, there was an interesting back and forth between the two sides in the half. MU freshman Aidan Shaw had a shot rejected forcibly by KU’s Adams, then a few minutes later Shaw had a fierce block of an inside shot by Dick.
Shaw rammed home a vicious dunk off a lob from Hodge as MU cut the gap to 40-26 late in the first half. But the Jayhawks pushed the advantage to 26 early in the second frame.
The third game of the revitalized Border War series will be back at Allen Fieldhouse next season. It’ll be at Missouri in 2024-25 and then conclude with games in successive years at T-Mobile Center.
KU will next meet Indiana at 11 a.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Missouri will next meet UCF at 11 a.m. Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.
