There were a number of big streaks broken for the Missouri Tigers on Sunday.
The Tigers hadn’t beat the kansas Jayhawks since 2012, a 12-year streak spanning four matchups.
And they hadn’t beat the No. 1 team in the country since 1997.
But they knocked out both in one go Sunday as Mizzou extended its win streak to eight games with a 76-67 win against kansas at Mizzou Arena.
“This is not just a game, it’s not. It’s not a game,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “And what we talked about was building memories for 20 years from now. I want these dudes to remember what they accomplished and that’s what we talked about in our scouting report.”
The Tigers led nearly wire-to-wire as kansas took the game’s initial lead on a Zeke Mayo layup, but a Mark Mitchell layup 17 seconds later tied it and Mizzou took the lead for good when Josh Gray kicked an assist out to Tamar Bates for a 3 from the left wing.
“We had one good possession in the first half and it happened in the first 10 seconds,” kansas coach Bill Self said. “It’s amazing that we were still in the game with how poor we played.”
Bates then added a turnaround, fadeaway jumper to make it 7-4 with 17:16 left in the first half on the way to a 29-point performance to lead the game.
“Tamar was the best player in the game, hands down,” Self said.
The visitors struggled with turnovers throughout the first half, allowing Mizzou to pull further and further ahead.
Two Mitchell free throws made it 9-4 and an Aidan Shaw steal-turned-dunk made it 15-7.
A Bates 3 from the top of the key that got a friendly roll off the back rim extended the lead to double digits for the first time at 20-10.
“My goal, my preparation this entire week, wasn’t necessarily to be the best player on the floor, it was just to win the game,” Bates said. “… I was able to score in a certain spot and take advantage of certain matchups when I could.”
Mizzou extended to a 12-point lead when Anthony Robinson turned a steal into a fastbreak dunk.
Bates made two more free throws, part of a 9-of-9 day at the line leading the Tigers to a 26-of-31 performance from the stripe, to make it 32-17 with 4:21 left before halftime, then Robinson connected on a 3 from far past the left wing to avoid a shot-clock violation and make it 37-21 with 1:57 left.
Missouri would end up taking a 39-25 lead into halftime.
With the crowd beginning to believe the Tigers could knock off the country’s top team, the energy stayed up out of the break.
The Tigers extended to an 18-point lead after a Mitchell dunk off a Robinson assist, then made it 20 for the first time when Bates turned a steal into an and-1 layup with 16:15 left to make it 51-30.
The lead got as large as 24 after Tony Perkins drove for a tough layup through contact to make it 57-33.
Then the old issues the Tigers have dealt with for a year came back.
The offense got quite, the defense allowed easy looks and kansas began storming back.
A Hunter Dickinson second-chance jumper made it 57-41 with 11:53 left, then a Dajuan Harris jumper made it 57-48 with 9:05 remaining.
Robinson stole a pass and dished it ahead to Perkins for a layup to end a 7-minute Tiger scoreless streak, but the lull remained as Dickinson hit a putback to get within 10 at 62-53 with 4:26 left and KJ Adams connected on an and-1 layup to get within 62-57.
In all, the Tiger offense accounted for 5 points in about a 12-minute stretch.
“We just stayed together, we stayed connected,” Bates said. “We felt like, a dip in our energy, so we just upped our communication on the bench … nobody was necessarily worried, we just knew that we had to respond.”
But the 24-point lead was able to hold up. The visitors got within 65-63 with 2:20 left, but Mitchell, who had missed his last three attempts from 3, connected on a deep attempt from the left corner to give the Tigers some breathing room.
“Mark missed his last three and that’s what confidence is,” Gates said. ‘That’s what confidence is. I want to say I drew up the play, it sounds good. Mark made a big-time play. He believed in himself. It’s the confidence that we talk about.”
Gray grabbed his 10th rebound and was immediately fouled, going to the line for one-and-one, where he made both, to extend the Tiger lead to 70-63 with 1:36 left.
“I got my 10th rebound and then they intentionally fouled me, put me to one-and-one and then I was on the line,” Gray said. “I was just talking to myself, I was like, you know, this is your moment … and I was able to knock both of them down.”
Then Bates connected on a layup and it was all free throws from there.
Gates called timeout with 6 seconds left to allow kansas to exit the court safely as the students made their way down from the stands for the day’s third rendition of Mr. Brightside.
“You think Norm Stewart court was crazy after the game? I want to see live video in people’s living rooms,” Gates said. “That’s what I want to see, because I’m sure on kansas’ side, some people broke TV screens and on our side, we broke ceilings jumping up and down. That’s what it’s about. That’s the rivalry.”
The Tigers advance to 8-1 on the season and are yet to lose a game at Mizzou Arena.
They will be off for five days before returning to host LIU at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“For kids in the next generation, those going to college next year, we’re just trying to show them that you don’t got to go far to play big-time basketball and win big-time games,” Bates said gesturing to Gates. “You can come play for this guy.”
