A tight first half turned into a blowout as Missouri men’s basketball fell 80-60 to No. 21 Kansas in the 272nd installment of the Border War.
Missouri’s hopes for a second straight border war victory fell apart during a 20-3 run that spanned from the end of the first half into the start of the second. The Tigers did what they could to keep the Jayhawks within striking distance in the first half, but the run pushed Kansas on a pedestal too high for the Tigers to reach.
“We got to get through those moments,” head coach Dennis Gates said of the decisive run.
Junior guard Anthony Robinson II was the Tigers’ saving grace in the first half. Despite facing full-court pressure on every possession, he built momentum to keep the Tigers in the fight.
Robinson drained a contested 3-pointer to open up scoring for the Tigers, sparking a 10-2 run that gave Mizzou its first lead of the game.
Robinson also had a huge impact on the glass, leading the team with seven first-half rebounds, despite being one of the shorter players on the court. Robinson’s infectious energy on the glass kept the Tigers in the game. The turning point came after a technical foul put him into foul trouble late in the first half, forcing him to be sidelined.
“I’ll go back to Ant Robinson picking up in a double-tech, which I’ve never seen before, a guy get hit in the face,” Gates said. “We call it a double-tech, and your best player (doesn’t) close out that first half. I thought we got put into a bad situation.”
Despite Missouri’s attempts to stifle him, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson expectedly had his way with the Tigers’ defense. The top-3 pick of the 2026 NBA draft finished with 17 points despite battling an illness in his return from a seven-game injury absence.
Missouri wing Annor Boateng displayed a good ability to stay with Peterson, but the high-profile freshman rendered those efforts meaningless. Peterson drained multiple contested threes, looking like he was alone on the court despite being swarmed by several Mizzou defenders on each possession.
“Credit to Annor,” Gates said. “He did a great job … I thought it bode well with what he brings to the table from a defensive standpoint and an offensive standpoint.”
Kansas had no trouble getting inside, consistently finishing with 34 points in the paint. Missouri starting center Shawn Phillips Jr. struggled to make an impact against the Jayhawks’ big men. He finished with only four rebounds, two in each half. Rebounding became a glaring issue for the Tigers during Kansas’ run. Kansas outrebounded Missouri 19-13 in the second half, and 41-35 for the game.
Missouri found momentum in the second half, shooting significantly more efficiently than in the first. Graduate forward Jacob Crews led the charge, scoring 11 points after entering halftime with zero points.
Although Missouri shot the ball better in the second half, the Tigers failed to take advantage of several open looks — specifically in the first half — and the second-half push was not enough to catch Kansas.
“We can’t go one-for-four in those situations,” Gates said of senior forward Jevon Porter’s first four 3-point attempts. “Again, it was great to see those guys knock down shots toward the end, but ultimately, those are those shots, when I think of our execution, that (were) missing.”
Mizzou moves to 8-2 after dropping back-to-back road games. The Tigers now return to Mizzou Arena, where they’ll host Alabama State Dec. 11.
Edited by Killian Wright | [email protected]
Copy edited by Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Chase Pray | [email protected]
