From the moment the doors opened in Allen Fieldhouse, energy permeated the air.
On Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas, the Jayhawks and Tigers met for the first time in nine years and the renewal of the Border War sparked energy for both Missouri and Kansas fans. Current students were young teenagers the last time these teams met, but they still understood the game’s importance.
“We haven’t heard Allen like that in a long time,” Kansas sophomore guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said. “That was my first time hearing it that loud.”
“My friends and I have been camping since last Friday,” Kansas student Elizabeth Smith said. “We had to take rotations all week.”
Missouri and Kansas met for the first time since February of the 2011-2012 season. That game featured both teams ranked in the top of the AP poll, however after nearly a decade, these two programs are in much different conditions.
The Tigers came into the matchup as 23-point underdogs and it showed, as Missouri got blown out of Allen Fieldhouse 102-65.
Kansas’ junior guard Christian Braun opened the game with a 3-pointer on the Jayhawks’ second possession of the game. Then, on the next Jayhawks possession, senior guard Ochai Agbaji knocked down another triple.
The Jayhawks didn’t slow down. Kansas shot 14-27 from deep for the game, including a 5-7 performance from Agbaji and a 3-4 showing from Harris.
“We hadn’t really made shots from three for a while,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “So it was good to see that happen.”
Although the Tigers lost by 37, Missouri hung in the game for the first 11 minutes of the first half as they only trailed 28-21 with 8:57 remaining.
The play of Missouri senior guard Javon Pickett, who handled pressure well and shot at an effective clip, is what kept the Tigers competitive in the first half. He finished the game with 19 points, going 8-12 from the field with 15 points scored in the first half.
But after Missouri’s intriguing start, Kansas ran away with it thanks to a 21-6 run to finish the first half.
Though rebounding has been a strength of the Tigers this season, Missouri struggled to handle the physicality of Kansas. The Jayhawks outrebounded the Tigers 36-26.
With Missouri down 22 at half, the Tigers needed to make a run for any chance of making the game competitive. But Kansas picked up right where they left off in the first half, as Agbaji knocked down one of his five threes right off the bat to jumpstart a 11-2 run before a timeout was called and Allen Fieldhouse erupted.
“We traded baskets for most of the first half,” Self said. “But the last two minutes of the first half and then the beginning of the second half we went up because we made shots.”
Once Kansas grabbed a 61-29 lead, the Jayhawks lead never got below 29 points.
The Tigers entered the game only allowing 63.4 points per game and defense has been one of Missouri’s main strengths this year. But this game the Tigers defense struggled.
“The game plan was to build your wall defensively,” head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “The key was to make [Kansas] play outside, I thought we needed to do a better job contesting those threes.”
All five Jayhawk starters finished in double figures. Outside of Agbaji’s 21 points, Harris and Braun both finished with 13. Senior forward David McCormack finished the game with 11 points and super-senior guard Remy Martin scored 10.
“Whenever your leading shot taker only takes 12 shots, and your second takes nine shots, that means you probably got pretty good balance if you score 100,” Self said.
On the other side, junior guard DaJuan Gordon was the only other Tiger starter besides Pickett to notch double figures with 10 points.
As Kansas continued dominating the second half, maybe the loudest moment from Allen Fieldhouse came with 1:08 remaining in the game. Kansas super-senior guard Chris Teahan hit a three from the right wing to put Kansas over the 100 point mark, and the crowd erupted.
The rivalry was renewed in Lawrence on Saturday, but for Missouri fans, it looked a lot worse than they could have imagined.
“I guess if you are keeping score, it’s 1-0 them,” Martin said about the state of the Border War rivalry. The loss drops the Tigers to 5-5 on the season. Missouri heads back to Columbia to face Utah on Dec. 18.
