Mizzou players storm the court, after taking down No. 1 Kansas, Sunday at Mizzou Arena. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Kansas (7-2) | 25 | 42 | 67 |
| Missouri (8-1) | 39 | 37 | 76 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri men’s basketball team earned itself a glorious victory, Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena, when the Tigers took down No. 1 ranked archrival Kansas, in the annual Border War game by the score of 76-67.
It was Missouri’s fifth win in program history against the No. 1-ranked team in the country and fourth time winning when that team was Kansas. And Sunday’s victory set off a wild celebration that included nearly all of the sold out crowd of 15,061, storming the court to celebrate with the Tiger coaches and players.
“That was fantastic, man. It was so exciting,” Mizzou grad student senior Tamar Bates said. “I was just so proud to be a part of that and see our fans enjoy that like they did. They were incredible… This whole day was incredible.”
The most incredible part of the day was probably Bates, a Kansas City native, who scored a game-high 29 points in leading Mizzou to its first victory of Kansas since the two schools resumed their court rivalry in 2021. The Jayhawks won the previous three games by an average of 24.7 points, but on Sunday, the day belonged to the Tigers, who dominated play from start to finish.
“That was a lot of fun and I’m proud of my guys for how they prepared for today and came into today ready to play their best against one of the top teams in the country,” Tiger head coach Dennis Gates said. “I’m also grateful to our fans who were just so incredible today. They loud and wild and crazy and right with us for every moment.
“You don’t get many chances like this, to have days like this. So I’m proud of everyone involved with this that we got this done. This is something we’re all going to remember.”
Mizzou’s Tamar Bates screams in excitement during the Tigers’ win over No. 1 Kansas, Sunday at Mizzou Arena. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
Among the many memories from the day, one thing folks will certainly never forget is how well Bates played. He scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half, including a three-pointer early in the game that gave Mizzou its first lead. The score was only 5-2 at the time, but the Tigers never gave up that lead the rest of the day.
Bates was just unstopped for Mizzou. He kept hitting layups and fadeaways and kept drawing fouls and going to the free throw line. Kansas tried several defenders on him and threw several defenses at him, but nothing could slow down Mizzou’s dynamo team leader.
“Tamar was the best player in the game, hands down,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “We couldn’t guard him. He went around us and played to his size. We started small, and they made us look slow in that first half, for sure.”
Bates’ play helped Mizzou build an 11-point lead midway through the first half. Then, after the teams traded baskets for a few minutes, Missouri went on an 11-2 run — capped by a three-pointer by Anthony Robinson II — that gave the Tigers a 37-19 lead.
Kansas cut that deficit to 39-25 by halftime, but it was still the Jayhawks’ largest halftime deficit of the season so far.
Mizzou’s Aidan Shaw blocks a shot from a Kansas player during Sunday’s Border War game at Mizzou Arena. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
The second half began the same as the first, with Mizzou taking control and building on its lead. At one point, the Tigers went on a 14-5 run to take their largest lead of the day at 57-33.
The Jayhawks responded by going on a 15-0 run to get back into the game. Then, with Missouri going cold and making just one-of-11 shots and committing a number of turnovers, Kansas got as close as two points with two minutes to play.
But Mizzou’s Mark Mitchell, who had missed four attempts earlier, rattled home a three-pointer with exactly two minutes to go that put the Tigers back up by five. Then after a defensive stop, big man Josh Gray made two free throws that put Mizzou back up 70-63 with 90 seconds left in the game.
From there, Missouri made six free throws in the final minute to put the game away.
With six seconds left, Gates even called timeout so Kansas could get its players off the floor because he could tell every Mizzou fan in the building was going to storm the court to celebrate the Tigers’ huge win.
“Usually I’m the one that calls the timeout and just tell the guys to stay on the sidelines, but that was a classy move by Dennis,” Self said. “Somebody could have gotten hurt, because that was a real court-storming. Mizzou played great, but that court-storming may have been even better than Mizzou played. That was a big-time court-storming.”
Mitchell finished with 17 points, Robinson had 11, and Gray added seven points and 10 rebounds in Mizzou’s win.
The Tigers are now 8-1 on the season and will get most of this next week off, before returning to action on Saturday, December 14, when they will host Long Island University. Tip off that day at Mizzou Arena is slated for 11 a.m.
Kansas 67
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Dickinson,Hunter | * | 34 | 8-15 | 2-4 | 1-1 | 8-6 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 19 |
| 08 | Coit,David | * | 26 | 5-11 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 03 | Harris Jr.,Dajuan | * | 38 | 5-14 | 1-5 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 24 | Adams,KJ | * | 32 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 5-5 | 3-1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 05 | Mayo,Zeke | * | 26 | 2-6 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 06 | Griffen,Rylan | 13 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 02 | Storr,AJ | 19 | 1-7 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 40 | Bidunga,Flory | 7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 41 | Clemence,Zach | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 04 | Passmore,Rakease | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 25-63 | 8-23 | 9-11 | 16-24 | 40 | 19 | 13 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 67 |
Missouri 76
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | Bates, Tamar | * | 34 | 9-15 | 2-5 | 9-9 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 29 |
| 25 | Mitchell, Mark | * | 34 | 4-14 | 1-4 | 8-12 | 1-3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| 00 | Robinson II, Anthony | * | 34 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 4-4 | 0-4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| 12 | Perkins, Tony | * | 31 | 4-10 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 33 | Gray, Josh | * | 32 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 2-8 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 23 | Shaw, Aidan | 11 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 04 | Allen, Marcus | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 01 | Warrick, Marques | 8 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Pierce, Trent | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 21 | Marshall, Peyton | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 05 | Barrett, T.O. | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 23-52 | 4-13 | 26-31 | 6-23 | 29 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 76 |
2024-25 Missouri Tigers Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV/Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 4, 2024 (Monday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Memphis | Memphis, Tenn. | L 83-75 (0-1) |
| November 8, 2024 (Friday) | 7 p.m. | Home | Howard | Mizzou Arena | W 77-62 (1-1) |
| November 11, 2024 (Monday) | 6 p.m. | Home | Eastern Washington | Mizzou Arena | W 84-77 (2-1) |
| November 14, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:30 p.m. | Home | Mississippi Valley State | Mizzou Arena | W 111-39 (3-1) |
| November 22, 2024 (Friday) | 6:30 p.m. | Home | Pacific | Mizzou Arena | W 91-56 (4-1) |
| November 24, 2024 (Sunday) | 4 p.m. | Home | Arkansas – Pine Bluff | Mizzou Arena | W 112-63 (5-1) |
| November 27, 2024 (Wednesday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | Lindenwood | Mizzou Arena | W 81-61 (6-1) |
| December 3, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 p.m. | Home | California | Mizzou Arena | W 98-93 (7-1) |
| December 8, 2024 (Sunday) | Noon | Home | Kansas | Mizzou Arena | W 76-67 (8-1) |
| December 14, 2024 (Saturday) | 11 a.m. | Home | Long Island | Mizzou Arena |  |
| December 17, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6:30 p.m. | Home | Jacksonville State | Mizzou Arena | |
| December 22, 2024 (Sunday) | Noon | Neutral | Illinois | St. Louis, Mo. / Enterprise Center |  |
| December 30, 2024 (Monday) | 6:30 p.m. | Alabama State | Mizzou Arena | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 4, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | Auburn | Auburn, Ala. |  |
| January 7, 2025 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | LSU | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 11, 2025 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Home | Vanderbilt | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 14, 2025 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Away | Florida | Gainesville, Fla. |  |
| January 18, 2025 (Saturday) | 5 p.m. | Home | Arkansas | Mizzou Arena | |
| January 21, 2025 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Away | Texas | Austin, Texas | |
| January 25, 2025 (Saturday) | 5 p.m. | Home | Ole Miss | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 1, 2025 (Saturday) | Noon | Away | Mississippi State | Starkville, Miss. | |
| February 5, 2025 (Wednesday) | 6 p.m. | Away | Tennessee | Knoxville, Tenn. | |
| February 8, 2025 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Home | Texas A&M | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 12, 2025 (Wednesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | Oklahoma | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 15, 2025 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Away | Georgia | Athens, Ga. | |
| February 19, 2025 (Wednesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | Alabama | Mizzou Arena | |
| February 22, 2025 (Saturday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Arkansas | Fayetteville, Ark. | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| February 25, 2025 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Home | South Carolina | Mizzou Arena | ESPN2 or ESPNU |
| March 1, 2025 (Saturday) | 5 p.m. | Away | Vanderbilt | Nashville, Tenn. | |
| March 5, 2025 (Wednesday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Oklahoma | Norman, Okla. | |
| March 8, 2025 (Saturday) | 11 a.m. | Home | Kentucky | Mizzou Arena | ESPN or SECN |
| March 12-16, 2025 | TBD | Neutral | SEC Tournament | Nashville, Tenn. / Bridgestone Arena | SECN or ESPN |