Missouri men’s basketball dropped its second straight game in an 80-60 loss against No. 21 Kansas Sunday in the Border War.
The Tigers were outscored 47-35 in the second half as KU expanded its hold on the contest
played at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
Mizzou failed to consistently generate offense against the Jayhawks, scoring a season-low 60 points on 34 percent shooting. Those struggles were amplified from beyond the arc, where MU hit seven of its 27 three-point attempts.
Mark Mitchell led the Tigers in scoring with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, accounting for a third of the team’s 21 made shots from the field.
Jacob Crews was the only other Mizzou player to finish in double digits, scoring 11 points with a 3-for-7 mark shooting from three-point range.
MU kept pace with Kansas for much of the first half on the strength of some of the Tigers’ best defense of the season and led 23-22 with 3:52 left before the half.
But the Jayhawks seized a commanding lead with a 22-3 run that lasted nearly seven minutes from that point until 17:02 left in the second half, putting Bill Self’s squad ahead 44-26.
Kansas’ offense opened up in the second half as the Jayhawks shot 46 percent from the field, allowing them to maintain a comfortable lead for most of the final 20 minutes.
The guard duo of Tre White and freshman phenom Darryn Peterson powered the Kansas offense with a combined 37 points. Peterson scored 17 on 6-of-14 shooting with three rebounds in his first game back after missing a month due to injury.
Mizzou’s upset attempt was frustrated by foul troubles. Anthony Robinson II recorded his fourth foul of the game with 17:02 remaining after playing a key role in the Tigers’ early first half success, and four other MU players ended the game with three or more fouls.
Robinson’s fourth foul prompted Gates to bring in Sebastian Mack for the first time in the contest. Mack has been one of the team’s typical starters but was replaced in the starting five by Annor Boateng, who recorded two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
Kansas took advantage as the fouls piled up on Mizzou, shooting 19-of-26 from the free throw line.
The Tigers, on the other hand, were unable to capitalize on a strong offensive rebounding performance. MU was outrebounded 41-35 but recorded 16 offensive rebounds. Those offensive boards translated to just 11 second chance points.
Mizzou falls to 8-2 on the season and is now 1-2 against power conference opponents. The Tigers will have a strong opportunity to return to the win column in their next game with a matchup in Columbia against Alabama State on Dec. 11.
That game will tip off at 7 p.m. and stream on SEC Network+.
