Too much Julian Wright and Brandon Rush proved fatal for Missouri during its 92-74 loss at home to ninth-ranked Kansas on Saturday. It was the worst loss at home in the series for the Tigers since 1966. Wright seemingly rebounded every missed shot and picked up every loose ball on his way to a career-high 33 points and 12 rebounds. Rush – a Kansas City native and younger brother of former Mizzou star Kareem Rush – played almost perfect, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Missouri jumped out fast building a 16-8 lead, mostly on the adrenaline gained from the pregame hoopla. Team mascot Truman the Tigers was lowered from the rafters followed by a highlight film of the Tigers previous two home wins over KU. Once that adrenaline wore off, the Jayhawks really took flight. KU held Missouri without a basket for 8 ½ minutes midway through the first half, outscoring the Tigers 12-0 in the process. The run increased to 26-4, before Kansas went into the locker room with a 47-33 halftime lead.
Mizzou played even with the Jayhawks in the second half, but every time the Tigers made a run Kansas had an answer.
Stefhon Hannah scored a team-high 19 points for the Tigers, but was plagued by foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 5:11 to play in the game.
"We wanted to win, but we didn’t do what it takes to win," said an emotional Hannah. "Everybody’s like, ‘We’re going to win; we won last week" and all that. That ain’t going to get it. We’ve got to come out, and we’ve got to play. Nobody’s going to give us anything."
Kalen Grimes scored 16 points for Missouri, including a monstrous dunk over Kansas center Sasha Kaun in the first half.
Kansas shot 54 percent from the field in its first ever victory in Mizzou Arena. The Tigers fell to 1-4 at home in the Big 12 season.