Mizzou Men’s basketball earned its fifth win in school history over the nation’s No. 1 team, battling to a 76-67 victory over Kansas Sunday afternoon in front of sold-out crowd of 15,061 at Mizzou Arena. With the win, the Tigers extend their winning streak to eight games, improving to 8-1 on the season. Senior Tamar Bates led the team in scoring with a season-high 29 points.
Missouri jumped out to an early lead and never gave it back, leading for the final 38:13 of the contest. Bates gave the Tigers its first lead, 5-2, with a triple on the team’s third possession – previewing what was to come from the senior on the day. An 11-3 run stretched the Mizzou advantage to nine early, 16-7, before another 8-0 spurt gave the hosts a commanding 17-point edge, 34-17. Overall, Bates was the man of the hour in the first half as he scored 18 points in the opening 20 minutes, helping the Tigers to a 14-point edge at the break, 39-25. The Tigers continued to pour it on in the first five minutes of the second half, stretching their lead to as many as 24 points, 57-33, with 14:15 remaining.
Kansas would make its run however and used a 15-0 stretch to pull within nine, 57-48. Tony Perkins halted the spurt with a bucket with 7:32 remaining, restoring the MU lead to double digits, 59-48. However, another strong stretch of 12-3 by the No. 1 team pulled Kansas to within two, 65-63, with just 2:20 remaining. Mitchell would come up big for the Tigers, though, sinking a triple on the next possession to quickly put Mizzou back up by five. From there, the Tigers finished off the nine-point win, 76-67.
The Tigers will look to maintain their perfect record in the 10-game homestand, hosting LIU on Saturday. First tip at Mizzou arena is set for 11 a.m.