Columbia, MO – Marcus Denmon's personal surge late in 71 win over eighth-ranked Kansas in the Border Showdown.
Denmon, who scored nine straight points during Missouri's game-ending 13-0 spurt, canned a pair of three-pointers, including the one that gave the Tigers a 72-71 edge in the final minute.
"Obviously it was a tremendous win for us," Missouri coach Frank Haith said. "Just the way this team stayed together and fought at the end, being down eight in the last three minutes of the ball game. The effort was unbelievable today."
Denmon, who ended with 29 points, went 6-of-9 from three-point range, as Missouri (21-2, 8-2 Big 12) won its third in a row to tie the Jayhawks and Baylor atop the conference standings. Kim English added 18 points in the final regular season conference meeting between the two teams in Columbia, as the Tigers are headed to the SEC.
Michael Dixon scored 15 and stood his ground by taking a charge from Tyshawn Taylor with 9.8 seconds remaining.
Thomas Robinson had 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Jayhawks (18-5, 8-2), who also received 21 points from Taylor.
After Denmon's three gave the Tigers the lead, Taylor missed a pair of free throws off the back of the rim with 41.3 seconds left. But Phil Pressey couldn't connect on the front end of a 1-and-1 and Kansas called timeout with 17.4 on the clock.
Dixon stood his ground to take the charge and made two free throws. Elijah Johnson's wild three-point try from the top of the arc hit off the backboard as time expired.
"I don't think we did a good job on him by any stretch, but I also think he made some good plays," Kansas coach Bill Self said of Denmon. "I mean, he made two threes with his body turned sideways. Those are big time shots. How about the three to start the game? We play perfect defense and he makes a 30-footer with a hand in his face. He made some plays out there that were really defended pretty well."
Taylor's dunk expanded the Jayhawks to a 71-63 advantage with 3:25 left, but then came the turnovers and Denmon's offense that turned the tide. He converted a three-point play with 2:07 left to start the rally and made it a 71-69 game with a three-ball with 1:32 left before another long-distance make gave Mizzou the lead for good.
Denmon's layup boosted the hosts to their largest lead of the night, 39-32, with 1 1/2 minutes left in the opening half. Taylor's layup ended the period with the Jayhawks down 39-34.
A 9-2 surge gave the Jayhawks a 60-53 lead midway through the second half.
Game Notes
Denmon also had nine rebounds...Kansas shot 53.6 percent, slightly better than Mizzou (52.1)...The Tigers went 10-of-22 from three-point range...Mizzou snapped a five-game slide against Kansas...Johnson had 11 points...Mizzou has 98 wins in the last four seasons. The senior class is just two wins shy of tying Mizzou's all-time four-year wins mark of 100 (set from 1980-83).
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