KU Jayhawks have blown out Mizzou by 28 & 37 points since renewal of the Border War

Kansas has claimed two blowout victories against no defeats against rival Missouri during the first two games of the six-game, six-year renewal of the men’s basketball Border War between the two schools.

The No. 2 Jayhawks (8-1), who play host to unranked (7-2) Mizzou at 4:15 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, pounded the Tigers 95-67 last December at Mizzou Arena. That game took place a year after KU slugged MU 102-65 at Allen Fieldhouse.

KU’s 37-point victory at Allen was the largest margin of victory by KU in the series since the Jayhawks’ 47-point victory (96-49) on Dec. 28, 1977, in Kansas City. The KU win was the third-largest margin of victory in the series, trailing only the game listed in 1977 and a 44-point KU win (98-54) on Feb. 15, 1966, at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas’ 28-point win at Mizzou Arena a year ago was its second-largest margin of victory ever in Columbia, trailing only a 91-58 victory on Feb. 16, 1957.

The Jayhawks, who return to Columbia for the fourth game of the renewed series in December of 2024, are 6-4 at Mizzou Arena, all of the games coached by Bill Self. Throughout history, the Jayhawks are 68-57 versus the Tigers in Columbia.

Meanwhile KU is 10-0 versus Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse during the 21-year Self era. Overall KU has won 14 in a row over the Tigers at Allen. KU won the final four at home versus MU during the Roy Williams era.

KU throughout history is 89-33 in Lawrence vs. MU, 43-14 in Allen. KU, which leads MU 176-95 (MU’s record book has it 175-95 in favor of KU) has won three in a row and 13 of 15 dating back to Feb. 18, 2006.

Self is 18-4 versus the Tigers; Dennis Gates 0-1 against the Jayhawks.

Here’s a look at the first two games played in the six-year renewal of the Border War.

Remember: The series was put on hiatus after KU’s 87-86 overtime win over the Tigers on Feb. 25, 2012, at Allen Fieldhouse. The Tigers started play in the SEC in 2012-13 with no game against KU on the slate until the the resumption of the series in December of 2021.

KU 95, Missouri 67 | Dec. 10, 2022, Mizzou Arena

Gates’ first game against KU resulted in a blowout loss. The No. 6 Jayhawks, who like the unranked Tigers entered with a perfect 9-0 record, raced to a 50-33 halftime lead and were never threatened.

In front of a sold out crowd in Columbia, Jalen Wilson scored 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting and Kevin McCullar had 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Gradey Dick added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and KJ Adams scored a career-high 19 points with six rebounds.

Dajuan Harris, KU’s point guard from Columbia, scored six points and dished nine assists.

KU raced to an early 19-point lead and led by 17 at halftime. The Jayhawks led by 24 (57-33) points with 18:49 left and by a whopping 26 points (59-33) with 17:41 remaining.

“I wanted to play in front of my old friends, put on a show for my teammates,” Columbia native Harris said after the win. “I had 20 people here on my (ticket) list.

“I took my time, did what I always do in trying to lead my team and make the right plays. I wanted to come back here, get a ‘W’ and enjoy the night. We played unselfish like we do and got the win.”

MU, which led the country in assists entering the contest, finished with a season-low eight assists. Nick Honor and D’Moi Hodge scored 15 points apiece. Noah Carter added 12 and DeAndre Gholston scored 11 for the Tigers, who were hoping to open 10-0 for the first time since 2013-14.

“The atmosphere was electric,” McCullar said. “We just tried to embrace the environment.”

“In all honesty, you want to be in environments where people care,” Kansas coach Self said, “and it was obviously a caring environment today. The crowd was great. And I thought our guys really did a good job of not letting them go on runs that could have really gotten the crowd more into the game.”

MU’s Gates was pleased with the sellout crowd but not the result.

“It was an outstanding atmosphere. I thought our guys did a great job leading into this game,” Gates said. “I thought their level of focus was excellent. We shot the ball well in practice. But there’s a reason why Kansas is top 10 in the country. There’s a reason why Bill Self is a Hall of Fame coach. I thought we showed and displayed different things throughout the game, where we almost had runs going. But somehow, someway, whether a missed free throw or a turnover sort of took the wind out of the sail.”

KU 102, Missouri 65 | Dec. 10, 2021, Allen Fieldhouse

No. 8 KU ran away from the unranked Tigers in taking the first game played between the teams after a nine-year break.

KU guard Ochai Agbaji scored 21 points, while point guard Harris hit three 3-pointers and tied a career high with 13 points as the No. 8-ranked Jayhawks (8-1) sizzled in making 55.9% of their shots.

Christian Braun scored 13 points, while David McCormack contributed 11 points and seven rebounds. Remy Martin added 10 points with five assists for KU, which in dropping MU to 5-5 on the season won its 14th consecutive game versus the Tigers in Lawrence.

Javon Pickett scored 19 points, while Sean Durugordon scored 11. DaJuan Gordon and Trevon Brazile added 10 points apiece for Mizzou, which was trying to win its first game in Allen Fieldhouse since the 1998-99 season when Norm Stewart coached the Tigers.

MU forward Kobe Brown was held to five points points and six rebounds.

“They’re a really good team,” Brown said. “They came out and did what we thought they would do.”

Pickett, a native of Belleville, Illinois, said: “I used to watch this game on TV but never really understood it. I knew it was a big game, but it was just another game to me when I was younger. It was a great atmosphere, though. Super loud.”

KU’s Agbaji scored 13 points, while Braun and Harris scored 10 for KU as the Jayhawks, despite a 15-point early onslaught from MU’s Pickett, led 49-27 at halftime.

“The key to the game was they were going to play five against four and they weren’t going to guard Juan (Harris),” Self said. “And I saw Cuonzo (Martin, MU coach) just laughing when Juan made his first one because that’s what they wanted and he made them pay.”

After the game, Self acknowledged that it was special beating rival MU after not playing so many seasons.

“Did it feel different walking out there? Absolutely,” Self said. “There’s something about Mizzou and a few others on our schedule, only those guys can bring the type of energy that existed today.”