KU and MU alumni hoops teams claim 1st-round wins at TBT, will meet Saturday in Wichita

The alumni men’s basketball teams from Kansas and Missouri have advanced to the second round of the $1 million, 64-team single-elimination TBT.

MU’s Show Me Squad claimed a 96-90 victory over UNLV’s Rebellion, while KU’s Mass Street TBT edged We Are D-III, a collection of former NCAA Division III all-stars, 70-67 in first-round games Wednesday night at Koch Arena in Wichita.

The Mizzou team, which was led by Eric Neal’s 24 points and nine rebounds, and the KU team, fueled by 21 points and 15 rebounds from Thomas Robinson, 17 points from Mario Little and 15 points from Keith Langford, will meet in the second round at 3 p.m. Saturday at Koch Arena.

The game will be streamed on ESPN-plus. The winner moves to Sunday’s 2 p.m. regional final.

Isiaih Mosley scored 23 points and dished five assists while Jontay Porter had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Mizzou team.

The Jayhawks, who were tied with We Are D-III at 62-62 entering the Elam Ending (first team to 70 points), won it when power forward Robinson grabbed a miss of a Little free throw and deposited the rebound for the winning basket.

“He definitely came on strong when we needed him,” Little said of the 6-10, 240-pound, 32-year-old Robinson. “I was confident in him. I missed the free throw. What was going through my head was nothing, (because) he got the tip-in and that was the game.”

The 39-year-old Langford scored 13 of his 15 points in the final half. He hit 5 of 11 shots, going 1-of-3 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the line. He is retiring from professional basketball after the 2023 TBT.

“I haven’t played in the States in a long time. Even though you play against Americans in Europe, the style of play here is a little bit different,” said Langford, who played 17 seasons overseas. “I haven’t played in over a year (because of an Achilles injury).

“I figured this game would be tough. That’s why I tried to stay as calm as possible, catch my breath, take deep breaths. It pretty much went how I expected.”

The KU team played from behind for most of the game and actually trailed by as many as 12 points before rallying. Three Mass Street players scored most of the team’s points: Kevin Young had five points and six rebounds, Lagerald Vick had three points on 1-of-6 shooting. Brandon Rush scored three points and Jamari Traylor had two points. Mitch Lightfoot did not score in seven minutes.

Mass Street won despite making just 4 of 14 threes. D-III hit 8 of 29 shots from beyond the arc.

D-III was led in scoring by Adam Fravert, who had 18 points.

KU’s Robinson, a former NBA player who played overseas last season, hit 10 of 13 shots. Mass Street won despite committing 22 turnovers to D-III’s 11.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball. We had too many turnovers and just 11 assists,” Mass Street coach Marcus Morris said. “Take care of the ball; that’s all it is.

“We need to practice a bit more (before Saturday). We only had three practices. We expected this to be a little up and down, a little rough in the beginning. The first game is always the hardest game. We came down clutch at the end and pulled it out.”

KU point guard Tyshawn Taylor has a calf injury and did not play Wednesday. Also, Dedric Lawson and Mario Chalmers suited up and did not play. Morris has not ruled them out for Saturday’s game.

Former LaSalle player Rodney Green scored four points on 1-of-7 shooting for Mass Street. He played on the same high school team as KU’s Markieff and Marcus Morris.