Thomas Robinson leads the way as KU alumni team tops Missouri in TBT game in Wichita

Former Kansas basketball forward Thomas Robinson wandered off to halfcourt, took a deep breath, then strolled back to the free-throw line where he calmly swished the first of two foul shots to finish a 69-65 Mass Street TBT victory over Missouri’s Show Me Squad in the second round Saturday afternoon at Koch Arena in Wichita.

Robinson, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound, 32-year-old inside force whose blocked shot against Missouri forced overtime in KU’s unforgettable overtime win over the Tigers in 2012 at Allen Fieldhouse, scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds.

He was one of four KU players to score in double figures in the Jayhawks’ Border War alumni victory over MU.

Keith Langford scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Mario Little scored 12 points and secured four rebounds. Lagerald Vick hit three 3-pointers good for 11 points (and seven rebounds) for the Jayhawks, who advanced to the regional final.

Mass Street was to meet Heartfire at 2 p.m. Sunday at Koch Arena. The game will be shown on ESPNU.

“I like it. It’s exciting,” Robinson said after the game, asked about the Elam Ending. He not only hit the target score of 69 with his free throw Saturday but also was the player to hit the game-ending target score in Wednesday’s three-point win over We Are D-III with an inside bucket.”

Robinson added of the Elam Ending, in which eight points are added to the leading team’s score, creating a new target number for either team to reach to end the game: “It forces guys to kind of lock in the last four minutes and really compete the last four minutes. At that point it’s 0-0.”

Robinson hit 5 of 14 shots from the field and was 5 of 8 from the line Saturday in helping KU down MU. His team went to him down low for some easy and important buckets.

“That’s my coaching staff and teammates trusting me. It’s a big trust actually,” Robinson said, “because tonight I was actually a little rough around the basket, not finishing as much as I should. For my team to still come to me at the end and finish the game shows everything in the world.”

Forward Jamari Traylor scored nine points, including a basket that erased a one-point deficit and gave KU the lead for good down the stretch. Point guard Tyshawn Taylor, who missed KU’s opening win in the TBT because of a calf injury, returned to score six points with three steals and two assists in 26 minutes.

MU’s Isiaih Mosley, who scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, hit two free throws with 6:27 left to give Show Me Squad the lead at 57-56. Traylor followed with a layup off a pass from Little to put the Jayhawks in front 58-57.

Langford then blocked Mosley’s shot and hit a three on the other end to give the Jayhawk alumni a 61-57 lead with 5:17 left. The Jayhawks, who led by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, never relinquished the lead in crunch time after going up by four late.

KU led 61-59 entering the Elam Ending, which had a target score of 69.

Robinson and Little were big, scoring five points to open the Elam Ending to give KU a 66-61 lead. Little’s putback of his own miss gave KU a 68-64 lead.

Robinson, who had two free throws awarded after getting fouled by Jontay Porter, hit the first of two charities and the Jayhawks had the target score covered.

Robinson was the Jayhawk asked by his teammates to place the Mass Street name on the massive bracket in the tunnel.

Erick Neal, who played college basketball at UT Arlington, scored 15 points, Tony Criswell had 14 points with six rebounds and Porter added 11 points with 11 boards for Show Me Squad.

Several members of KU’s current team, including Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams, Kevin McCullar and Nick Timberlake, made the drive from Lawrence to support the Jayhawk alumni team against Mizzou Saturday.

“That’s dope man,” Robinson said. “So many people talk about the new guys, that they get paid now (NIL). They think the attitude is different, but I don’t think that exists with the Kansas guys. Once they come to that school they know it’s the culture. They respect it. I appreciate those guys. I’m going to continue to support them like always.”

Heartfire defeated the LA Cheaters 62-57 on Saturday in the game preceding the KU-Missouri game.

Former Mississippi State guard Craig Sword scored 13 points with three blocked shots off the bench. Former Cal forward Richard Solomon scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Tevin Mack, who played at Texas, Alabama and Clemson, and Eric Griffin who attended Campbell, had nine points apiece for the team to play Mass Street for the regional title.

Former UMass forward Raphael Putney, who had five points on 2-of-6 shooting, said of the win: “It felt intense. We had to battle from start to finish. We had to lock in on defense. We played hard in the fourth quarter and Elam ending. Elam comes and we’ve got to do what we do. Now we’ve got to watch film, watch what we did wrong, see what matchup goes well and continue to play.”