‘Throw in the towel. What?’: Tyshawn Taylor recalls KU’s 2012 hoops games vs. Mizzou

As a senior and team leader of the country’s No. 8-ranked men’s basketball team, Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor was right where he wanted to be with 41.3 seconds remaining in a 2012 Border War game against No. 4 Missouri at sold-out Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The slender 6-foot-3, 185-pound Hoboken, New Jersey native, who chose KU over Marquette, Georgia Tech and others in recruiting in order to regularly play in big games such as these, was handed the basketball inches behind the free-throw stripe with a chance to possibly assure victory for the Jayhawks against the archrival Tigers.

With KU down a point, Taylor, in front of Dick Vitale, ESPN’s GameDay crew and 15,061 fans, missed the first of two free throws deep off the back of the rim. A 68% free thrower, Taylor also was too strong on his second attempt as the Tigers, who trailed by eight points with 2:08 left, ultimately rallied to a 74-71 victory in the first of two games between the squads that season.

“I remember being really sad, tearful, almost crying, if not crying after losing because I almost felt I cost us the game. I do remember that, being in the locker room really sad, (thinking about) plays I wish I had back down the stretch,” Taylor, 31, said in a recent interview with The Star.

Taylor — he scored 21 points with three assists against six turnovers in 38 minutes played that day — was denied his third victory in Columbia in four tries on a day his mom received a rude reception from the Mizzou student section mostly decked out in gold T-shirts provided via a promotion.

“We were sitting in the NBA warmup prior to the real warmup — back when the Mizzou student section was packed on both ends for the (early) NBA warmup. It was just unbelievable. Tyshawn’s mother walks in, down the middle section with Tyshawn’s jersey on. We just heard this booing. We couldn’t figure out what was going on. It was Tyshawn’s mom coming down (the stairs) with his jersey on,” recalled Barry Hinson, former KU director of basketball operations, now an analyst on Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton’s Cowboys support staff.

She, of course, received a hearty round of booing upon arriving early for the ballgame.

Tyshawn Taylor’s failure to convert in front of his mom and MU’s zealous fans would be forgotten by Taylor, his family members, teammates and coaches just 21 days later. In almost the exact same situation as in Columbia, Taylor this time buried two key free throws with 8.6 seconds left in overtime.

The free tosses erased a one-point deficit and propelled the No. 4-ranked Jayhawks to an 87-86 overtime victory over the No. 3-Tigers on Feb. 25, 2012 in the second and final game played between the teams that season.

Taylor scored nine of KU’s 12 points in overtime and 24 points overall as he completed a four-game sweep of games played in Allen Fieldhouse versus the Tigers during his college career.

That game in Lawrence would be the last between the two schools in 10 years. The teams are set to resume their rivalry for the first time in a decade on Dec. 11 back in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I remember having that same opposite effect back home. Just being really excited, really tired but really proud of ourselves but happy we could do that,” Taylor said of beating Missouri in the 2011-12 rematch in Lawrence.

Here’s how KU closed out the victory that gave the Jayhawks a 174-95 advantage in the Border War series.

Marcus Denmon’s running baseline floater with 12 seconds left in overtime gave the Tigers an 86-85 lead. That temporarily silenced a fieldhouse crowd that had been energized during the Jayhawks’ comeback from a 19-point deficit early in the second half.

KU’s Travis Releford inbounded to Taylor, who sped coast-to-coast and was fouled by MU’s Steve Moore on a driving layup at 8.3 seconds.

With KU down one, Taylor took three dribbles at the free throw line, spun the ball, lowered it to his waist before hoisting it up high, shooting, and tying the game.

The exact same routine resulted in another dead-center free throw and KU held a one-point lead with one final possession to defend.

“One thing I remember about those free throws is being in a similar position at Missouri a couple months earlier and missing,” Taylor said. “I don’t know if it was the exact same position but they were pretty big free throws and I missed them. I remember one of my friends in a text message telling me (after MU misses), ‘Don’t worry you are going to be in this same position again.’

“It happened to be the same game and I just remember making them. The first one hit the front rim and went in. After that I knew the second one was going in.”

KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend remembers what happened before the free throws as much as he does the made charities.

He marveled at how quickly Taylor took the ball from one end of the court to another on the play in which he drew a key foul.

“I remember Tyshawn was up the court in three dribbles. We talked after that game got done how quickly he got up the floor,” Townsend said. “That kid could run all day, like the energizer bunny.”

KU needed a final stop after Taylor’s free throws to assure a one-for-the-ages comeback win.

“They got the ball and didn’t call time out. They didn’t have time. There were like 5.3 seconds left (8.3),” Taylor said. “They got a shot off. It went in, a half a second too late though. They ended up getting a shot off.”

What happened is Moore, after Taylor’s second free throw make, flipped an inbounds pass to Michael Dixon, who inexplicably, dribbled slowly up court. After driving toward the goal and facing a double team from Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson, Dixon fed Denmon who hoisted a shot that hit the back of the rim and dropped through the net, but definitely too late — after the final horn had sounded.

“All I remember thinking is, ‘He made that shot,’’’ Taylor said of Denmon who finished with 28 points in 44 minutes. “I was happy, but it was like, ‘He made that.’ A half second earlier we would have lost. That (negative feeling) only lasted a second. I remember getting chest bumped by the whole team. I remember the feeling of winning that game, being super tired.”

He was exhausted after playing 44 minutes. Thomas Robinson was the other hero with 28 points and 12 boards in 38 minutes.

“Going into that game, it’s the last time we maybe will play them. The way the game went being down so much, going into overtime, fighting back. I remember being really really tired after that game. I was sitting in the locker room a long time after that game,” Taylor said.

Asked if he felt like the hero after scoring nine of KU’s 12 points in OT and 24 total, he said: “No I couldn’t feel like the hero after T-Rob got that block.”

He was referring to Robinson’s block of a Phil Pressey shot with 2 seconds left in regulation — a rejection that assured OT.

“No matter what happened after that, that (block) probably was going to be the thing. Again the situation … questionable call maybe (on block). Huge play. For us to come back and win after that happened was like, that was the thing that allowed all the plays I made in overtime possible,” Taylor said.

“It was a huge, huge play. In the overtime, I played pretty good,” Taylor added. “I also remember every time I scored, they scored, It never felt comfortable. I wasn’t relaxed in that game at any point until it was over.

“That was the only time I had any time to relax in that game because we were playing from down the whole time. We were up late. We had to play overtime possession by possession. There were really no breaks in that game mentally or physically,” Taylor added.

Taylor said there was never any consideration of giving up down 19 early in the final half.

“Throw in the towel. What?” he said with a laugh. “First of all it was Missouri so it was not even in our minds we would throw in the towel. Late in the the season we don’t have the luxury to just go on to the next one,” Taylor said.

“We’ve got more games, but it was late in the season.”

The victory assured KU a tie for the league title.

Staff member Hinson believes it was fitting — and important to the team down the stretch of the season — that Taylor played such a big role after missing the two free throws in Columbia.

“No question. He is such an emotional kid. It’s one of those games you never know the after effect (of a player feeling he cost the team a game). It (free throws at home) propelled us into the future all the way to the national championship game against Kentucky,” Hinson said.

Yes, that KU team made it all the way to the NCAA title game. The Tigers lost in the NCAA Tournament round of 64 to Norfolk State.

“They had a real good team. We respect those guys,” Taylor said. “With those guys it’s a school rivalry but it was never like a real rivalry between players. It was like a respect thing with all the players,” he noted. “They are definitely competitive games but when the game is over, it’s over.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.

Gary Bedore

The Kansas City Star

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Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 — during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.