KU Jayhawks have won 3 of 4 at campus sites since renewal of Border War series
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas leads revived Border War campus series 3-1 as of 2025, winning three.
- Kansas won two games at Allen Fieldhouse and one in Columbia by large margins.
- Final two games move to neutral T-Mobile Center; first matchup airs on ESPN2.
The current six-year, six-game men’s basketball series between Kansas and Missouri is two-thirds complete, the Jayhawks leading the Tigers 3-1 since the series was renewed.
None of the games thus far, which were played on campus, could be deemed instant classics. Kansas has won the two games contested at Allen Fieldhouse — 102-65 on Dec. 11, 2021 and 73-64 on Dec. 9, 2023. The Jayhawks also won 95-67 on Dec. 10, 2022 in Mizzou Arena.
Missouri secured its first victory in four tries last season, defeating Kansas convincingly, 76-67, in Columbia.
It remains to be seen if the final two games — which will be played at the neutral site T-Mobile Center in Kansas City — turn out to be thrillers between the Big 12 and SEC representatives.
The first of two in Kansas City will take place at 12 p.m., Sunday. It will be shown live on ESPN2.
Here’s a look at the four games played thus far in the rivalry renewed. The two schools, which stopped playing after the 2011-12 season when Mizzou left the Big 12 to join the SEC, decided to resume the series six years ago. A possible extension of the current series has not been announced.
Missouri 76, No. 1 Kansas 67, Dec. 8, 2024, Mizzou Arena: The Tiger fans rocked their campus arena with thunderous applause during the convincing victory, their first in four games versus the Jayhawks.
MU built a 14-point halftime advantage over the No. 1-ranked Jayhawksy. The unranked Tigers stretched the lead to 24 points in the second half, then held on late in defeating the Jayhawks by nine points. It was MU’s eighth straight victory since starting the season with a loss at Memphis.
For KU, it was the Jayhawks’ second loss of the week. KU had been blitzed by Creighton on the road, 76-63, just three days prior.
MU’s Tamar Bates, a graduate of Piper High School, had 18 points at halftime and finished with 29 points and led all scorers. Hunter Dickinson had 19 points and 14 rebounds for KU.
KU committed 15 turnovers in the opening half. Dickinson was responsible for five of those miscues.
“It just means a lot more to the team, a lot more to the guys,” Bates said after the game. “We came up short the last two years against Kansas.”
KU coach Bill Self said of Bates: “Tamar was the best player in the game hands down. We couldn’t guard him. He went around us and played to his size. We started small, and they made us look slow in that first half, for sure.”
KU did cut MU’s lead to nine points with eight minutes remaining. Tony Perkins scored on a putback that ended a Tigers scoring drought that extended more than six minutes. Mizzou led 59-48 at the 7:21 mark and 63-57 at 2:58. Then KU’s David “Diggy” Coit sank a 3-pointer that made it 63-60 with two and a half minutes remaining.
Just as it looked like this might be one of the most amazing comebacks in the history of the Border War series, Bates and Mark Mitchell connected on buckets to help keep the Jayhawks at arm’s length. Mitchell finished with 17 points, and Robinson added 11.
The fans stormed the court after MU’s first win over KU since 2012 and first against a No. 1 team since 1997 (also KU). It marked the fifth time MU had defeated a No. 1 squad in history of its program.
“Mizzou played great today, but that court storm may have been even better than Mizzou played,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “That was a big-time court storm.”
MU coach Dennis Gates said: “We live in a cellphone world. People with their cellphones (on the court), did they really enjoy it? I know I did. I took it in, and I was able to view it in a special way.”
Minutes before the final buzzer sounded, the PA announcer asked fans to not storm the court. Gates took exception to that. “You got to be kidding me,” Gates said. “I was about to, in-game, take the mic and say, ‘Rush the (darn) court.’”
No. 2 KU 73, Missouri 64, Dec. 9, 2023, Allen Fieldhouse: Kevin McCullar scored 14 points in the first half and finished with 17 points overall for Kansas. KJ Adams also had 17 points, while Dickinson scored 13 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who closed the first half on 20-2 run and, after trailing by as many as nine points, led 41-29 at the break.
Sean East led Missouri with 21 points and Nick Honor scored 17. The Tigers were without guard Caleb Grill, who was out because of injury.
KU went 3 of 10 from 3 to MU’s 7-of-21 mark. KU out-rebounded Missouri 42-25. The work on the glass helped KU (9-1) gain bragging rights over unranked MU (7-3) for a third straight year.
“Beating Missouri always feels … the food tastes better and the drink is colder later on in the evening after you beat Missouri,” Self said. I thought Missouri did a great job of making the game the way it needed it to be to give them the best chance to win. I think they did a great job.
“I think our guys handled some things very well, but the game had no flow. It had no rhythm, which if we are playing well, we kind of play with some rhythm offensively. I am leaving out of here really happy we won, but also leaving here thinking we’ve got to play better. I’m sure Dennis is thinking the same thing.”
Elmarko Jackson added 11 points, including a 3-point basket and foul shot that gave KU a 31-29 lead, significant since KU trailed early, 15-6.
“They were obviously better than us to start the game. We were a lot better the last six minutes, going on a 20-2 run. That was the difference in the game. It’s an even game other than that,” Self said.
KU hit 20 of 23 free throws to MU’s 9 of 13. Freshman Jackson was 6 of 7 from the line. McCullar was 8 of 9 and Adams 3 of 4.
“We certainly have made big ones. Tonight we made some big ones,” Self said.
Self had praise for the Tigers during his postgame session with the media. “He’s doing a fantastic job,” Self said of second-year MU coach Gates. “Last year when we played them at their place, they tried to take us out by pressing. This year they pressured and didn’t press.’’
No. 6 KU 95, Missouri 67, Dec. 10, 2022, Mizzou Arena: Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while McCullar went for 21 points as KU triumphed in its first trip to Columbia since Feb. 4, 2012.
Adams scored 19 points and Gradey Dick 16 for the Jayhawks (9-1), who improved to 2-0 since the revival of the Border War.
Kansas, which surged to a 30-16 lead, led by 26 points early in the second half.
“In all honesty, you want to be in environments where people care,” 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.”
D’Moi Hodge and Nick Honor scored 15 apiece for the Tigers (9-1). Noah Carter finished with 12 points, and DeAndre Gholston had 11.
“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,” Gates said. “I thought we showed and displayed different things throughout the game where we almost had runs going, but something — a missed free throw or a missed 3 — kind of took the wind out of our sails.”
Kansas was ready to play. After missing its first two shots, KU hit 11 straight shot attempts.
The Tigers missed 16 of their first 22 shots as KU opened a 36-17 lead. Dick and Adams had 15 points apiece by halftime as Kansas led 50-33 at the break.
No. 8 KU 102, Missouri 65, Dec. 11, 2021, Allen Fieldhouse: The Jayhawks rolled to the largest margin of victory in the series since a 96-49 victory in 1977 — and third largest in the history of the series.
Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji scored 21 points, while Christian Braun and Dajuan Harris had 13 points apiece.
David McCormack added 11 points and Remy Martin 10 for the Jayhawks (8-1), who had not played MU since the Tigers departed the Big 12 after the 2012 season.
Javon Pickett led Missouri (5-5) with 19 points. DaJuan Gordon had 11, and Missouri’s leading scorer Kobe Brown finished with five points and six rebounds.
“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.”
Agbaji, a graduate of Oak Park High, was fired up for the game after seeing several former KU players seated in the first few rows behind the KU bench.
“There is an unspoken level of pride. They’ve played in these games, watched other teams play in these games,” Agbaji said. “We didn’t say much to them, but we just gave each other that kind of look, like, ‘Go take care of business.’”
The Jayhawks led 11-3 early and finished the half on a 13-2 run to lead 49-27 at the break. Agbaji hit a 3 to close the first half and another to open the second. Harris and Remy Martin followed with a 3 apiece as KU led by 30 with just a few minutes gone in the second half. Kansas scored 22 points off 20 turnovers. It shot 56% from the field and went 14 of 27 from beyond the arc.
