The resumption of the Border War, in the form of an exhibition basketball game that raised a whopping $1.8 million for hurricane relief, resulted in bragging rights for ... Kansas.
The Jayhawks, who won 11 of the last 13 meetings against Missouri in games that counted in the record books (the series ran uninterrupted from 1907 to 2012, when it was put on hiatus), overcame a 44-40 halftime deficit and six-point hole in the second half to defeat the Tigers 93-87 on Sunday before a sellout crowd at the Sprint Center.
Devonte Graham scored 25 points, Malik Newman had 17, Udoka Azubuike 16, Lagerald Vick 13 and Billy Preston 12 for KU. Graham had 10 rebounds and five assists for KU.
Missouri, which is hoping to flip last year's 8-24 record into something more like 24-8 and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five seasons, was led by Michael Porter Jr., who had 21 points, Jordan Barnett's 19, Kassius Robertson's 13 and Jeremiah Tilmon's 10. Jontay Porter, Michael's younger brother, had 12 rebounds and nine points.
Missouri hit 14 of 32 3-pointers to KU's eight of 25. Overall, MU hit 43.1 percent of its shots and 11 of 20 free throws; KU hit 51.7 percent of its shots overall and 23 of 33 free throws.
The Jayhawks trailed at halftime despite 17 points from Graham, and still lagged behind 59-57 with 13:40 left. Then they went on a 17-4 run to build a 74-63 lead. That run extended to 26-7 and an 83-66 advantage at the 6-minute mark.
Azubuike was huge in the 26-7 surge, scoring eight points, while Newman had a big three that gave the Jayhawks a 62-59 lead. Newman and Graham had five points apiece during that span.
Missouri, however, never quit and actually cut a game-high deficit of 17 down to six (89-83) in the final minute.
Graham hit four quick 3s and scored 14 of KU's first 21 points of the game, and the Jayhawks led 21-19 eight minutes in. Graham was 6-of-9 (5-of-8 from three) with six rebounds the first half.
However, nobody else had more than six for KU (Billy Preston hit two shots and two free throws), and MU held the halftime advantage thanks mainly to 15 points from Michael Porter Jr. Barnett and Robertson had nine points apiece, hitting three 3-pointers each. The Tigers hit nine of 19 threes in the first half to KU's five of 12.
KU hit just five of nine free throws in the first half to MU's seven of 11.
KU used an 11-0 run to turn a 19-16 deficit into a 27-19 lead at 10:31 of the first half. Preston had four points, Graham three and Malik Newman and Mitch Lightfoot two apiece during the surge.
KU led 30-22 on a Newman three at the 11-minute mark. But MU then rolled off a 17-4 run to grab a 39-34 lead at 4:07. Tilmon opened that run with a bank shot for a bucket and then a three, followed by 3s from Barnett and Michael Porter. Robertson also had a three in the spurt.
It was reported on Sunday that the money raised via pay-per-view was $724,480 and the total amount raised was $1.8 million.
