Kansas University’s basketball players didn’t blow a nine-point lead in the last 1:54 all by themselves Monday night at Mizzou Arena.
Thomas Gardner helped.
He scored a career-high 40 points off 13-of-22 shooting in Missouri’s 89-86 overtime victory over the Jayhawks.
His 40 points, which included seven of 14 threes, came with Anthony Peeler in the stands watching his first game in Columbia since 1994. Peeler’s the only Tiger ever to score more against KU – 43 in 1992, in a Tiger loss in Allen Fieldhouse.
“It was his night,” KU freshman Brandon Rush said.
Only thing he did wrong was turn the ball over.
“We forced him into eight turnovers, so we must have been doing something right,” KU’s Russell Robinson said. “We were still where we wanted to be, even with him scoring 40.”
“He made one off one foot,” KU coach Bill Self marveled. “He was fabulous.”
The Jayhawks were feeling the opposite of fabulous just two days after losing to rival Kansas State in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I hope it hurts a lot,” Self said. “Not as punishment, but when Kansas plays Missouri and you put yourself in these positions, it’s supposed to hurt.”
“We’ll come back from this,” Rush said. “It hurts, but we still have confidence.
“We just didn’t finish this at the end.”