No. 2 Kansas holds on for 73-64 win over Missouri

Hunter Dickinson had another double-double, with 13 points and 16 rebounds, as No. 2 Kansas continued its dominance over Missouri with a 73-64 victory Saturday afternoon in Lawrence, Kan.

The Jayhawks have won all three games against the Tigers since the resumption of the rivalry in 2021. Kansas has won those games by a combined 74 points. This was easily the closest of the three.

Kansas (9-1) was led by Kevin McCullar Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. with 17 points each. McCullar added nine rebounds. Elmarko Jackson chipped in 11 points for the Jayhawks. Columbia, Mo., native Dajuan Harris had 8 points and 5 assists against his hometown team.

Missouri (7-3) was led by Sean East II with a game-high 21 points. Nick Honor added 17 points.

Kansas dominated the boards, outrebounding the Tigers 42-25. They also held a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint.

Kansas got all but seven points from its starters.

Kansas kept its first-half momentum early in the second half. The Jayhawks led by as many as 18 at 54-36 with just under 12 minutes remaining. Missouri responded with a 10-2 run to make it a 10-point game.

Missouri didn't go away but never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Missouri jumped out to a 10-4 lead as the Jayhawks missed five of their first six shots and 10 of their first 12. The lead got as big as 15-6 before the Jayhawks used a 13-6 run to cut it to three points. Kansas finally tied it at 27-all with 4:39 left in the half. When Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 3:58 left, starting a 14-0 run to close the half, the Jayhawks had their first lead since 2-0.

Kansas led 41-29 at the half. McCullar led the Jayhawks with 14 points. Adams added 10 points. Dickinson had seven first-half rebounds.

Mizzou was led by East with 12 points. The Tigers were outscored 20-2 in the final 5:54 of the first half.

—Field Level Media