COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri-Kansas basketball Border War resumes with another much-anticipated rendition Saturday, but in some ways, this marks a fresh start for the 115-year-old series.
Yes, Bill Self’s No. 6 Jayhawks (8-1) annihilated the Tigers 102-65 last year in Lawrence, Kansas, the first Border War revival in the new six-game series. But little remains from that meeting on both sides of the floor. The Jayhawks soared to the national championship last March but return only two starters and a couple key reserves from their 34-win team.
The more dramatic changes came at Mizzou, where under first-year coach Dennis Gates, the roster features more players from Gates’ 2021-22 Cleveland State team (four) than last year’s Mizzou team (three).
But the players inside the jerseys have never defined this rivalry. It’s always been the full-throated vitriol between the fans, between the schools, between the states and, sometimes, between the coaches. The two programs can’t even agree on the all-time series tally: KU says it leads the series 175-95; Mizzou goes with 173-95.
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Saturday’s matchup tips off at 4:15 p.m. on ESPN on Norm Stewart Court.
When it comes to MU-KU, a series that went dormant for nearly a decade when the Tigers left the Big 12 for the SEC, Gates and his newcomers will soon learn what Self has known for decades.
“Missouri-Illinois is a good rivalry. I thought there was a little bit of respect in that rivalry,” said Self, who coached the Illini for three seasons before his two-decade stay at Kansas. “With Kansas-Missouri, from a fan standpoint, I don’t know if there’s as much respect as there is just flat-out dislike or hate. I think that’s what makes it a great rivalry. I don’t think that you could have Larry Brown or Norm Stewart or Roy Williams or Quin Snyder, or, obviously, Coach Gates and myself enjoy a rivalry as much if it didn’t have those type of emotions involved. So that’s good. But it’s different.”
From the moment Gates finished his introductory press conference in Columbia in March, fans let him know the importance of the Kansas game, he recalled this week. He’s made recent calls to former Mizzou coaches in anticipation of Saturday’s game, including Stewart, Snyder, Frank Haith and Kim Anderson, who faced the Jayhawks as both a Mizzou player and assistant coach.
“That’s a tremendous lens into what (the rivalry) means,” Gates said on his radio show this week.
Still, for Gates and the Tigers (9-0), Saturday’s game will mark a new experience at sold-out Mizzou Arena, where fans of all ages will empty their lungs at the sight of KU’s blue and crimson.
“You have generations of families, friends, loved ones, alumni, who all come back because these rivalries exist,” Gates said. “And this is one that people have circled and they make plans to be back. And it’s exciting, man. It’s one of the longest-standing rivalries. There are some historical perspectives in it as well, non-basketball related.”
“This is serious, and it means a whole lot more to the community than it means for us who didn’t grow up around here,” said Mizzou forward Kobe Brown, an Alabama native and one of three Tigers who played in last year’s game at Lawrence. “We just have to give it our all because we owe it to everyone.”
Transfer point guard Nick Honor, a Florida native who spent the last two seasons at Clemson, said he did “a little bit of homework to watch some old games” to acquaint himself with the rivalry. But he understands once the ball is tipped, the history matters less than the matchup.
“Just stay in the moment,” he said. “We know it’s gonna be a big-time game. There’s gonna be a lot of people here, but at the end of the day it’s basketball.”
Speaking of, Kansas will be, by far, the most accomplished and talented team the Tigers have played on Gates’ watch — and could have some strengths that neutralize what Mizzou does best. The Tigers come into the weekend leading the nation with 93.0 points per game and 14.1 steals per game and thrive off creating transition chances with live-ball turnovers. But Kansas sports one of the country’s most efficient offenses and leads the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5). Point guard Dajuan Harris, a Columbia native from Rock Bridge High, is top 10 nationally in assists (6.2) and top 30 in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3).
George Mason coach Kim English knows Kansas well — on several levels. The former Missouri guard played in some classics against the Jayhawks from 2009-12 and coached against Self’s team last year in Lawrence, a competitive nine-point loss to the national champs. His alma mater has the homecourt advantage Saturday, but English knows what the Tigers have to tackle. He called Kansas “the most disciplined team in America.”
“No matter the level of prospect they sign, the great ones, the under-the-radar ones, they are the most well-coached team in America year-in, year-out, incredibly disciplined, execute what Coach Self wants to a T,” English said this week. “Dajuan Harris … has turned himself into one of the best point guards in the country. So, you are going to be playing against a team that will not beat themselves. If you beat Kansas, you have to beat them all the way to the buzzer. It’s not going to be given to you. You have to take it.”
