KU adds to Missouri's road woes

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kirk Hinrich scored 24 points and Michael Lee made three key free throws in the final seconds , lifting No. 12 Kansas past No. 21 Missouri 76-70 Monday night.

Nick Collison had 22 for the Jayhawks (16-5, 6-1 Big 12), who have won 13 of their last 15 and not lost a regular-season conference home game since Feb. 5, 2001, a span of 15 games.

Rickey Paulding's two free throws cut Kansas' lead to 71-69 with 1:07 left in this 246th game in one of the nation's most spirited rivalries.

Then with 50 seconds to go, Missouri center Arthur Johnson picked up his fifth foul and Bryant Nash made the second of two free throws to put the Jayhawks on top 72-69.

Ricky Clemons had 19 points for the Tigers (13-5, 4-3 Big 12), whose losses have all been on the road.

Missouri outrebounded Kansas 38-29 and was 10-of-28 from behind the 3-point arc while Kansas was just 2-of-8. But the Jayhawks had only 12 turnovers while forcing 20 from Missouri, which has now lost four straight to its border rival.

Trailing by as many as 13 in the second half, the Tigers got back to within one point at 54-53 on a bucket by Johnson, the bulky 6-foot-9 center who got three quick fouls in the first five minutes of the second half and sat down for almost six minutes.

As soon as he returned, he drew a fourth foul from Jeff Graves, Kansas' 6-foot-9 replacement for the injured Jeff Simien.

In the final five minutes, Collison hit a turnaround jumper to ignite a 6-0 run for Kansas. Then, after Paulding's three-point play made it 62-61, Hinrich canned a 3-pointer and Collison worked inside for a bucket and a 67-61 lead.

With 2:30 to go, Keith Langford rebounded Clemons' errant 3-point attempt and Kansas called time holding a 69-65 advantage.

Paulding had 17 points for Missouri, while Johnson and Jimmy McKinney each had 14.

Kansas began the game with an 8-0 run, then the Tigers responded with a 9-0 spree but never led by more than one point before falling behind for good when Langford's jumper made it 12-11. The Jayhawks led at halftime 33-28.

Game official Ted Hillary took a hard tumble onto the court in the first half when the 275-pound Graves crashed into him during a fast break. Hillary jumped to his feet and kept going.