Mizzou rallies, gets rival Kansas in OT

~ Down by nine points with less than 2 minutes remaining, Missouri recovered for an 89-86 victory.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- An emotional, come-from-behind win over archrival Kansas couldn't have come at a better time for Quin Snyder.

Thomas Gardner scored a career-best 40 points Monday, hit the 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime and made the free throws that put Missouri ahead for good in an 89-86 win.

Two straight years of missing the NCAA Tournament and a 4-4 start against so-so opponents this season led to speculation from St. Joe to Ste. Genevieve that Snyder's ouster as Missouri coach was a forgone conclusion at the end of the season.

But the Tigers (10-5) have rebounded to win six of seven, start Big 12 play at 3-1 for the first time in five years, and -- perhaps most importantly -- beat Kansas for the second straight time.

The Jayhawks (10-6) lost their second straight after a seven-game winning streak, and dropped to 1-2 in the conference for the first time since the 1997 expansion.

"I told our guys before the game I thought this was going to be a game about heart and we just had incredible, incredible heart at the end of regulation to be down like that and not quit playing," Snyder said.

The Tigers trailed by seven points before outscoring Kansas 10-3 over the final 30 seconds of regulation. Gardner's 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left tied the game.

Kansas had a chance to win it when Christian Moody was fouled as he went up for a dunk with 0.4 seconds left in regulation, but he missed both free throws.

Moody said he was nervous, but confident. "I felt like they were going in," he said.

The lead changed hands six times in overtime.

Missouri was up 88-86 after Gardner made one free throw with 29 seconds left. The Jayhawks committed a turnover with 2 seconds left when Darnell Jackson couldn't handle a pass from Brandon Rush, the brother of former Missouri standout Kareem Rush.

Missouri's Jimmy McKinney added another free throw, and a desperation length-of-the-court shot fell well short, prompting hundreds of yellow-and-black-clad Missouri fans to spill onto the floor.

Afterward, as Gardner and Snyder were being interviewed on ESPN, Gardner stopped talking and gave his coach a bear hug.

"I think our team is really starting to buy in and believe what Coach Q and the staff is doing for us," Gardner said.

He recalled earlier this season giving Snyder a picture of the two of them with a quote from Martin Luther King. "And I said, 'I'll always have his back, he'll always have my back."'

Gardner entered the game leading the conference in scoring at 20.4 points per game. He scored 30 points in consecutive games earlier this season against Davidson and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

McKinney scored 19 points for Missouri, while Kevin Young had 14 and Marshall Brown 12.

Mario Chalmers led Kansas with 22, while Rush had 14, Moody 13 and Russell Robinson 12. The Jayhawks outrebounded Missouri 42-32.

The lead changed hands 22 times, and the game was tied 10 times. Missouri was up 37-32 at the half and built a 59-53 lead on McKinney's 3-pointer with 9:30 to play. But the Tigers wouldn't make another field goal for more than 8 1/2 minutes as the Jayhawks took a 72-63 lead when Chalmers scored with 1:52 to play.

Missouri began a furious rally, but was still down by seven, 74-67, when Gardner hit a 3-pointer with 30.7 seconds left. The Tigers missed a chance to tie it when McKinney was fouled making a slithering layup with 15.2 seconds to play, but missed the free throw.

But after Robinson made two free throws to make it 77-74, Gardner fought to get open and made another 3-pointer. He was 13-of-22, including 7-of-14 from the 3-point line. His 40 points were the second-most ever against Kansas. Anthony Peeler, who was at the game for the first time since his career here ended, scored 43 in a loss during the 1991-92 season.

The Tigers scored the first four points of overtime before Kansas scored five straight, then the lead changed hands repeatedly before Gardner's free throws put Missouri ahead for good.

The rivalry, one of the oldest in college basketball, has been one-sided in recent years, with Kansas winning nine of the last 11. But Missouri has won two straight, helping Snyder improve his record against Kansas to 5-10.

Kansas has lost consecutive games to rivals, falling at home to Kansas State last Saturday to end the Jayhawks' 31-game winning streak over the Wildcats. Five of Kansas' six losses have come in overtime or the game's final moments.

"We've had tougher losses than anybody in America," coach Bill Self said. "I think the tables will turn ... this is the roughest week we've had in a long time."

The game marked the first time since 1991 in which neither team was ranked.