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Taylor lifts No. 4 Kansas over Missouri in OT

Feb 26, 2012 - 5:28 AM Lawrence, KS (Sports Network) - Tyshawn Taylor nailed a pair of foul shots with eight seconds remaining in overtime, lifting No. 4 Kansas to a thrilling 87-86 win over No. 3 Missouri in the final Big 12 regular season edition of the Border War.

Missouri was unable to get a shot off in the final eight seconds. Taylor's free throws came right after Marcus Denmon gave the Tigers a one-point advantage with a floater along the right baseline with 12 seconds left.

Thomas Robinson, who tied the game with a three-point play in the closing seconds of regulation, recorded his 20th double-double of the season with 28 points and 12 boards. Taylor netted nine of his 24 points in the extra session for Kansas (24-5, 14-2 Big 12), which clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular season conference title.

The Jayhawks eroded a 19-point second-half deficit and improved to 15-0 at Phog Allen Fieldhouse this season. They shot 48.3 percent from the field and 9-of-19 from beyond the arc.

"We had to hunker down on defense and that's what we did," Taylor said about his team's comeback. "They went for a stretch where they didn't score for a while and we kept making plays and chipping away."

Denmon scored eight of his 28 points in overtime while Ricardo Ratliffe provided 22 points and 12 boards for Missouri (25-4, 12-4), which lost its second consecutive game.

Kim English's trey and Ratliffe's layup on back-to-back possessions gave Missouri its largest lead of 19, 55-36, early in the second half.

But later in the stanza, Kansas clamped down defensively and while Missouri was in the midst of a 7:01 field-goal drought, the Jayhawks used a 15-2 surge to get back into the contest.

Robinson and Taylor scored four points apiece during the burst as Kansas pulled within 69-66 with 6:10 to play in regulation.

After Ratliffe made a pair from the line to make it a three-point game with 1:31 left, Robinson finally brought Kansas all of the way back.

Elijah Johnson got into the paint and fed Robinson with a perfect pass along the right baseline and he finished off the glass while drawing a foul on Michael Dixon. Robinson made the subsequent free throw to finish the three- point play and tie the game at 75 with 16 seconds left.

Phil Pressey drove hard to the basket on Missouri's final possession of regulation, but was met at the rim by Robinson as he swatted the shot away to force overtime.

Taylor nailed a trey from the left wing 19 seconds into the extra session to give Kansas its first lead since it led 29-27 with 6:15 to go in the first half.

Denmon, who scored the game's final 11 points in Missouri's comeback win over Kansas earlier this season, delivered once again for the Tigers in overtime.

After Robinson gave the Jayhawks an 83-81 lead with 59 seconds left, Denmon nailed a left wing trey with 39 seconds to play, giving Missouri an 84-83 advantage.

Johnson found a cutting Taylor along the right baseline and his slam gave Kansas a one-point lead, but the pendellum swung back in Missouri's favor as Denmon's floater along the baseline made it 86-85 with 12 seconds remaining.

But Taylor quickly pushed the ball up the floor and drew the foul on Pressey with eight seconds to go. He knocked down both free throws, putting a temporary regular season end to the storied 105-year rivalry with the Tigers moving on to the SEC next season.

"It was a great ball game. I thought our guys played their hearts out, competed and we did what we needed to do to put ourselves in a position to win the game," Missouri head coach Frank Haith said. "Unfortunately in the second half, we knew Kansas would make a run, and they did."

Neither squad led by more than two points in the 267th meeting between the teams until a 12-5 burst, capped by English's jumper, gave Missouri a 27-22 edge with 7:58 to play in the half. But Kansas countered with a quick 7-0 flurry to take a two-point advantage with 6:14 remaining.

Missouri, though, closed the stanza on a 17-3 surge.

Denmon hit a pair of treys, including one with 13 seconds remaining in the half, and netted eight points during the push to give the Tigers a 44-32 lead heading into the locker room.

Game Notes

Kansas has won or shared the Big 12 regular season title in each of the last eight years and has 12 titles in the 16-year history of the conference...The Jayhawks hold a 172-95 all-time lead in the series...Missouri has lost 13 straight games in Lawrence...This is Kansas' first win in four tries when both teams have been ranked in the top 10...Connor Teahan nailed four three-pointer en route to 12 points for Kansas...The Tigers assisted on 12 of their 15 field goals and pulled down eight offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes...This was just the second overtime game played between these two rivals and first since 1920.