Marcus Denmon led Missouri to a 74-71 victory over Kansas in a Top Ten Battle on Saturday night. He hit three 3-pointers ion the last 2:05 to spark the Tigers over their arch rival, who they may not play again for a long time. The Tigers are off to the SEC after this season.

Denmon led the Tigers with 29 points, two short of his career high. He was 6 of 9 from downtown.

The Tigers shut KU down defensively as well in the last 3:20 of the game when the Jayhawks had a 71-63 lead. The win moved the Tigers into a tie with Kansas at 8-2 in the Big 12. Mizzou is 21-2 overall while the Jayhawks are 18-5. Thomas Robinson turned in a stellar performance for the Hawks with 25 points.

“Obviously it was a tremendous win for us. Just the way this team stayed together and fought at the end, being down eight in the last three minutes of the ball game. The effort was unbelievable today. I have to say one thing. I have to give the win to this crowd because they were incredible. I think that we don’t win this game without their energy and what they brought to the table tonight, ” Mizzou Coach Frank Haith said.

“It was a great atmosphere and a great game. We are fortunate to come out on the win side. It was a memorable game. A classic. It was just really special. I expected it to be a great ball game, and the crowd was as loud as one I’ve ever been in. And I’ve been in some loud places.”Haith added.

“He made some tough shots. He got into a rhythm and when Marcus (Denmon) gets into a rhythm he can rattle off a few shots in a row. And I think at that point in time he just got in a rhythm,” he said about Denmon.

“My teammates did a really good job of finding me spots where I was fortunate enough to make shots. Like Coach said, the crowd was amazing, they gave us a chance. Tyshawn (Taylor) missed some big free throws and that gave us a chance to get back in the game. But I think we did it on the defensive end even though we made shots at the end of the game, ” Denmon said.

On finishing the ball game…
“To be honest, I think that our experience there really helped us out. Coach was telling us to keep our focus in the game because we had a lot of time left. But the most important thing out there was Kimmie saying, “We’re going to win this game.” It was something that affected me because I understood how much it meant to him to say that, and the rest of my teammates heard that as well, and we’re the senior leaders for the ball club. So it was something that I felt we needed to come out and execute,” he added.