Missouri Upsets Kansas

Just like last season and the season before that, Missouri brought its A-game out of the cobwebs for Kansas.

Playing with a dislocated shoulder, sixth man Tyron Lee made two free throws with 11.4 seconds to play as Missouri upset No. 3 Kansas for the third consecutive time at home, winning, 74-73, in a Big 12 Conference game Monday night at Columbia, Mo.

“They’re a top 10 team when we play them, in this building at least,” Kansas guard Ryan Robertson said. “It’s unfortunate for them that they can’t duplicate that performance every time they step out on the floor.”

Victories over Kansas were highlights to the last two seasons for Missouri, 10-7 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12. Last season, Missouri handed the then top-ranked Jayhawks their first loss, 96-94, after a 22-0 start, and in 1996 Kansas was ranked No. 3 when it lost, 77-73, at Missouri.

Missouri was 16-17 last season and 18-15 in 1995-96.

“Everyone came in and did a heck of a job,” Coach Norm Stewart said. “The guys should be proud. Great game.”

Kansas (21-3, 5-1) probably played its last game without center Raef LaFrentz, who sat out nine games because of a broken right hand. LaFrentz is expected back in the lineup for Saturday’s game against Texas Tech.

St. John’s 64, No. 8 Connecticut 62--Lavor Postell scored all 13 of his points in the second half and came up with two of the biggest plays of the game in a Big East game at New York.

St. John’s (13-6, 5-3) matched last season’s victory total and is on its longest conference winning streak, four games, since it won five in a row in 1992-93.

The Red Storm used a 13-0 run to take a 44-28 lead with 12:40 to play and the crowd of 11,768 at Madison Square Garden was as noisy as it has been during a college game in a long time.

The Huskies (16-3, 6-2), who had won three in a row and 12 of 13, got back in it despite an off night by leading scorer Richard Hamilton and limited minutes by point guard Khalid El-Amin because of a lower left leg injury.

Ricky Moore, who led Connecticut with 18 points, scored on a rebound to get the Huskies within 53-50 with 3:51 left, but Postell made a three-point shot as the shot clock wound down to give the Red Storm some breathing room.

Texas Christian 83, No. 24 Hawaii 76--Malcolm Johnson scored 22 points and Mike Jones 20 as Texas Christian posted its fourth consecutive victory in a Western Athletic Conference game at Honolulu.

Hawaii (12-3, 1-2) held a 40-38 edge at halftime, but TCU (15-4, 4-1) scored the first nine points of the second half for a 47-40 lead with 17:45 remaining. The Horned Frogs never trailed again.

OTHER GAMES

Aaron Hutchins scored 23 points and Marquette (11-4, 2-3) made 10 three-point shots to beat DePaul (5-12, 1-4), 58-49, in a Conference USA game at Milwaukee. . . . Massachusetts (12-5, 5-0) used its strong defense to survive with a 62-50 victory over St. Bonaventure (11-7, 2-4) in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Amherst, Mass.