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As the song goes, the Jayhawks had the Tigers by the tail. Monday night, KU cut ’em loose. If both teams had been ranked, we could watch this one again this weekend as an ‘Instant Classic.’ Even so, it’s doubtful many in Jayhawk Nation would care to relive the experience. Failing to secure a late lead by missing five of 10 free throws in the last minute of regulation, Kansas blew a seven-point lead at the end of regulation and eventually lost to Missouri 89-86 Monday night in Columbia. Thomas Gardner was unconscious for the Tigers, hitting 7 of 14 three-point shots en route to a 40 point game. Mario Chalmers, for the second straight game, had a new career high in a losing effort; 22 points off of a seven-of-nine night from the floor. Kansas is now 0-5 in games decided by five or fewer points. Kansas led 66-63 at the under four minute timeout in the second half, and expanded the lead to nine when Chalmers hit a shot in the lane with 1:52 left. Kansas would not hit another field goal in regulation. The Tigers’ Jimmy McKinney hit a virtually uncontested lay-up with 19 seconds left, then tied up Chalmers with 17 ticks on the clock left. Missouri’s Jason Horton probably should have been called for a foul at that point; he was trying to foul Chalmers in that situation. On the ensuing possession McKinney hit another lay-up and was fouled by Brandon Rush. The Big 12’s leading free-throw shooter missed the opportunity to tie the game for Missouri, who promptly fouled Russell Robinson. Robinson was the only Jayhawk to cash both his charities in the final minute, but Gardner threw in an off-balance spinning on one foot three with six seconds left to tie. "Gardner was just fabulous," Kansas coach Bill self said. "He was as good as I have seen, especially that shot off of one foot." With neither team having a time-out, Kansas got the ball up the floor and Chalmers hit a wide open Christian Moody under the hoop, and he was fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining. A 50 percent free throw shooter, Moody missed both shots and the game went to overtime. "He's a tough kid," Self said of Moody. "He's never been a great free throw shooter. I'd put him up there again. Unfortunately, you have to deal with this stuff." At the midway point of the overtime Darnell Jackson was coming up big; his four points down the stretch gave KU an 86-85 lead with 1:17 left. From there, Jackson fouled Gardner, who hit two free throws. Missouri couldn’t quite put the game away, with Gardner and McKinney each going 1-2 from the stripe in the last minute. Robinson’s heave at the buzzer was not close, and the Missouri fans stormed the court. In a loss like this there are many things to lament. KU once again didn’t do well against any kind of zone defense and missed 10 of 13 from TreyLand. Led by Gardner, Missouri went 10-25 from downtown. Giving up seven more threes will lead to blowouts more often than not. The Jayhawks started two of eight from the free-throw line, but recovered to 13 of 21 at one point late in the game. But during that last awful minute of regulation Rush, Moody and Chalmers each missed the first of two shots before Jackson sunk his two, and Moody missed at the end of regulation. Kansas finished 21-35 from the line; 60 percent isn’t their worst effort, but not good enough. It’s not that the Jayhawks played poorly; they did recover from the second half of the K-State game. It’s the inability to put away a close game that stings. "We played real well, but so did Mizzou," Self said. "It was really a double game. You can't lose games up by seven with a minute and a half to play. We helped them come back to win." We can continue to lament the youthful mistakes of this team (one that is going to have to earn a trip to the NCAA’s this year; it’s not a foregone conclusion as in the past). The mistakes are there, but somehow it’s not the same as earlier in the season. It’s not even the same since Saturday. K-State whipped KU; Missouri simply won Monday night. And losing to Missouri always hurt. "I hope it hurts a lot," Self said of his players. "It's supposed to hurt when losing to Mizzou, but you grow up." Mark Howe is a freelance writer currently residing in Milford, IN. He is a former ticket taker, usher and security worker at Allen Fieldhouse, and can be reached at mhowe (at) rockchalk (dot) com.