Kansas basketball alumni squad completes comeback, faces Mizzou team next in The Basketball Tournament

Despite being one of The Basketball Tournament’s (TBT) four No. 1 seeds heading into this year’s tournament, the Kansas basketball team – dubbed as Mass Street – received all they could handle in their first-round matchup against We Are D3 on Wednesday night.

The group of former Jayhawks were down 12 at one point in the game, but rallied back thanks in large part to Keith Langford, Mario Little, and the heroics of Thomas Robinson.

Langford, the oldest member of Mass Street at 39 years old who was seeing his first real game action in more than a year due to injury, finished the game with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. The 2023 TBT is Langford’s last form of organized competition before retirement.

Little finished the game with 17 points, and the KU squad’s leading scorer was Robinson with 21 points – who won the game thanks to an impressive put-back following a missed free throw by Little in the Elam Ending.

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Wayne Selden, Mario Chalmers, Tyshawn Taylor, and Dedric Lawson all did not play due to injury.

Luckily, KU was able to win the game despite turning the ball over 22 times and shooting just 4 of 14 from behind the arc. It was a good wake-up call for the team showing them that anyone in this tournament can be beaten and they’ll need to bring their best every night.

They’ll especially need their best in their next matchup as they take on the Missouri alumni Show Me Squad.

The former Missouri Tigers roster features several past Kansas foes, such as Phil (Mark) Pressey, Isiaih Mosely, Jontay Porter, and others.

Mosely finished second in scoring for the Tigers with 23 points, while Porter had 21 points and 15 rebounds during their first-round win (96-90) over UNLV alumni Vegas Rebellion.

Kansas appears to have more talent top to bottom between these two rosters, but the Jayhawks are battling some injuries and this Missouri team would love nothing more than to send the Jayhawks packing.

It should be a fun matchup this weekend as players from these two hated rival schools face off for a chance to move on to the regional final and get one step closer to that $1 million prize.

The game takes place this Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN+. Tickets for the game start at $15 and can be purchased here.