COLUMBIA, Mo. — As Tyrel Reed scuffled through the depths of Mizzou Arena in the wake of Monday night’s 62-60 defeat, he was left with only one thought: the scouting report was right.

On Missouri’s final possession, Reed’s assignment was to guard the Tigers’ Zaire Taylor. Leo Lyons ran the clock down 30 feet from the basket before passing to J.T. Tiller, who then dished it to Taylor just inside the right wing.

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Kansas Basketball vs. Missouri

Photo gallery of basketball game against Missouri, Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, at Mizzou Arena.

“I closed out on him way too hard and he shot-faked me and went around me,” Reed said. “I should have known that he’s more of a driver than a shooter, so I take that responsibility on that last play.”

Reed forgot to obey his pregame notes, but for a second it didn’t look like his slip-up would doom the Jayhawks.

Taylor’s shot caromed off the right side of the rim and bounced straight up into the air.

“I was hoping it came off because I was right there to grab the rebound,” sophomore center Cole Aldrich said.

Standing near the free throw line, junior guard Sherron Collins had a perfect view of the rim.

“I thought it was going to overtime,” Collins said.

The ball hung up long enough for all 15,061 in attendance to gasp in anticipation.

“It seemed like the ball was up there forever,” Collins said, “but then it dropped in.”

Taylor’s shot dropped with 1.3 seconds remaining. With no timeouts, Brady Morningstar took the in-bounds pass and heaved it three-quarters of the court in the general direction of Aldrich. In traffic, Aldrich snatched the pass with enough time to shoot for a miracle.

“It was just kind of try to grab, see where the rim was at and try to get it up there if I could,” Aldrich said. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to grab the ball out of the air. It wasn’t the most pretty shot.”

Aldrich’s desperation shot clanked off the backboard and the student section stormed the court before the ball could even bounce a second time.

There were a number of things to blame for Kansas’ first Big 12 defeat: too many fouls, a season-high 27 turnovers and poor three-point shooting, among others. But Collins said none of those would matter if Kansas had just played defense.

That includes a pair of free throws Collins missed with less than two minutes to play.

“If we would have guarded, then we wouldn’t have been in position where we would have had to make free throws,” he said.

Kansas coach Bill Self called out his defense for failing to finish on the last play. He also pointed out that Collins failed his assignment on the possession before that when Tiller put Missouri ahead 60-58.

“Sherron’s ball watching so Tiller back cuts him and he gets an eight-footer,” Self said. “We didn’t defend the last two possessions very well.”

With 2:43 remaining, Missouri’s DeMarre Carroll fired up a three-pointer. Like Taylor’s shot, it caught the rim and hung in midair for just a second before slipping through the net.

Sometimes a perfect plan is ruined by poor execution, like Reed’s blown assignment. Other times, a bouncy sphere decides when it’s going to play ball.

“We didn’t get those same bounces on our end,” Self said, “but that’s basketball.”

— —Edited by Justin Leverett