‘Almost unthinkable’: The longest game in Mizzou basketball history, vs. Iowa State

Brian Grawer could sense his teammates’ exhaustion. He could see it in their eyes.

Damn, we got to go out there for another overtime? We haven’t beat these guys yet?

The Missouri Tigers were in the midst of the longest men’s basketball game in program history against the Iowa State Cyclones on Jan. 13, 2001. The second overtime had just concluded, the two teams locked at 91.

The point guard knew he needed to do something as the team’s senior leader. So he gathered everyone together before they stepped onto the Hearnes Center court for the third overtime.

“I said, ‘Listen, I know everybody’s exhausted,’” Grawer recalled to The Star. “If you don’t have energy, get energy from me right now. I got it. … If you can’t find it in you today, find it in one another. And let’s get through this, because we don’t want to play this and lose.”

The contest wouldn’t be settled after three extra periods though. It’d take 60 minutes of gameplay — well over three hours in real time — for Mizzou to come out victorious, defeating No. 18 Iowa State 112-109 in the first four overtime game in Big 12 history.

A little over two decades later, the Tigers play another ranked Iowa State team in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday. The game, set to tip off at 1 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, is the first time the teams have played in three seasons.

But back to the four-overtime madness in 2001 …

You might remember it as the game Clarence Gilbert went off.

“He was shooting from everyyyywhere,” MU forward Tajudeen Soyoye recalled with a laugh. “I tell you, Clarence was hot. Oh man.”

Confident and undeterred, the junior guard hoisted up shot after shot — a school record 36, to be exact — en route to scoring a then-Big 12 record-tying 43 points. He made 12 field goals, 7 of 18 from beyond the three-point arc and 12 of 17 free throws.

“Clarence never saw a shot he didn’t like,” Grawer said. “So when Clarence was on, it was awesome because he believed that he was going to make every shot he took, which is obviously the true definition of a shooter’s mentality.”

Gilbert also added nine assists and four rebounds. He played a program-record 56 minutes. And after all of that, he got his hand on a three-point attempt from Iowa State’s Jake Sullivan in the right corner and Soyoye grabbed the rebound to seal the victory.

“I didn’t play a lot, so I just remember watching those guys and just being in awe, like ‘Man, this is college basketball,’“ recalled Rickey Paulding, who was a freshman at the time. “It was crazy to just be a part of it.”

Kareem Rush, then a sophomore, scored 32 points and drained 5 of 10 shots from deep.

“Clarence Gilbert scored a zillion points and Kareem Rush scored a zillion points,” recalled Iowa State forward Paul Shirley. “They both seemed unstoppable.”

Grawer didn’t miss a single shot he attempted and finished with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. The other two members of the Tigers’ starting lineup, Arthur Johnson and Soyoye, only combined to score 11 points, but they did all the dirty work down low, pulling down 20 rebounds and blocking three shots.

That’s part of what was special about that 2000-01 Tigers team, players said. Everyone knew their roles under head coach Quin Snyder.

“If we were collectively pulling in the same direction and doing the right things together,” Grawer said, “we could overcome some adversity.”

The Iowa State side was led by double-double performances from forwards Shirley (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Martin Rancik (24 points, 11 rebounds), along with 20 points and six assists from future NBA guard Jamaal Tinsley. Tinsley would foul out early — but more on that later.

The Cyclones were known for playing a tough, physical style under head coach Larry Eustachy. They’d won both the Big 12 regular season and tournament title and made it to the Elite Eight in 1999-2000, and they’d win the regular season championship again that season.

“Him and his players, his scheme, they wear you down, they beat you down,” Grawer said. “So 40 minutes alone against a Eustachy Iowa State team is going to make you exhausted.”

The details of the game itself, which featured 24 lead changes and 15 ties, are fuzzy for most who took part. After all, four overtimes includes a lot of plays. The exhaustion and adrenaline and shock, though, that’s what everyone still remembers.

“It was disbelief,” Paulding said. “You couldn’t believe what was happening. You know, one overtime or two overtimes, but then like the third one, you’re just like, ‘OK, what’s what’s going on?’”

“To get to quadruple overtime is almost unthinkable,” Grawer added. “You think after the game it’s just pure excitement about getting the victory, but it was honestly just almost an exhale of like, ‘Ahhh we did it. It’s done.’ ... You were just emotionally spent.”

In all fairness, the Tigers should have won the game much sooner. There were a lot of missed shots both from the field and at the line towards the end of regulation. There were other chances to end it too, like when Missouri was up six in the first overtime but missed its last four shots. Or when Tinsley fouled out in the second overtime. Or when Kantrail Horton and Shane Power did the same in the fourth. By that point, the Cyclones were deep into their bench, playing guys who hadn’t seen much action before.

Eventually though, Missouri’s players rallied and found a way to close things out.

With under three minutes left, Gilbert drew a shooting foul and made two at the line. Then Grawer ripped the ball away and started a fast break that led to a layup from Gilbert to put Missouri up 110-105.

Iowa State cut back into the lead, but two shots from Grawer at the charity stripe followed by the block and rebound from Gilbert and Soyoye finally put the game out of reach as the clock winded to zero.

Soyoye pulled the ball down and held onto it firmly, never letting go even after the final buzzer sounded. He recalled then being mobbed by teammates in celebration. After all the exhaustion, all that was left was relief and joy and excitement. And more disbelief.

“Nobody wants to give up. Nobody,” Soyoye said. “It was so good that at least we came out with the W. … I have the ball up with both hands as high as possible and everybody just came and jumped on me that day. … Everybody was on me until they took me down, as big as I am.”

Missouri had started league play 3-0, now with a key win for its NCAA Tournament resume. All it took was four overtimes.