COLUMBIA, MO. • Kim English appeared to be running the game film in his head as he clutched his face with one hand, squeezed his eyes tightly shut and grimaced while Missouri coach Frank Haith described the beating.

For the second time this season, the third-ranked Tigers could not match Kansas State's physicality Tuesday night. They backed down from the contact. And they put their hopes of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in jeopardy with a 78-68 loss at Mizzou Arena.

"That was their game plan. That's how they win. It's their mantra," English said. "They're a physical team. We didn't punch back early. When you do that and play a good team, it's an uphill battle all the way."

Kansas State built a 16-point lead in the second half and then resisted Mizzou's comeback attempt to lead for the final 32 minutes and hand the Tigers their first home defeat.

After shooting 33 percent in Manhattan, Mizzou didn't fare much better in the rematch, making only 38 percent. The loss puts added emphasis on Saturday's game at Kansas, which is trying to win at least a share of the Big 12 title for the eighth consecutive season.

Having been knocked around in the first meeting, a 75-59 Kansas State win, the Tigers certainly knew what was coming. But that didn't make them any more prepared.

"When you're coming across the lane, there's chesting, there's bumping, there's a lot of stuff going on off the ball," Haith said. "We haven't played well in those type of games when the game is officiated that way. They're just physical off the ball. We'd come to set a ball screen and they're bodying us. I'm just saying that's the way they play, knocking us off, and we didn't adjust."

Even so, the Tigers (25-3 overall, 12-3 in the Big 12) made things interesting after falling behind 61-45 with 12 minutes, 30 seconds remaining. They put together a 15-2 run powered by three 3-pointers to pull within three.

But Rodney McGruder, who scored a game-high 24 points, responded with two quick buckets for the Wildcats (19-8, 8-7). Mizzou then tried to recover with 3-pointers instead of venturing into the lane.

They missed nine 3s in the final 5:09, and Kansas State pulled away despite some suspect free-throw shooting.

"We were trying to get a five-point shot instead of continuing to play and be aggressive and attack," Haith said.

In such a physical game, Haith was disappointed the Tigers didn't penetrate more in an attempt to generate free throws down the stretch.

The Tigers became the latest Big 12 power to struggle offensively against the Wildcats. Kansas shot 39.6 percent last week but pulled out a six-point win. Kansas State held Baylor to 38.5 percent in a win in Waco on Saturday.

It's a style that has pushed the Wildcats back onto solid footing for a tournament berth. The only Mizzou player to make more than half his shots was English, but he managed only nine points. Michael Dixon led the way with 21 points, and Marcus Denmon added 19.

"This is a crazy business," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "A week ago I was trying to find a building more than six stories high so I could jump. These guys' approach at practice kept me sane. They gave me energy to come and coach them."

The Wildcats began to separate from the Tigers late in the first half. They were aided when English was called for a technical foul, his third foul of the game, and had to go to the bench for the final 3:30.

But a bigger factor was the work of reserve forward Thomas Gipson. The 275-pound freshman was able to consistently get great position in the post and scored seven points in the final five minutes of the first half when the Kansas State lead grew to 40-30. He tacked on two more easy baskets as the margin grew to 16.

"A thing we have to do better is when people get the ball close to the basket, we have to have more resistance," Haith said. "Gipson gets the ball in the paint, and we turn and let him lay it up. I don't like that."

English was critical of Mizzou's defense overall after Kansas State shot 54 percent, the best any opponent has fared in Columbia.

"We didn't defend the way we usually defend, the way we need to defend, and that will be fixed," English said. "That won't happen again."