LAWRENCE, Kansas (Ticker) -- Missouri took the crowd out of the game in the first half with its methodical approach. Aaron Miles and Kansas picked up the pace after the break and broke the Tigers down.

Miles had 10 points and nine assists in the second half as No. 3 Kansas rallied for its 19th straight home win, a 73-61 victory over Big 12 Conference rival Missouri.

Kansas (17-1, 7-0 Big 12) trailed at the half, 36-28, after Missouri slowed the pace, shot 52 percent (15-of-29) from the field and forced 10 turnovers. But Miles scored early in the second half and got the Jayhawks into their fast-break offense, resulting in several easy layups.

"We played so bad in the first half, it was miserable," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We made some serious mistakes and had about 10 turnovers. At halftime it was like we flipped a switch. ... We really played the entire 20 minutes. It was about as well as we can play."

Miles, who finished with 14 points and 10 assists, hit a pair of 3-pointers to pull Kansas within 45-40 with 16 minutes to play. Midway through the half, his alley-oop lob passes to J.R. Giddens and Christian Moody resulted in hoops that gave the Jayhawks a 52-51 lead that they did not relinquish.

"He (Miles) is the most underrated player in America," Self said of Miles, the all-time assists leader at Kansas. "He got us going in the second half."

Moody took another lob from Miles off an inbounds pass and converted a three-point play for a 62-55 lead with just over five minutes left.

"We let down on the defensive end," Missouri forward Jason Conley said. "Kansas started to get a lot of points off transition and they were running the ball up the court quickly. As soon as the ball would go off the rim, they would get the rebound and push it up the court. We thought we did well playing defense in the half court set. When they started to run with the ball, that's what got us."

Kansas, which shot 36 percent (8-of-22) in the first half, connected on 58 percent (15-of-26) after intermission.

The Jayhawks also picked up the defense in the second half, holding the Tigers to 38 percent (9-of-23). Kansas came into the game allowing conference foes to shoot 36 percent. The Jayhawks switched from their customary man-to-man defense to zone about midway through the half, and the Tigers scored just three baskets the rest of the way.

"We weren't guarding them man, so we needed to change the tide," Self said. "And it worked. I think they only scored one basket against the zone."

Wayne Simien scored 22 points and J.R. Giddens added 15 for Kansas, which won for the sixth straight time at home against Missouri.

Conley, who scored a season-high 20 points, keyed a 27-9 run in the first half with 12 points as Missouri (10-11, 2-6) erased a 19-9 deficit.

"It was nice to see the team perform so well in the first half," Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. "We got a lot of points in transition and a lot of points off of our defense. We had contributions from just about everybody in the first half. The first half showed some of the progress we have made and I think our guys are becoming better teammates."

Linas Kleiza scored 11 points in 23 minutes before fouling out for the Tigers, who have lost six of their last seven games.

Kansas holds a 161-91 all-time lead in the Border Showdown.