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COLUMBIA, Mo. — It was, well, the perfect storm.

The hated rival Kansas … who was ranked No. 1 in the nation … playing at Mizzou Arena.

And so, when the Tigers won Sunday, there it was, the court-storming of court storms — an euphoric flood of fans.

Mizzou 76, KU 67.

“I mean, Mizzou played great today, but that court-storming may have been even better than the (team’s) play,” Kansas coach Bill Self said after.

And the play of Tamar Bates was instantly legendary.

Notably the first half played by Tamar Bates was breathtaking basketball. The Mizzou guard from Kansas City, Kansas, entered the day averaging 12.3 points per game. At the half, he had 18.

And in the historic win, Bates finished with a game-high 29 points (and five steals!), including a clutch bucket in the final two minutes. It wasn’t quite Thomas Gardner’s 40-point effort in 2006, but here’s thinking Bates won’t have to buy a beer at Harpo’s anymore.

This was the biggest win of the coach Dennis Gates era (his Tigers are now 8-1 on this season, while Kansas fell to 7-2). And it answered a question asked by true sons and daughters the past couple weeks — is the Missouri basketball team actually good?

Looks that way.

This was a two-fer. The importance of beating the No. 1 team in the nation cannot be overstated for a program. And for this program specifically, beating Kansas is a triumph. Well, both things happened on the same afternoon. In Mizzou history, it was the fifth time the Tigers beat the No. 1 team in the nation (four of those wins coming against the Jayhawks).

I’ll tell you, there’s just really nothing like this that can be recreated or intimidated in Mizzou sports.

As for Bates, in the first half, he played 16 minutes, shot 5-for-9 from the field and was 6-for-6 from the line. Oh, he swiped three steals, too. And Mizzou led No. 1 KU, 39-25.

Bates is a lanky senior who dribbles confidently, often calmly maneuvering through the Jayhawk defense like he was headed to class on campus.

Bates splashed an early 3 to give Mizzou a 5-2 lead and, similarly importantly, to give Mizzou fans a reason to shout. The crowd was elite. Loud and proud, the fans made the building feel compact and throbbing. They properly and emphatically booed and talked trash to the visitors from the neighboring state — notably, the fans expressed their displeasure for KU’s existence during a pregame rendition of “Mr. Brightside” (to be fair, the Mizzou fans do that in the song during every football and basketball game, but this time, the opponent actually was KU).

When Bates hit his second 3 from the of the key, it gave Missouri a 20-10 lead.

As the first half unfurled, the 6-foot-5 Bates continued to drive hard — unafraid — to the hoop. He poured out emotion. Barked on the court. Encouraged teammates. Was simply, on a court filled with top recruits, the alpha-male.

And in the second half, there was a certain moment inside Mizzou Arena that it seemed almost impossibly loud.

With 16:15 left in the second half, Mizzou’s Bates stole the ball from Kansas, drove hard to the hoop, made a layup … and was fouled.

The bucket gave Mizzou a 50-30 lead.

Kansas called timeout and, sure enough, the arena rocked the song “Mr. Brightside” once again.

The cheering and chanting was almost disorienting.

Incredible energy.

An incredible day.

By the two minute mark, fans in blue started tricking up the stairs.

By the one-minute mark, fans in black and gold started trickling down the stairs.

And when it was over, a full flood of fans made it onto the court … and they sang “Mr. Brightside” one final time.