The Kansas basketball team opened its Big Eight season with a disappointing 56-53 loss to Missouri at Columbia. KU’s record dropped to 7-4 after the Jayhawks lost two of their three games in the league preseason tournament in Kansas City.

Building in Lawrence ended with an upturn for 1969 to salvage a strong year that fell only $2.8 million short of the record 1968 pace. The 1969 total had been $16.9 million while the record figure had been $19.8 million.