Mizzou Sports Email

Official Sports Report for February 24, 2008

Tiger Hoopsters Gain Sweep Of Colorado
by OSR Staff
Columbia, MO. - The Missouri Tigers earned a season sweep of Colorado by overcoming a slow start, surging to a big second half lead, and holding off a late charge to claim a 60-53 win at Mizzou Arena.  The win, before 10,686 fans, moved MU's record to 15-12 overall, and 5-7 in Big 12 Conference play.

Colorado jumped to a quick 10-2 lead, as Missouri missed 9-of-10 shots to begin the game, before guard Keon Lawrence, who would end with a team-high 16 points, hit a jumper to calm the storm.  Mizzou's bench then came through with a productive spurt to get the Tigers back in business, as Darryl Butterfield, Leo Lyons and Marshall Brown, Justin Safford and Jason Horton combined to score MU's next 20 points.

Butterfield got things started, with three baskets (including one three-pointer) in a three-minute stretch, with his final make on a baseline pull-up giving MU its first lead of the night, at 13-12 with 9:18 left in the half.  After CU answered with a basket, Brown hit consecutive three pointers for a 19-14 lead, while Safford later added a trey of his own, and Horton notched a lay-in in traffic.

Keon Lawrence added a pair of three pointers of his own over the last three minutes, and he also hit a jumper with 5 seconds remaining in the half as the Tigers took a 32-20 lead into the locker room.

Mizzou took great care of the ball, as it had just one turnover in the first half, and committed only four all night.  But Coach Mike Anderson gave his bench the credit for getting the game turned around.

"I'm proud of our guys how they played, especially being off for a week," Anderson said.  "We got our bench to give us a spark, I thought that Darryl Butterfield and guys like Marshall Brown and Jason Horton came in and gave us energy that we needed.  We had only one turnover in the first half, and we were still playing well early in the second half, and then I thought we started to try to win with offense.  We have to be a team that wins with its defense," he added.

Mizzou would stretch its lead early in the second half to as much as 18 points, before the Buffaloes fought back and made a game of it, pulling to as close as two points, at 50-48 with just 4:02 to play.  But Keon Lawrence penetrated the lane and found DeMarre Carroll underneath for his only basket of the night, and then Lawrence hit a fall away baseline jumper with 2:19 left for a 54-48 lead.

Colorado responded with a lay-in by Richard Roby, but that's as close as they would get, as Horton hit a runner in the lane with 35 seconds left for a 56-50 lead, and a streaking Matt Lawrence broke free for a lay-in off a nice pass from J.T. Tiller on a full-court play with 20 second left to essentially seal the game.

But it was Butterfield, who ended with 8 points in 14 minutes, who Anderson gave a lot of credit to for providing the first-half spark just when his team needed it the most.

"He came out with energy, you could just see the bounce in his step," Anderson said.  "He had a good week of practice, so it was good to see him bring his practice to the game, I always preach about our guys bringing their practice to the game.  I thought he was one of those guys that kind of spearheaded it," he said. 

"As a coach, I've always said the most important component of our basketball team is our bench," said Anderson.  "You've got to find somebody to come off there and give you a lift, and he was that particular guy.  I thought it kind of filtered through our team, you saw Marshall come out and make plays, and now all of a sudden Keon is knocking down shots, J.T. is hustling on defense, getting on the floor and getting dirty, Leo's rebounding, he had five rebounds in the first half.  It kind of gets contagious, and it started with our bench tonight," he added.

Lyons was credited with 10 rebounds on the night, good for a game-high figure, along with adding 7 points.

Amazingly, Colorado did not shoot a single free throw in the game, but it's not as if Mizzou had a decided advantage at the foul line, as it shot only nine free throws, making just four.

"I thought the first half our defense was good, I thought the second half our defense could have been a whole lot better," Anderson said.  "We did a great job in the first half of either taking a charge or making them kick it out for guys with contested shots.  We disrupted what they wanted to do in the first half, we just have to get more consistent," he said. 

"Even in the first three minutes of the second half, and then of course down the stretch, I thought we finished the game off.  I don't know if I've ever been in a game where a team didn't shoot free throws, that's kind of mind-boggling.  But the way they play, they're going to take care of the basketball, and try to backdoor you.  They're either going to shoot a lay-up or shoot a three-pointer," he said.

After a crazy day in the Big 12 Conference, where five of the top six teams in the league standings lost, the race could get very interesting down the stretch.  With four league games left to play, Mizzou, at 5-7, stands just one game out of fourth place.  Just one game separates seven teams from fourth place to 10th place.  Here's a look at the jumbled Big 12 standings after Saturday's action...

Big 12 Standings
Texas -- 10-2 (23-4)
Kansas -- 9-3 (24-3)
Kansas State -- 8-4 (18-8)
Texas A&M -- 6-6 (20-7)
Oklahoma -- 6-6 (18-9)
Baylor -- 6-6 (18-8)
Texas Tech -- 6-6 (15-11)
Mizzou -- 5-7 (15-12)
Nebraska -- 5-7 (16-9)
Oklahoma State -- 5-7 (14-12)
Iowa State -- 4-8 (14-13)
Colorado -- 2-10 (10-16)

Up next for the Tigers is a big contest Tuesday night at home against surging Oklahoma State.  The Cowboys have won three straight, and are coming off a 61-60 home win over Kansas Saturday afternoon.