Julius Mays’ eight points in overtime, including four clinching free throws in the final 33 seconds, helped Kentucky get the important victory it needed to bolster its NCAA tournament chances, beating Missouri 90-83 Saturday night.

Mays made six free throws in overtime and scored 21 of his 24 points after halftime for the Wildcats (19-8, 10-4 Southeastern Conference), who needed a ‘quality’ win to go along with their triumph over then-No. 16 Mississippi last month. Kentucky got it by holding serve at Rupp Arena over Missouri (19-8, 8-6) in the marquee game on ESPN College Game Day, and the Wildcats’ backcourt was key in beating the Tigers.

Archie Goodwin scored all 18 of his points after intermission while Ryan Harrow added 16 with eight rebounds and six assists. That helped offset Phil Pressey’s 27 points and Missouri’s determined effort that forced overtime.

Instead, the Tigers saw their road woes continue in falling to 1-7.

Alex Poythress added 21 points for the Wildcats, who improved to 2-1 since losing freshman center Nerlens Noel to a season-ending knee injury.

Kentucky shot 30 of 59 from the field (51 percent). Missouri finished 33 of 76 (43.4 percent).

Alex Oriakhi added 16 points and Laurence Bowers 13 for the Tigers.

The tight ending typified the game’s importance for both teams hoping for at-large tournament bids. Though Missouri seemed to be in better shape than Kentucky, Tigers coach Frank Haith said there were many teams ”in the same boat,” needing a substantive win.

Thanks to Kentucky’s guards, the Wildcats’ postseason hopes remain afloat.

Out of sorts midway through the first half, the Wildcats regrouped to trail by 35-31 at the half before mounting a 31-20 run over the first 10-plus minutes of the second half for a 62-55 lead. Missouri fought back and forced overtime and led twice in the extra period but couldn’t hold off determined Kentucky.

Mays converted a 1-and-1 then added a follow basket to keep Kentucky tied at 79. Goodwin made a reverse layup before Poythress and Harrow both made two free throws. Mays’ four sealed the game.

Kentucky was coming off Wednesday’s 74-70 victory over Vanderbilt, earning the close victory with crisp play on both ends of the floor and two huge blocks by freshman center Willie Cauley-Stein, handling duties in the pivot since Noel’s injury.

The Tigers entered the game with one of the SEC’s most potent offenses and a balanced one at that, with every starter averaging in double figures. Pressey (11.8 points per game) drew most of Kentucky’s attention because of his ability to distribute the ball and create turnovers along with scoring.

And while forward Bowers and center Oriakhi presented a dual inside threat, it shaped up as another matchup of guard play.

Living up to the Show-Me state motto, the Tigers quickly displayed their offensive prowess.

Three straight baskets staked Missouri to a 7-2 lead that quickly grew to 17-8 as the Tigers outhustled the young Wildcats on both ends. Pressey’s steal and layup for Missouri’s second basket and consecutive baseline drives by reserve guard Earnest Ross that made it 15-8 and epitomized the Tigers’ athleticism.

Oriakhi followed with a layup to cap an 8-for-17 start from the field for the Tigers, compared to 4 of 14 for the Wildcats. Missouri cooled off some after that but still was able to build its biggest lead at 28-15 with 4:55 remaining in the first half.

Just as quickly, Kentucky found some poise along with some shooters and closed with a 16-7 run to trail by 35-31 at intermission.

Harrow, who scored 12 Wednesday in his return to the starting lineup, set the tone again with inside drives to score 12 in the first half. Others followed his lead and the results were 3-pointers by Mays and Poythress, whose thunderous dunk from Harrow’s lob started the spurt.

Kentucky began drawing fouls as well, converting 7 of 12 from the line. The Wildcats shot 39 percent (11 of 28) for the half compared to 14 of 38 for the Tigers (37 percent).

Missouri’s rebounding was the difference, a 27-18 edge culminating in 10 second-chance points. The Tigers also shared the ball, with all but one player scoring at least a basket.

Kentucky, nonetheless, had its rhythm and carried it into an aggressive second-half start leading to its first leads since the early moments. Five straight points by Goodwin put the Wildcats up 36-35, turning a game once in the Tigers’ control into a back-and-forth affair.

— Associated Press —

Laurence Bowers missed Missouri’s ugliest loss of the season, a 31-point blowout at Florida last month. His certainly made his presence felt in the rematch.

Bowers played his best game of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, plus the go-ahead shot with 1:15 to play, helping the Tigers erase a 13-point deficit midway through the second half and rally past No. 5 Florida 63-60 to stay unbeaten at home on Tuesday night.

”Well, it’s a huge win, especially coming off a loss,” Bowers said. ”This is very big for our team.”

Phil Pressey added 10 assists, seven points, six rebounds and three steals for Missouri (19-7, 8-5 SEC). Pressey, whose wild play has contributed to the Tigers 1-5 road record, was conscious about distributing the ball instead of doing it all himself and didn’t take a shot the first half.

”I feel like I can affect the game without shooting as much,” Pressey said. ”They haven’t been harping on me about not shooting.”

Pressey had 10 turnovers and two points with six assists the first meeting.

”The guy I was really impressed with was Pressey, because I thought he was, at our place, crazy,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. ”I really thought he did a terrific job of running his team.”

Bowers missed five games with a strained right knee at the start of conference play. Before Tuesday, he hadn’t been quite the same player in six games back and missed nine of 10 shots in a two-point loss at Arkansas on Saturday.

He played most of the final five minutes with four fouls.

”I just needed to play with nothing on my mind, just worrying about defense and rebounding,” Bowers said. ”I shot a few shots, but I promise you my approach was on the defensive end. And it just paid off.”

Mike Rosario had 14 points for Florida (21-4, 11-2) but missed a 3-point try from the corner at the buzzer. Donovan thought it was a good look, unlike Boynton’s 3-point attempt with Florida down a point and about a minute to go.

”No, did not want that at all,” Donovan said. ”I would have liked to have had some action driven to the basket. When you’re down one, you at least want to create some penetration.”

The Gators had won 13 of 14 and led 49-36 with 10:51 left, then hurt themselves at the foul line.

Florida missed five straight free throws in the second half, three times on the front end of one-and-ones. The slump ended when Rosario hit the second of two with 5:10 to go for a 54-50 lead.

The Gators made six of 12 foul shots overall. Missouri was 12 of 15.

”I haven’t seen it in a while from my team, but you know, you have games like this,” Boynton said. ”Honestly, we had possessions where we could have overcome it.”

The Tigers improved to 15-0 at home this season. They are 30-1 the last two seasons under coach Frank Haith and beat their first ranked opponent while out of the Top 25 since knocking off No. 15 Texas in 2010.

”The thing we did, we took it one possession at a time,” Haith said. ”When you get down 13, there’s not a 13-point shot and I thought our guys did a great job of understanding that.”

Haith said after the game he had received a ”notice of allegation” from the NCAA and didn’t seem worried.

”Contrary to what was reported, there was no unethical conduct in my notice,” Haith said. ”And it is just an allegation, so we get a chance to defend ourselves.”

Keion Bell came up with the ball after it was tipped around following Boynton’s 3-point miss and made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

Bowers’ jumper from the key put Missouri up for good at 61-60 with 1:15 to go. Pressey’s three-point play with 2:51 to go gave Missouri its first lead at 59-57. Scottie Wilkekin’s 3 put Florida back up with about 1 1/2 minutes to go.

Pressey opened the second half with his first two points on free throws after getting fouled on a drive, and made his first shot from the wing with just over 14 minutes to go.

Pressey is just 1 for 23 on 3-pointers on the road in conference play, 10 for 26 at home.

Two dazzling assists by Pressey, the second wrapping around a defender to set up Bowers’ dunk, capped a 12-0 run that cut Florida’s lead to 49-48 with 8:02 to go.

Florida, averaging an SEC-leading 10 3-pointers in conference play, was 4 for 6 the first 7 1/2 minutes while grabbing an 18-6 lead. The Gators made just one of their last 11 3-point attempts of the half, going scoreless the final 4:39 while Missouri ended with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 29-26.

— Associated Press —

BJ Young converted on a pair of three-point plays in the final minute to help Arkansas rally for a 73-71 win over Missouri on Saturday.

The win is the first over the Tigers for Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson, who is in his second season at Arkansas after leaving Missouri.

The Razorbacks (16-9, 7-5 SEC) trailed 70-66 with less than a minute remaining, but Young converted on back-to-back three-point plays to put them up 72-71. He then added a free throw to secure the win.

Marshawn Powell led Arkansas with 24 points, while Young had 18 and Coty Clarke added 13 for the Razorbacks – which are now 15-1 at home this season.

Keion Bell led Missouri (18-7, 7-5) with a season-high 25 points, while Earnest Ross added 16.

— Associated Press —

Keion Bell scored 24 points, Jabari Brown added 20 and Missouri easily defeated Mississippi State 78-36 on Wednesday night.

Missouri (18-6, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the opening minutes and led 34-10 by halftime. It took Mississippi State (7-16, 2-9) more than nine minutes to score its first basket – a 3-pointer by Colin Borchert – but by then the game was basically finished.

Missouri won its first road game of the season. Mississippi State’s losing streak has reached nine games and spanned more than a month.

It is Mississippi State’s longest losing streak since 1987 and the 42-point loss is the worst in the history of Humphrey Coliseum, which opened in 1975.

Trivante Bloodman led the Bulldogs with 13 points.

Missouri led by as many as 44 points in the second half. The Tigers shot 31 of 58 (53.4 percent) from the field.

Bell finished 10 of 16 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. His 24 points tied a season high and the performance was punctuated by a 360-degree dunk late in the second half.

Brown was 7 of 11 from the field. Missouri outrebounded Mississippi State 46-25.

Missouri’s first road win of the season came with ease. The Tigers pushed ahead 23-4 on Bell’s jumper 7:11 remaining and were never challenged.

Mississippi State continues to explore the depths of ineptitude with only six scholarship players and two walk-ons in the playing rotation. The Bulldogs haven’t won since beating Georgia on Jan. 12 and now face two road games over the next week against LSU and Alabama.

It took Mississippi State more than nine minutes and 12 shot attempts to score. Borchert finally got the Bulldogs on the board with his 3-pointer, but the points didn’t come much faster after that.

It’s been a trying season for first-year coach Rick Ray, whose roster has been decimated by defections and injuries. But nobody in the SEC is going to feel sorry for the Bulldogs, and they found that out once again during Wednesday’s beatdown.

Mississippi State shot just 4 of 25 (16 percent) in the first half. Missouri’s Bell outscored the Bulldogs by himself in that half, scoring 16 to lead the Tigers.

The Bulldogs looked a little better early in the second half. A Roquez Johnson free throw pulled Mississippi State within 42-23 with 14:56 left but Missouri scored the next 12 points to erase what little doubt remained.

Mississippi State couldn’t shoot the ball from anywhere. The Bulldogs were just 11 of 46 (23.9 percent) from the field, 3 of 19 (15.8 percent) on 3-pointers and 11 of 22 (50 percent) on free throws.

— Associated Press —

Alex Oriakhi’s temper got the best of him when he reached up from the court and pulled down Reginald Buckner. After a minute on the bench, the senior forward returned with just as much fire but much better focus.

Oriakhi had a career-high 22 points to go with 18 rebounds, three blocks and a central role in a second-half fracas of No. 21 Missouri’s easy 98-79 victory over Mississippi on Saturday. Five of the rebounds and four points came in a span of 2:35 after he returned.

”As long as he channels it and gets 18 boards and 22 points, I don’t think I’ll be unhappy with that,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said. ”I just don’t want him doing anything crazy to hurt our team, and I think that’s what he’s got to understand.

”He gets so excited. All you’ve got to do is just do it on the court, nothing to talk about.”

Phil Pressey had four assists to break Anthony Peeler’s career school record and had 22 points for Missouri (17-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), which bounced back nicely from its latest discouraging road loss, a 1-point setback at Texas A&M on Thursday. The Tigers are 14-0 at home and 0-5 on the road.

Haith said the disparity is the ”$50 million question.”

”We know we have to get our stuff together and get it going,” Pressey said. ”This is when we really need to start kicking into our stride to be the best team we can be.”

Marshall Henderson had 16 points on 4-for-15 shooting for Mississippi (18-5, 7-3), which was on the verge of cracking the Top 25 last week but has lost three of four. Jarvis Summers also had 16 points while Murphy Holloway, coming off a career-best 24 points, was held to seven points and one rebounds in 30 minutes.

Holloway averages 15 points and 10 rebounds and is the career leading rebounder at Ole Miss.

”It seemed like we were running uphill the entire game,” coach Andy Kennedy said. ”And anytime they did miss shots, which was not often, Oriakhi got them all.”

Ole Miss whipped then-No. 10 Missouri 64-49 at home on Jan. 12, but gave up 50 points in the first half of the rematch and was outrebounded 50-32.

”Just awareness, man,” said Mississippi forward Nick Williams, who returned after missing two games with a foot injury and had nine points in 26 minutes. ”We’re not playing with any awareness, any toughness.”

The game got testy with about 7 1-2 minutes to go when Buckner apparently was tripped by Oriakhi after the Tigers scored to make it 80-58 and came up swinging with a couple of wild punches that missed Laurence Bowers as Oriakhi danced away.

Buckner was ejected, leaving the court with a towel draped over his right shoulder and then tossing the towel into the stands after finishing with nine points and four rebounds. Oriakhi was called for a flagrant foul, plus Brown, Bowers and Holloway were whistled for technicals.

”We just got tangled up. It was just emotions,” Oriakhi said. ”Two teams battling, that’s pretty much it. I’m happy with the way I responded to that incident.”

Kennedy said he didn’t see what started the fracas, but was told by officials that Oriakhi was responsible. Mississippi players couldn’t help but notice Oriakhi’s play not just after the technical, but for the entire game.

”Once he gets rolling, he starts talking a little bit,” Williams said. ”I guess that’s to help him out a little bit, but he did what he had to do.

”He was big, he was physical and he punked us.”

Kennedy feared Buckner was facing a suspension, and thought the school might hear from the SEC early next week.

Missouri matched its season best with 12 3-pointers, four by Pressey and three each by Keion Bell and Jabari Brown. Bell added 21 points after entering the game with four 3-pointers all season, and Brown had 14.

Pressey, a junior, has 499 assists in three seasons, one more than Peeler totaled from 1988-92. He leads the SEC at 7.1 assists per game and finished with four assists and one turnover, one game after committing seven turnovers and missing a potential game-winning shot at Texas A&M.

”It’s crazy,” Pressey said of the assists record. ”I just want to shatter it so nobody can touch it.”

The 50-point first half was a season best for Missouri, which led by as many as 23 points and had a 16-point halftime lead. After Brown’s 3-pointer with 7:07 to go in the half, Missouri was up 38-18 and had more 3-pointers (7) than Mississippi had baskets (6). Pressey was just 4 for 13 overall, but hit his first three 3-pointers to fuel the fast start.

Mississippi shot itself out of the game, at 38 percent overall and 2 for 9 from 3-point range. Coming off a career-best 24-point game against Mississippi State, Holloway was scoreless until 6 1/2 minutes to go and totaled two points in the half.

— Associated Press —

Fabyon Harris had 17 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, to help Texas A&M to a 70-68 victory over No. 21 Missouri on Thursday night.

The loss dropped the Tigers (16-6, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) to 0-5 in true road games. They have won three games at neutral sites this season.

Laurence Bowers was wide open when he hit a 3-pointer to give Missouri its first lead of the game, 68-67, with 53 seconds left.

Harris turned it over on Texas A&M’s next possession, but Phil Pressey gave it right back with a turnover to set up the winning score for A&M (14-8, 4-5).

Ray Turner blocked a shot by Keion Bell with 2 seconds left to secure the win.

Alex Oriakhi led the Tigers with 15 points.

Missouri used an 11-1 run to tie it at 63-all with about 2 minutes left. Missouri’s first seven points of that run were on free throws before Pressey capped it with two short jumpers on consecutive possessions.

The teams exchanged baskets before Elston Turner made it 67-65 with a long jumper before the shot by Bowers.

Elston Turner added 15 points for A&M and Kourtney Roberson had 14.

Pressey scored 13 for Missouri and Bell had 12.

Missouri was coming off an 81-59 win over Vanderbilt, and is a perfect 13-0 at home this year. But the Tigers can’t find a way to win on the road.

They had 16 turnovers on Thursday which led to 22 points by the Aggies.

They were down by 15 points with about 14 minutes left before a 15-6 run got them within 58-52 with less than 8 minutes to play. Texas A&M had three turnovers and didn’t score for a more than a 3-minute stretch.

Harris hit a 3-pointer before Oriakhi was called for a foul and then charged with a technical after a scuffle with Harris for a rebound. Elston Turner made one of the free throws to push the lead to 62-52.

The Tigers opened the second half with a turnover by Bowers, which led to a dunk by Ray Turner. They would commit three more before they made their first basket of the second half – a 3 by Earnest Ross with about 15 1-2 minutes remaining.

They had four free throws in that stretch as A&M added 12 points, mostly off Missouri’s miscues to extend the lead to 48-34 before the 3 by Ross.

The Aggies used an 11-2 run to push the lead to 32-19 but Missouri used an 11-4 run to cut its halftime deficit to 36-30.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou junior guard Phil Pressey was named one of 12 finalists on the watch list for the 2013 Bob Cousy National Point Guard of the Year Award Thursday afternoon.

The annual honor, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guards in men’s college basketball. An original list of 80 candidates was trimmed down by a nationally based committee to the below watch list of 12 student-athletes.

Pressey leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks No. 7 nationally in assists this season (7.2) and is closing in on Missouri’s all-time assist record, needing just seven dimes to pass former Tiger great Anthony Peeler (497). The Preseason SEC Player of the Year, Pressey has averaged 8.5 assists over his last 11 games, highlighted by his 19-point, 19-assist game at UCLA on Dec. 28, the top assist effort by a high major conference college basketball player since 2000.

Pressey is currently third on the Mizzou roster in scoring at 12.1 points per game and owns a school record five point-assist double-doubles in his career. He also owns a school-best 12 double-figure assist nights in his tenure.

Beginning Thursday, February 7th at 1pm EST via the Bob Cousy Award’s website – www.cousyaward.com — fans will be able to vote for the top point guard. The player that receives the most fan votes will receive one vote toward the final committee vote. Fan voting will run one month – beginning February 7th and will conclude March 7th.

Previous winners of the Bob Cousy Award have included Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s), Raymond Felton (North Carolina), Dee Brown (Illinois), Acie Law (Texas A & M), DJ Augustin (Texas), Ty Lawson (North Carolina), Greivis Vasquez (Maryland), Kemba Walker (Connecticut) and last year’s recipient Kendall Marshall (North Carolina). For more information on the 2013 Bob Cousy, log onto www.CousyAward.com.

The current listing of 12 finalists for the 2013 Bob Cousy Award will be narrowed down to 5 players on March 11th. The final five players in contention for the award will be presented to Mr. Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The Hall of Fame committee is made up of top college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, Sports Information Directors and Hall of Famers. The winner of the 2013 Bob Cousy Award will be presented at the Hall of Fame’s Class Announcement on Championship Monday in Atlanta as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.

— MU Sports Information —

As he walked off the court after one of the best performances in his career, Earnest Ross looked into the crowd.

He wanted to share a moment with his mother, Toy Sue Miller Ross, and the 6-foot-5 Missouri guard from Cary, N.C., made it a point to thank his biggest supporter.

”She doesn’t get to come to many home games just because she lives so far from here,” Ross said. ”My mother was definitely the person I was looking at. For her to come out and support me as far as she lives, I’m grateful to have her and I really appreciate it.”

She certainly enjoyed what she saw.

Ross scored a season-high 23 points against his former team, leading No. 17 Missouri to a 91-77 victory over Auburn on Saturday.

He sat on the bench for the first 3 1/2 minutes, itching to get in against the school he played for from 2009-11. During his sophomore season at Auburn, he led the team with 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Ross said it was satisfying to defeat his former teammates, but he took more pride in helping Missouri (16-5, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) get the victory.

”Very, very excited for a team win,” he said. ”And that’s what we need. Because in order for the team to win, we all have to play well and tonight I think we did that.”

Keion Bell had a season-high 24 points for the Tigers, who moved to 13-0 at Mizzou Arena, joined by only Florida in the SEC as unbeaten teams at home. Missouri also benefited from having its full roster of players available for just the third time this season.

”This is the first game since Dec. 22 that we’ve had our whole team,” coach Frank Haith said. ”That’s what I look at. That’s a blessing.”

The teams combined for 49 fouls and 69 free throws but the sluggish pace didn’t seem to affect Missouri, which shot 54.5 percent from the floor after shooting 38 percent in a 73-70 loss at LSU on Wednesday.

After scoring the final four points of the first half to lead 45-35 at the break, Missouri used a 13-1 run ending with Jabari Brown’s layup with 13:43 remaining to give it a comfortable lead the rest of the way. Missouri is averaging 41.9 points in the second half this season compared to 34.6 points in the first half.

Bell, a game-time decision after missing Wednesday’s loss with an ailing shoulder, started and gave Missouri a couple of highlight plays during the first half with breakaway dunks after two steals. Bell teamed up with Phil Pressey to draw the loudest applause from the crowd with 24 seconds remaining in the first half when Pressey dribbled around three defenders and found Bell open underneath the basket for an easy layup.

”I was just trying to use as much energy and emotion as I can to provide some kind of spark,” Bell said. ”When taking some time off you can be a little rusty, and the areas that you make up for that is energy and emotion.”

Frankie Sullivan led Auburn (8-13, 2-6) with 12 points, while Rob Chubb and Chris Denson both had 10. The Tigers dropped their sixth consecutive game since starting conference play with wins against LSU and at South Carolina. In its last five games, Auburn is shooting 35.5 percent, including 25 percent from beyond the arc.

”It’s the same beat of the same drum,” Sullivan said. ”Every game is the same thing.”

Auburn went 9 of 28 from the floor in the first half but stayed within single digits by converting 15 of 16 free throws. Auburn also kept the rebounding deficit to 18-17 at halftime against the No. 2 rebounding team in the country. But poor shooting continued to plague Auburn in the second half (10 for 25) as Missouri pulled away.

”We had no defense on the perimeter,” Chubb said. ”They were just straight-line driving whenever they wanted and finishing around the rim. When they were around the rim, people were coming in too late, giving weak fouls and allowing them to complete and-ones. It was a recipe for disaster.”

Alex Oriakhi scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds for Missouri, and his three-point play with 12:36 remaining gave him 1,002 points for his career. The 6-foot-9, 255-pound forward scored 789 points in three seasons at Connecticut before transferring, and is averaging a career-high 10.4 points per game on 57.7 percent shooting this season.

Oriakhi said he was first told about the milestone around a week ago.

”When they announced it, it was definitely a great feeling,” he said. ”When you have your teammates supporting you, it’s even better. So it’s just a blessing and I’m happy I’m going to be able to end my career as a Tiger.”

Missouri plays five of its next seven games on the road, where the Tigers are winless in four attempts this season.

”We’ve got to get off to better starts on the road,” Haith said. ”In early games we haven’t had really good starts. And that comes from focus and energy and passion and all the things we have here when we play at home. We’ve got to generate that.”

— Associated Press —

After a string of close losses in conference play, LSU finally came out on top.

Anthony Hickey scored 20 points, Andre Stringer added 18 and the Tigers defeated No. 17 Missouri 73-70 on Wednesday night.

In four of LSU’s five Southeastern Conference defeats, it had an opportunity to win the game in the final minute. This time, the Tigers made six foul shots in the final 60 seconds and Johnny O’Bryant hit an important layup off an inbounds pass to hold off Missouri.

”We’ve been in a lot of tight games this year,” Stringer said. ”We were finally able to put things together and pull this one out.”

Hickey had 14 points in the second half and Stringer converted a key four-point play late in the game for the Tigers (11-7, 2-5 SEC). O’Bryant had his fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The victory was the first for LSU against a ranked SEC team since it beat eventual national champion Florida 66-56 six seasons ago.

”We can always look back at winning a game like this,” LSU coach Johnny Jones said. ”This was a good experience for us. We had to defend and make some tough plays on the defensive end to win this ballgame. We missed some free throws, but we did rebound well on defense.”

Phil Pressey scored 25 for Missouri (15-5, 4-3), which has lost all four of its games on the opposing team’s home court this season. Jabari Brown added 19 points and Laurence Bowers had 10. Bowers played for the first time in three weeks due to a knee injury.

”We were driving the ball at the end of the game and we needed to keep driving the ball,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said. ”We settled for some bad shots and we had some bad turnovers. We are trying to win a game. You can’t make those kinds of plays when you are trying to win a game.”

Missouri, which trailed by as many as 16 early in the second half, pulled to 61-58 on a basket by Pressey with 3:37 left. Two possessions later, Stringer made his fourth 3-pointer. He was fouled on the shot and hit the free throw, too.

”That play was a confidence-builder for our team,” Stringer said. ”Anthony Hickey drove down and the guy guarding him was taking away the lane. So, I just stepped behind the 3-point line. I saw Pressey come behind me. He hit me on my follow-through. Luckily, the ball went in.”

Missouri scored five straight points on a basket by Tony Criswell and Brown’s fourth 3 of the night. Hickey made one of two free throws with 49 seconds to play to give LSU a 66-63 lead.

Pressey missed a potential tying 3-pointer on Missouri’s next possession. Stringer grabbed the rebound and was promptly fouled. Stringer hit both foul shots to put LSU ahead 68-63 with 38 seconds remaining.

Earnest Ross kept Missouri in the game by connecting on a 3-pointer just 6 seconds later. On the ensuing inbounds play, O’Bryant broke loose for a layup. Pressey answered with a layup to leave Missouri behind 70-68 with 23 seconds remaining.

O’Bryant, who had missed five of his previous nine free throws, made two from the foul line to give LSU another four-point lead at 72-68. But Pressey came right back with a driving layup with 14 seconds to play.

Shavon Coleman converted one of two foul shots to give Missouri another chance at tying the score, but Pressey missed a 3-pointer. Coleman rebounded and was fouled with 4 seconds remaining. He missed both free throws but Missouri was unable to get off another shot.

LSU extended its lead to 46-30 after halftime, but Missouri scored 12 straight points to get right back into the game. Pressey accounted for eight of those points on four field goals. Two foul shots by Brown left LSU on top 46-42 with 13:47 remaining.

Hickey countered with three consecutive baskets, one a 3-pointer, in a 70-second span to give LSU a 53-42 advantage. When Missouri cut it to 55-49 on a basket by Bowers, Hickey followed with a short jumper.

Missouri pulled to 59-54 when Brown sank a 3-pointer with 5:10 remaining. After Hickey’s turnover, Ross scored after an offensive rebound to reduce LSU’s lead to three.

LSU used an 11-0 run early in the first half to grab control. Baskets by Charles Carmouche and O’Bryant gave LSU a 13-6 lead slightly more than 4 minutes into the game. Field goals by Carmouche and Hickey pushed LSU’s advantage to 17-6. Missouri went nearly 4 minutes without a point.

Missouri reduced its deficit to 17-10, but LSU responded with a 10-2 run. Malik Morgan accounted for half of the LSU points on a field goal and three foul shots. Missouri trailed by double figures for nearly the rest of the half. LSU took a 39-26 halftime lead on a basket by Hickey.

— Associated Press —