Missouri coach Frank Haith said injured senior Laurence Bowers could have played Saturday if the 22nd-ranked Tigers needed him.

They didn’t.

Jabari Brown scored 21 points, Alex Oriakhi tied a career high with 18 and Missouri cruised to an 81-59 victory over Vanderbilt.

Missouri (15-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) led 49-20 at halftime thanks to an early 32-2 run spanning 11:47. After going 11 of 51 on 3-point attempts their past two games, the Tigers hit 11 of 21 Saturday – including eight in the first half for a rare fast start.

Brown has scored in double figures in nine of his 10 games with the Tigers, and he leads the team in conference play with 17.3 points per game. He entered the day leading the SEC with 3.2 3-pointers per game, and shot 4 of 8 from behind the arc.

”I definitely feel like I’m getting more comfortable out there,” Brown said. ”It’s a learning process. I’m just learning something from every game and moving forward.”

Oriakhi’s 12 rebounds, including six offensive boards, helped give Missouri a 40-18 advantage on the glass, including 24-7 in the first half. With Bowers missing his fifth consecutive game because of a sprained ligament in his right knee, Haith said the past few games have been ”healthy” for Oriakhi to be the go-to guy.

”Whenever our guards miss shots, I feel I clean it up,” Oriakhi said. ”Offensive rebounding, I feel that’s my best offense.”

A 6-foot-9, 255-pound senior transfer from Connecticut, Oriakhi made 15 consecutive free throws spanning three games before missing his final attempt Saturday.

Rod Odom matched a career high with 17 points for Vanderbilt (8-10, 2-4).

”There’s not a whole lot to say about this going wrong or that going wrong,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. ”They were much better and much faster. They shot better, rebounded way better. Every facet they whooped us.”

The Commodores scored the first eight points of the second half and later narrowed the deficit to 56-39 with 14:39 remaining, but got no closer despite making 15 of 30 shots after the break.

The teams traded points through the opening 5 minutes, prompting Haith to take off his jacket in frustration. But after a dunk by Sheldon Jeter gave the Commodores an 11-8 lead with 15:25 left in the first half, Missouri scored 32 of the next 34 points.

Vanderbilt entered having won consecutive games for the second time this season, but struggled to keep pace with the Tigers, who made 17 of 31 shots in the first half.

”I thought we were improving coming into this game,” Stallings said. ”We had won two in a row, one a road game against a South Carolina team that came in here and played awfully well the other night. But we were just physically overmatched today. When they started making shots like that, we were in trouble.”

Leading scorer Kedren Johnson, who averages 15.1 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half before scoring 11 after the break for the Commodores. A layup with 19:07 left was his first basket in three road conference games after missing his first 13 attempts.

The Tigers received a boost from Keion Bell, who scored two fast-break layups and two free throws in a span of three consecutive possessions during the run. Bell missed the team’s previous game with a sprained ankle.

”I felt that earlier in the game we needed energy, we needed a spark somewhere along the line,” Bell said. ”So I just tried to provide that spark, just tried to put as much pressure on the ball as I can, and it turned out that it led to a lot of easy baskets the other way and I felt that was contagious throughout our team.”

The game was Haith’s second since CBSSports.com reported Monday that he would face NCAA charges of ”unethical conduct” and ”failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance” related to his time at the University of Miami following a nearly two-year investigation.

The NCAA announced Wednesday, however, that it was temporarily suspending its investigation of the school because of improper conduct by members of its enforcement program. NCAA President Mark Emmert said he expected an external review of his organization to be finished within two weeks, and would not be issuing any Notice of Allegations until then.

Despite off-court distractions and playing four of their next six games on the road, Missouri’s players are just trying to focus on basketball.

”I definitely think everything’s a mindset with this team,” Oriakhi said. ”I think all the pieces are there. . We have to build off this. We can’t be satisfied.”

— Associated Press —

Frank Haith seemed fairly calm for a coach under fire, and one who shed his sports coat and tie while willing his team forward.

No. 22 Missouri’s second-half surge no doubt had a lot to do with it.

During a dismal first half Haith said he ”almost bust a blood vessel.” After the Tigers rallied from 13 points down in the second half and held off South Carolina 71-65 on Tuesday, the coach said he was relieved that a lengthy NCAA investigation implicating Haith in recruiting violations at Miami was apparently about to end.

”Obviously, I can’t say a whole lot about what’s going on because contrary to what’s been reported, there’s been no letter written to Frank Haith and my attorneys have not received a letter of any allegations,” Haith said. ”So until that happens, then I (can’t) respond.

”As of right now there’s nothing our way, but I do feel and know that we’re getting close to the end, and that’s what’s exciting to me.”

CBSSports.com said Monday that Haith would face an ”unethical conduct” charge because of inconsistencies the NCAA found in his account of the recruiting of DeQuan Jones, plus would be charged with ”failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.”

Earnest Ross and Jabari Brown hit key 3-pointers in the final 1:11 for Missouri, which was just 5 for 27 from long range overall. Ross played 37 minutes wearing a brace to protect ongoing back issues and a day earlier Haith hadn’t been certain he’d play.

”It was pretty much a mental thing,” Ross said. ”Our trainer got me right yesterday and today and I just did a lot of treatment, and did my thing.”

Haith did his thing, too, blocking out the rumors and coaching up a storm with a team coming off a dispiriting 31-point loss at Florida and minus top player Laurence Bowers plus guard Keion Bell. The tie came off at halftime and the jacket came off early in the second half.

”I almost took everything off,” Haith joked. ”I’ve had a couple of those where you feel like you’re going to bust a blood vessel. That was one of my top ones.”

Ross had a career-best 21 points and Brown had 17 for Missouri (14-4, 3-2 Southeastern Conference), which is 11-0 at home this season and has won 12 straight at the Mizzou Arena since losing to Kansas State and coach Frank Martin, now in his first year at South Carolina, on Feb. 21, 2012.

Brown had eight points in a 20-2 run that gave Missouri a five-point lead with just under 12 minutes to go. Alex Oriakhi was 10 for 10 at the line and fouled out in the final minute with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who won despite 33 percent overall shooting.

”As I told our team, adversity, you’ve got to be able to handle whatever’s going on off the court,” Haith said. ”When you get that opportunity, do what you do.

”I get an opportunity to coach young men, I’m going to do my very best.”

Brenton Williams had 16 points with four 3-pointers for South Carolina (11-7, 1-4), which has lost four conference games by a combined 18 points and faced its first ranked opponent of the season. RJ Shawson added 10 points for the Gamecocks, who shot 37 percent.

Ross’ 3-pointer made it 66-63 with 1:11 to go and Brown’s 3-pointer made it 69-65 with 14 seconds left.

Missouri had a huge advantage at the free throw line, going 28 for 36 compared to 11 for 17 by South Carolina. Martin stopped short of criticizing the referees.

”I thought both teams were going at it at the rim,” Martin said. ”I’m not going to go there because I’m probably not going to wake up really happy tomorrow if I go there.

”I don’t know what to tell you. They came at us. We went at them.”

Martin is 6-5 against Missouri, but just 1-5 at the Mizzou Arena.

”I’ve been in this building enough to know that regardless of what your lead is, they’re always going to make a push,” Martin said. ”And that crowd’s incredible, it always is.”

South Carolina went more than 5 1-2 minutes between points, finally ending the drought on a tip-in by Brian Richardson that cut the deficit to three with 11:34 left.

Missouri was 2 for 23 from 3-point range before Phil Pressey banged one in off the glass for a two-point lead with 4:39 to go.

Missouri trailed at halftime for the third time at home after missing its first 13 3-point attempts, a slump ended by Ross with 32 seconds to go, and shot just 20 percent overall to trail 35-27. Pressey had no points, two assists and three turnovers, and three players were 0 for 3 from long range, and the Tigers stayed in range with 14-for-17 free throw shooting.

South Carolina hit four of its first five 3-pointers, three days after going just 4 for 21 in a home loss to Vanderbilt. Williams had three of the 3-pointers for the Gamecocks, who shot 41 percent.

— Associated Press —

Florida center Pat Young dumped a bucket of ice water on coach Billy Donovan in the locker room after the game, a celebratory shower for win No. 400.

Young could have doused him at halftime.

Scottie Wilbekin had 13 points and 10 assists, his first career double-double, and the 10th-ranked Gators dominated every aspect of Saturday’s 83-52 victory over No. 17 Missouri.

”A 30-point victory against one of the best teams in the SEC, it was just us a great game for us,” Young said. ”Nobody expected that. I’m sure a lot of people thought they were going to come in here and upset us. I know they thought they were going to upset us. We really wanted it.”

Donovan became the third coach in Southeastern Conference history to reach 400 wins at the same school, joining Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp and LSU’s Dale Brown.

No surprise, the dean of SEC coaches credited players past and present.

”It’s always special when you have friends and family and your players and your crowd,” Donovan said. ”But like I said before, all those individual things as it relates to coaching, it’s much, much more a reflection on the players I’ve had a chance to coach here. That’s really what it’s about. I don’t look at them as my wins. … I never, ever look at those things as being something I did. It’s always a ‘we’ thing. There’s a lot of people involved.”

Just about everyone on Florida’s bench chipped in for Donovan’s 400th.

Erik Murphy scored 15 points. Kenny Boynton added 14. Young finished with nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Will Yeguete had 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and six boards, and Mike Rosario had nine points.

The Gators (14-2, 4-0 SEC), which won their sixth consecutive game, clearly made another statement about being the class of the league.

And they’re not even fully healthy.

Yeguete (knee tendinitis), Rosario (sprained ankle), Wilbekin (broken finger) and Murphy (broken rib) all played through injuries. Backup forward Casey Prather missed his second straight game with a high-ankle sprain.

Nonetheless, Florida has won all four SEC games by at least 20 points.

”We’ve got 18 diamonds to pick up,” Young said, referring the league’s 18-game schedule. ”We’ve gotten four. We’re just moving on to the next one. We’re not making a statement. We’re just going to prepare for the next game. We’re going to get ready, whoever it is we’re going to match up, and we’re going to do our job.”

The Gators have looked good at home, on the road and even on a short turnaround.

They won at Texas A&M about 40 hours before taking the floor Saturday.

And they showed no signs of being flat or fatigued.

”We’ve got potential to be really good, but we’ve got to keep working,” said Boynton, who helped turn Missouri’s 21 turnovers into 34 points.

Maybe the most impressive aspect of Florida’s latest lopsided victory was Wilbekin’s defense. The junior guard shut down Missouri’s Phil Pressey. He pretty much did the same to Texas A&M’s Elston Turner on Thursday night.

”Scottie’s playing amazing right now,” Young said.

Pressey finished with two points on 1-of-7 shooting. He had 10 turnovers and six assists.

”I thought he tried to take the game on,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said. ”In an environment and a game like this, you’ve really got to trust your teammates. I’m sure Phil will want to just get to the next one.”

Jabari Brown led the Tigers (13-4, 2-2) with 16 points, and Keion Bell added 14 before leaving the game with a sprained ankle.

Missouri played without senior forward Laurence Bowers (knee) for the third consecutive game. Regardless, few could have seen such a beatdown coming in Gainesville.

The Gators jumped all over Missouri from the opening tip, scoring the first nine points and pulling out to a 15-2 lead.

”As a team, we underestimated the amount of pressure that their full-court press would put on us,” Bell said.

Florida made 13 of its first 18 shots. Things really started getting out of hand for the Tigers when Boynton got going midway through the first half. He hit a 3 and then made two layups – both off turnovers by Pressey – that put the Gators ahead 29-12.

”They beat us in every facet of the game: loose balls, rebounding, execution on both ends,” Haith said. ”They just played very, very well, and we didn’t play like we need to play to come in here and beat a team the caliber of Florida.”

Florida made it a 20-point game early in the second half and then turned it into a laugher with dunk after dunk. Murphy, Young and Yeguete all had slams, giving the sellout crowd at the O’Connell Center everything it wanted from the home team – including Donovan’s 400th win.

”It means a lot for us to make Coach happy,” Boynton said. ”We played the way he wanted us to play tonight. It definitely means a lot, and we definitely want to keep them coming.”

— Associated Press —

Missouri’s second game without Laurence Bowers went a lot better than the first.

Alex Oriakhi had 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, eight rebounds and four blocks without the 6-foot-9 Bowers as an inside complement to help the 17th-ranked Tigers rebound from their biggest loss of the season with a 79-62 victory over Georgia on Wednesday night.

“I knew it was a game where I had to demand the ball and post up strong,” Oriakhi said. “I knew I had an advantage inside and my teammates did a great job of finding me, and when they missed shots I did my best to clean it up.”

Coach Frank Haith said he wasn’t sure if Bowers, who leads Missouri with a 16.8-point average and is second with 6.9 rebounds, would be ready Saturday at No. 10 Florida. Bowers has a sprained right knee.

“Oh, he’s doing great, he’s actually doing really well,” Haith said. “We got some really good news at how it’s coming along. I still don’t know that he’ll play Saturday, but we’re really pleased with his progress thus far.”

Even with Bowers in street clothes at the end of the bench, Georgia had its hands full.

“In some ways, it makes them more difficult to defend when he’s not in the game,” coach Mark Fox said. “I know he’s a terrific player, but he doesn’t shoot the 3 quite as much as some of these other guys.”

Earnest Ross scored 15 points while surviving two spills for the Tigers (13-3, 2-1 SEC), who were held to a season-low 49 points in a 15-point loss at Mississippi on Saturday. Missouri is 10-0 at home this season and 26-1 at the Mizzou Arena in two seasons under Haith.

Vincent Williams had a career-best 23 points on 7-for-10 shooting for Georgia (6-10, 0-3), nine more than his previous best after entering with a 4.1-point average. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Bulldogs’ lone player averaging in double figures, added 15 points.

“Vincent’s really the only player who’s been in our program for the three-and-a-half years I’ve been there,” Fox said. “And he knows what we’re supposed to do, how we’re supposed to function.”

Ross was held to three points at Mississippi while missing six of seven shots, Oriakhi had four points and six rebounds and Missouri was 2 for 18 from 3-point range. The Tigers were 9 for 22 against Georgia, getting three apiece from Ross and Jabari Brown, who added 15 points.

“Coach always talks about `How do you handle adversity, how do you play when things don’t go your way?” Oriakhi said. “I think it was a great test and we’ll have to build off this.”

Ross missed the last 2:52 of the first half after injuring his left leg. Then he landed hard on his back after getting fouled under the basket with just under 6 minutes to go, making one of two free throws not long before limping to the bench for good.

“Earnest is OK,” Haith said. “Earnest played great, he was very aggressive and all over the court. He’s an energy guy.”

Georgia is in a stretch of three Top 25 opponents in five games that started with a 33-point loss at Florida Jan. 9 and ends with Florida, now No. 10, at home on Jan. 23. The Bulldogs have lost three straight but shot 46 percent.

“I see us heading pretty far, we’ll be fine,” Williams said. “Just a tough start, we’ll be fine.”

Haith juggled his lineup, with forwards Tony Criswell and Stefan Jankovic each getting their first start in place of Ross and Keion Bell. Jankovic scored Missouri’s first five points but lasted just 4 minutes in the half after drawing three fouls, the last just 37 seconds after re-entering.

“Stefan, he puts his hands on everybody,” Haith said. “Those are easy fouls for the referees when you do that.”

Bell got a lot of work at point guard in relief of Pressey, who had five points and six assists in 30 minutes, and had 14 points and four assists.

Ross scored a career-high 30 points for Auburn against Georgia on Feb. 5, 2011.

The Tigers hit five 3-pointers and twice led by 14 points in the first half, but were outscored 8-2 over the last 3 1/2 minutes as Georgia shaved the gap to eight points at the break.

Six players were whistled for at least two fouls in the first half, four from Missouri.

— Associated Press —

Murphy Holloway has huge, broad shoulders and uses his left hand on nearly every drive to the basket.

The Mississippi senior has been doing it for four seasons, so it’s no secret. Missouri was completely ready for it.

And the Tigers could do nothing to stop it.

Holloway scored a game-high 22 points, repeatedly getting his chiseled 6-foot-7, 240-pound body into good position and finishing at the rim, to lead Mississippi to a surprisingly easy 64-49 victory over No. 10 Missouri on Saturday.

”He’s an all-league player and we were getting the ball to his big, broad shoulders and that left hand,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. ”He’s a man. If the season ended today, and I wish it did because we’d be the champions, he would be the league MVP.”

Jarvis Summers added 12 points. He and Holloway helped offset a mediocre night from Marshall Henderson, the SEC’s leading scorer who finished with only 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting.

Ole Miss (13-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) led the entire game, jumping out to an early 9-0 lead thanks to timely shooting and superior defense. Holloway was nearly unstoppable in the paint, making 8 of 12 shots from the field and 6 of 10 free throws.

”You know there’s a little extra motivation against the No. 10 team in the nation,” Holloway said. ”It’s motivation. You want to beat them, show them that they’re not that good. We had to make those (hustle) plays to beat that team.”

Missouri (12-3, 1-1) was without leading scorer Laurence Bowers, who is out with a sprained MCL in his right knee, and it was obvious the offense missed him. The Tigers were led by 13 points from Jabari Brown.

”It was really difficult (without Bowers) and it really affected us I thought at the start of the game,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said. ”But hats off to Ole Miss – we just didn’t execute well.”

Missouri pulled to 41-33 with 16 minutes remaining, but couldn’t get any closer. The Rebels’ defense was suffocating for most of the night, forcing 19 turnovers. And it seemed like every time there was a loose ball, an Ole Miss player would emerge from the pile with possession.

”I don’t think they ever got in an offensive rhythm and that’s a tribute to how much effort our guys had defensively,” Kennedy said.

The convincing victory capped an impressive week to open SEC play. The Rebels beat Tennessee on the road on Wednesday.

”Right out of the chute we got challenged by a Tennessee team on the road and then we come back to one of the best teams in the country in our own building,” Kennedy said. ”We just did what we were supposed to do. We protected home floor. If you have any aspirations of playing meaningful basketball in March, that’s what you have to do.”

The Tigers needed nearly seven minutes to score their first basket. Missouri shot just 11 of 33 (33 percent) in the first half.

Ole Miss wasn’t much better on offense early, shooting 38 percent from the field in the first half, but did enough to take a 31-22 lead into halftime. Derrick Millinghaus led the Rebels with 8 first half points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Henderson scored 32 points in the Rebels’ SEC opening victory against Tennessee, but it was obvious that Mizzou had reviewed that game tape, and Tiger defenders were draped all over him every possession. He made just 2 of 8 attempts from 3-point range.

But Holloway picked up the offensive slack, constantly slashing into the lane and finishing with his left hand over taller Missouri defenders. He’s the only player in the SEC averaging a double-double and he had another complete game on Saturday, adding eight rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot.

Even without Bowers, Missouri figured to make some sort of run with Earnest Ross, Alex Oriakhi, and Phil Pressey all scoring in double figures this season. But the shots never fell on a consistent basis.

Keion Bell scored 11 points and Pressey added 10 for the Tigers.

It was a physical game and Ole Miss consistently won the interior battles. The Rebels had 20 attempts from the free throw line, making 15, while Missouri was just 5 of 6.

”We were way too timid and missed a lot of (close shots),” Haith said. ”With just 49 points, our offense was really poor.”

Ole Miss is not known for raucous basketball crowds, but Tad Smith Coliseum was sold out and loud for this one. The Rebels are 7-19 against ranked opponents under Kennedy.

”It gives us a lot of confidence,” Holloway said. ”We feel like we can play with anybody now.”

— Associated Press —

For the second consecutive season Missouri point guard Phil Pressey is among the 20 watch list finalists for the 2013 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award.

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 list of 20.

Pressey has been on a tear over the last three weeks. The Dallas native has recorded career highs in assists and scoring and set single-game assist records at both Mizzou Arena and Pauley Pavilion (UCLA).

Pressey opened his run with a 12-point, 11-assist double-double vs. previously undefeated Illinois in the Bud Light Braggin’ Rights game in St. Louis and then recorded the first 19-point, 19-assist game in basketball (college or NBA) since John Stockton with the Utah Jazz during the 1990-91 season. Pressey enjoyed that 19-19 game at UCLA and broke the Pauley Pavilion record in the process. The 19 assists were also the most in college basketball since 2008 and the most by a major college performer since 2000.

Pressey then scored a career high 26 points on Jan. 5 to lead the Tigers to a win over Bucknell (also named SEC Player of the Week) and recently scored 11 points and dished 13 assists to top Alabama in the SEC-opener. Those 13 dimes tied the Mizzou Arena record.

Over his last four games Pressey has logged three point-assist double-doubles and is averaging 17.0 points and 12.0 assists.

His 7.6 assists per game are the most in school history and rank No. 6 nationally.

Missouri Basketball returns to action on Saturday night at Ole Miss. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Oxford, Miss., and the game will be televised live on FSN.

Bob Cousy Award Top 20 Watch List

Phil Pressey, University of Missouri

Jahii Carson, Arizona State University

Pierre Jackson, Baylor University

Quinn Cook, Duke University

Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga University

Keith Appling, Michigan State University

Isaiah Canaan, Murray State University

Kendall Williams, New Mexico

Lorenzo Brown, North Carolina State University

Aaron Craft, Ohio State University

D.J. Cooper, Ohio University

Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State University

Nate Wolters, South Dakota State University

Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse University

Mark Lyons, University of Arizona

Ray McCallum, Jr. University of Detroit – Mercy

Peyton Siva, University of Louisville

Trey Burke, University of Michigan

Andre Hollins, University of Minnesota

Erick Green, Virginia Tech University

— MU Sports Information —

Laurence Bowers has been enjoying a big comeback season for No. 10 Missouri, leading the Tigers in scoring and second in rebounding entering the school’s SEC debut.

Now he’s hurt again.

The senior forward injured his right knee with about 6 minutes left in an 84-68 victory over Alabama on Tuesday night when teammate Phil Pressey landed on his leg underneath the Missouri basket and coach Frank Haith believed Bowers sprained the MCL.

Bowers, who missed all last season with a torn ACL in his left knee, will undergo an MRI on Wednesday. Bowers, who finished with 16 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes, smacked his hands together, showing his frustration, when he returned to the end of the bench with about 4 minutes to go.

”They’re going to look at it,” Haith said. ”We don’t know the extent of it. We’re concerned when any of our guys get hurt.”

Bowers has four double-doubles and is averaging nearly 17 points and seven rebounds.

Jabari Brown hit a career-high five straight 3-pointers after an early miss and Pressey responded from a shaky first half with 11 points and 13 assists. Pressey slightly sprained an ankle when he collided with Bowers but missed less than a minute.

Trevor Releford had a career-best 26 points with three 3-pointers and topped 1,000 points for Alabama (8-6, 0-1), which has lost six of eight. Coach Anthony Grant lost for the first time in seven career conference openers, three at VCU and four at Alabama.

Missouri shot 59 percent from the field in the second half. The Tigers shot 56 percent overall and were 9 for 15 from 3-point range.

”We couldn’t get stops,” Grant said. ”To me, that was the story of the second half. Whether it was the press, transition, half-court, we did not defend the way we would need to defend to be able to come on the road against an opponent like Missouri and get a win.”

Brown scored a career-high 22 points on 7-for-11 overall shooting, three days after making only one of nine attempts in a two-point victory over Bucknell. The Oregon transfer has scored in double figures in four of five games since becoming eligible at the semester break.

”Coach always tells me, ‘Don’t get down on yourself, don’t let one play discourage you,”’ Brown said. ”So I’ve just been having that mindset and I’m glad that game was history.

”It feels like the basket gets bigger out there.”

Earnest Ross added a season-best 19 points for Missouri (12-2, 1-0) and Alex Oriakhi helped the Tigers pull away with 10 of his 16 points over the final 11 minutes. He grabbed 11 rebounds. Oriakhi powered for two inside baskets in a 9-2 run that put the Tigers up 62-51 with 9 minutes to go and Alabama got no closer than six points the rest of the way.

”Just being aggressive,” Oriakhi said. ”I posted harder and my teammates found me.”

Releford, who is from Kansas City and was recruited by Missouri, scored 19 points in the first half to top his average of 15.6. But he took just one shot over the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second half. The junior is the 46th player in school history to score 1,000 points but just the seventh with 1,000 points and 140 steals.

Releford said about 30 supporters were in a crowd of 13,895, the biggest of the season but a little more than 1,000 shy of capacity.

”I think it was a good opportunity to come back and play close to home and have my family come out and see me play,” Releford said. ”But I treated this game like any other SEC game.

”I just wanted to come in, get a win and worry about the next game after that.”

Pressey had eight assists in the first half, largely negated by four turnovers including two giveaways in a span of just over a minute. One was so glaring he grabbed Levi Randolph for an intentional foul.

Missouri survived those mistakes behind 6-for-10 3-point shooting, with Brown going 3 for 4 and Ross 2 for 2.

Alabama’s best stretch was a 12-0 run for a 19-17 lead, with two baskets apiece from Releford and Pollard.

Missouri won despite getting outrebounded for the second straight game, giving up a 32-27 advantage to Alabama after Bucknell had a 39-38 edge. The Tigers lead the nation in rebounding and outrebounded their first 12 opponents.

— Associated Press —