Missouri made sure its final football game as a member of the Big 12 was decided early.

James Franklin ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and the Tigers easily beat North Carolina 41-24 in the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl on Monday night.

Missouri (8-5) ends the season on a four-game winning streak for the first time since 1965. The Tigers will join the Southeastern Conference next fall and showed one reason they should be a factor immediately: The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Franklin, a sophomore who generally did as he pleased in both the running and passing games.

Franklin, named the game’s offensive Most Valuable Player, rushed for 142 yards and threw for 132 despite less than ideal conditions in the cold and rain at Independence Stadium. He led the Tigers to 31 first-half points — an Independence Bowl record.

For North Carolina (7-6), a season that started with a promising 5-1 record ends with a lopsided loss. The Tar Heels lost five of their final seven under interim coach Everett Withers, who leaves to become defensive coordinator at Ohio State under Urban Meyer.

North Carolina had the Atlantic Coast Conference’s second-best rushing defense, giving up just 106.2 yards per game. But the Tigers found plenty of running room with Franklin and Kendial Lawrence, repeatedly gashing the Tar Heels for big gains.

Lawrence rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers racked up 337 yards on the ground.

North Carolina’s poor defense wasted a productive game by quarterback Bryn Renner, who threw for 317 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

Missouri’s mascot — Truman the Tiger — shattered most of the original Independence Bowl trophy before the game started in a pre-game accident. The Tigers were more than happy to claim the replacement.

North Carolina scored first, with Renner hitting Dwight Jones for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 12:12 left in the first quarter. That would be the high point for the Tar Heels.

Missouri responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass from receiver T.J. Moe to Wes Kemp after a lateral from Franklin. Moe hadn’t thrown a touchdown pass since his days as a high school quarterback in suburban St. Louis, and it was just his second complete pass of the season.

The Tigers scored again on Franklin’s 2-yard run to take a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by Franklin’s 16-yard pass to L’Damian Washington that put the Tigers at the 2-yard line. Washington grew up in Shreveport, just a few miles from Independence Stadium.

And Missouri just kept piling on.

The Tigers scored two touchdowns and a field goal during the second quarter to take a 31-10 halftime lead.

North Carolina had a glimmer of hope late in the third when Jheranie Boyd caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Renner to pull the Tar Heels to 34-17. But Missouri responded minutes later with Franklin’s second touchdown run of the night and the rout continued.

Phil Pressey had 18 points, five assists and two steals, and Missouri (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) held off a second-half charge by Illinois (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) for a 78-74 victory in the annual Braggin’ Rights game on Thursday night.

Reserve Michael Dixon added 18 points and Ricardo Ratliffe had 14 for Missouri, which squandered a 13-point cushion before recovering late. The Tigers have won three straight in the series and they’re 12-0 for the first time since a 19-0 start in 1981-82.

Joseph Bertrand came in off the bench and had a career-high 19 points on 9-for-9 shooting for Illinois (11-2) in its second loss in three games. Brandon Paul added 19 points and nine rebounds, and Meyers Leonard had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Illinois led 70-68 after three free throws by D.J. Richardson with 2:01 to go, but Missouri answered with seven straight points.

Bertrand, a sophomore, totaled two points in the previous six games and came in averaging 3.2 per game. He scored nine points in a 17-3 surge for a 62-61 lead with 7:01 to go. The Fighting Illini were 14 for 23 to start the second half.

Missouri helped with undisciplined play, throwing up several ill-advised 3-point attempts, but the Tigers regained the lead on a driving shot by Phil Pressey with 6:45 to go.

Missouri made its first 14 free throws, eight of them by Dixon in the first half, and finished 19 for 23, while Illinois was 8 for 10. Dixon, one of the nation’s best from the line at 95 percent entering the game, had the first miss early in the second half and was 10 for 12 at the line.

Both schools were ranked for the second straight year and eighth time in the 31-game series overall that Illinois leads 20-11.

Missouri seized control with a 17-2 run for a 19-9 lead with just over 13 minutes left in the half, then closed it out with six straight points capped by Matt Pressey’s follow dunk on younger brother Phil’s missed layup with 2.5 seconds to go.

Richardson had 10 of his 13 points at the half for Illinois, missed on the bonus with 29.2 seconds left and fouled Dixon on a drive with 1:24 to go.

Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon were among a sellout crowd of 22,087.

— Associated Press —

Missouri sixth-man Michael Dixon can only stand by and hear the roar when his starting teammates are introduced at Mizzou Arena. Once he enters the game, he sure knows how to grab some attention.

The Tigers’ super-sub scored a career-high 30 points as Missouri (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) beat William & Mary 94-56 on Sunday for its best start in two decades. That obliterated his previous high of 19 points, set just four games earlier against Northwestern State.

Missouri coach Frank Haith considers Dixon his sixth starter, and the junior guard’s average of 26.2 minutes exceeds or is nearly equal to the time spent on the court by senior starters Ricardo Ratliffe and Matt Pressey.

“When he subs in, other teams are subbing in,” Haith said. “Mike Dixon’s like a starter. So he’s playing against other team’s subs. I like that matchup.”

Missouri (11-0) jumped to a 19-0 lead over the hapless Tribe, which missed its first eight shots while committing five fouls and 10 turnovers and didn’t score until nearly 12 minutes into the game. William & Mary (2-9) made just five first-half baskets as Missouri took a 44-18 lead.

Kim English added 17 points for Missouri, which last started a season with 11 straight wins under longtime Tigers coach Norm Stewart 20 years ago at the old Hearnes Center.

Ratliffe and Pressey contributed 11 points each as Missouri outscored William & Mary 48-24 in the paint and shot 60 percent for the game. The game-opening run featured a crowd-pleasing dunk by Pressey on an alley-oop pass from his younger brother Phil.

Tim Rusthoven, who missed his team’s first six games, led the Tribe with 14 points. He attributed William & Mary’s horrendous start to a collective case of the jitters.

“We were just kind of nervous getting out there,” Rusthoven said.

Marcus Denmon, Missouri’s leading scorer entering the game with a 20.9 average, was held to seven points on 3-of-11 shooting and went scoreless for most of the first half until converting a reverse layup off a lob pass as he fell to the ground.

That highlight earned the biggest cheer of the day — at least until the game announcer reported that the Kansas City Chiefs upset the previously unbeaten Green Bay Packers, or when senior reserve forward Andrew Jones — who joined the team several weeks ago to help shore up a thin front line missing injured starter Laurence Bowers — scored his first two points of the season with free throws in garbage time.

The Tribe attempted to make it respectable early in the second half, scoring 20 points in the first 5 minutes — including a 15-4 run that led to a timeout by Haith — to cut the lead to 18 points before the Tigers further extended it.

Missouri entered the game outscoring its opponents by an average of 26.7 points. The Tigers’ scoring average of 87.3 was second in the NCAA.

Dixon, who shot 13 of 19 for the game with three 3-pointers, two assists and three steals, credited his teammates for recognizing who had the hot hand. His early scoring flurry was aided by several fast-break layups off turnovers. Aside from Denmon, no other Missouri player took more than six shots.

“A lot of guys on this team can score,” Dixon said. “As long as we make plays, I’m happy.”

Haith, is in his first season at Missouri, compared Dixon to sixth-man Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, who helped lead his team to the NBA title last season. Dixon typically enters the game alongside starting point guard Phil Pressey, meaning he can heat up on offense without having to worry about distributing the ball.

“Mike has a chance to relax,” Haith said. “He’s getting a sweat going before he handles the ball as a point.

“I love everything about him, his tenacity, his toughness,” Haith added. “He has a lot of swag. Mike has really bought into the role.”

Missouri is one of just seven unbeaten teams in Division I, joining Syracuse, Louisville, Baylor, Marquette, Indiana and Murray State. The Tigers next face border rival Illinois on Thursday in St. Louis. The Illini suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday to UNLV.

Missouri will then play one more nonconference game, visiting Old Dominion on Dec. 30, before opening what could be its final Big12 Conference season on Jan. 3 at home against Oklahoma. Missouri is headed to the Southeastern Conference and expects to join the SEC in the fall of 2012.

— Associated Press —

Missouri players refuse to use final exams week or a lesser opponent as an excuse for a slow start. They also could point to the final score.

Ricardo Ratliffe and Michael Dixon had 18 points each and the Tigers (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) got rolling near the end of the first half, shooting 60 percent in a 104-67 rout of Kennesaw State on Thursday night.

“You’re going to have finals, you’re going to have things like that, but every time you get a chance to lace them up, it’s fun,” said Matt Pressey, who added 15 points. “Yeah, we’re all stressed.

“But everybody in the country is stressed that’s got finals, so it’s nothing new.”

Marcus Denmon added 17 points and Phil Pressey had nine points and 10 assists for the Tigers (10-0), unbeaten after the first 10 games for the first time since an 11-0 start in 1991-92. They ran their homecourt nonconference winning streak to 65 games.

It was Pressey’s third time in double-figure assists this season.

“Honestly, we didn’t do anything yet,” Ratlilffe said. “We just focus on the next game. It doesn’t matter if it’s Kansas or Christopher Newport, a D-III out of Virginia, we just go out there and play our style, and just come out with a win.”

Coach Frank Haith used the slow start to motivate players, saying “I thought we were a little too Cadillac.” But he wasn’t overly disappointed Missouri didn’t take off earlier in the game.

“You look across the country, I think you see that across the country,” Haith said. “We’re no different than any other team in the country.”

Freshman Delbert Love had a career-best 27 points with five 3-pointers for Kennesaw State (2-6), which faced a top 10 team for the second time in school history and has lost four straight. Markeith Cummings had 17 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 3:49 to go.

“We played really hard, we just didn’t have some shots go down,” coach Lewis Preston said. “They can kind of slow-whip you or they can get you with a lightning strike.”

Haith became the first Missouri coach to win his first 10 games since 1920-21. That’s one more than predecessor Mike Anderson, now at Arkansas, who was 9-0 in 2006-07 before consecutive losses to Purdue and Illinois.

Ratliffe was 8 for 10 from the field, Denmon was 8 for 11 and Dixon 5 for 7. Despite a four-guard attack, Missouri had a 36-26 rebounding advantage.

Love had 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first half to keep Kennesaw State somewhat close despite committing 10 turnovers. The Owls made five of their first seven shots and led 15-13 just over 5½ minutes into the game.

Kennesaw State last led at 29-28 with about 7 minutes to go in the first half and were 9 for 24 from 3-point range. The Owls, picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic Sun Conference, play at Missouri State on Saturday.

“I thought it was a good opportunity for us to come into an environment like this,” Preston said. “Did I know they would be ranked No. 10 in the country? No. But I knew they would be a very good team and I think it’s a great chance for us to evaluate some things in a positive way.”

Missouri began the game as one of only nine unbeaten schools, with the first nine victories coming by an average of 25.6 points.

Matt Pressey had 11 points in the first half for Missouri, including a dunk off a turnover after a nice feed from English.

“I thought Matt was outstanding,” Haith said. “Great teams, you’ve got to have a guy on your team like Matt Pressey, a selfless guy that buys into his role completely. When he made some hustle plays, it energized our team.”

Kennesaw State has beaten one Division I school this season.

“I think we kind of let up,” Love said. “We didn’t play the full 40 (minutes) and it showed in the score at the end of the game.”

— Associated Press —

After dispatching its first eight opponents with hot shooting and quickness, No. 10 Missouri needed a different strategy to counter Navy on Saturday.

Earlier in the week, Missouri coach Frank Haith said his team would need to exhibit patience against the Midshipmen, who play at a slower tempo and are more physical in the paint.

Haith’s words came to fruition as the Tigers overcame an uncharacteristic slow start and used their defense to pull away from Navy, 84-59.

Having scored 31 and 28 points in his previous two games, Marcus Denmon scored 22 and Missouri (9-0) matched its best start since the 2006-07 season with its 64th straight home victory against nonconference opponents.

Down early, Missouri went on a 16-3 run to take the lead. The Tigers finished the first half with a 27-11 burst.

“I feel they came out to a good start, but once the ball’s thrown up and we started to get a couple of stops, I felt that us being patient helped us start to take off,” Denmon said.

Ricardo Ratliffe, entering the day leading the Big 12 in field goal percentage (77.3), made 6 of 9 shots and added 14 points. He was disappointed with how Missouri started out, and said Haith challenged the team to match Navy’s intensity during the first timeout.

Asked what he told his team, Haith said, “We need to pick it up a little bit.”

J.J. Avila scored 26 points for Navy (3-8). The Midshipmen took a 5-0 lead at the outset but trailed 45-26 by halftime.

“As a team, I thought we played hard,” Avila said. “Missouri is a really good team. I think it was a good learning experience for us, playing someone a lot better. I can’t say we almost had it, but we played well.”

This was the first matchup between the teams since the first round of the 1994 NCAA tournament, when the top-seeded Tigers defeated the No. 16 Midshipmen 76-53. Missouri has won all three all-time meetings.

Navy entered the game making 51 percent of its shots from inside the arc, compared to 29 percent on 3-point attempts. But the Midshipmen seemed flustered by Missouri’s defensive pressure, settling for 25 shot attempts from 3-point range out of 55 overall field goal attempts, including 14 out of 27 in the first half.

Size may have contributed to Navy’s trouble as Missouri was actually the taller team on the court despite starting four guards. The Tigers used that advantage en route to grabbing a 40-29 advantage in rebounds and scoring 36 points in the paint.

“It’s hard when you’re on the road, I don’t care who you are,” first-year coach Ed DeChellis said. “It’s just really hard to win on the road. It’s really challenging to win when you’re a young team and everything is new to them.”

With 13 freshmen and sophomores and only one senior who sees significant playing time, DeChellis says his team has improved from the outset of the season.

“We’re trying to grow, mature and develop,” DeChellis said.

Five players scored in double figures for Missouri, which shot 49.1 percent from the field and entered the day leading the Big 12 in field goal percentage (51.1).

“We have guys that offensively are capable of scoring in double figures any night,” Denmon said. “It depends on the team we’re playing and who’s making shots that night. But it just shows that we have guys who are capable.”

Navy was able to grab more inside looks in the second half, including a 24-7 run near the end. The Midshipmen pulled within 17 points with 3:25 remaining in the game but could get no closer.

“It’s easier to slow teams down than it is to speed teams up,” Missouri guard Kim English said. “They did a good job playing the game they wanted. We adjusted, and got out of here with a win.”

Having already played 11 games, the Midshipmen now get a break, playing only two games in the next three weeks. Their next game is Dec. 22 at Presbyterian.

Missouri next faces Kennesaw State and William & Mary at home before traveling to St. Louis to face Illinois (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP) on Dec. 22 in the teams’ annual Braggin’ Rights game.

— Associated Press —

Missouri was No. 25 in the preseason poll. The Tigers have moved up to No. 10 and are playing as though they mean to stay up there.

“The Mizzou brand was on the national scene tonight,” first-year coach Frank Haith said. “And the lights are bright, very bright here in New York. We had an opportunity on national TV against a good team.”

The country should be impressed.

Marcus Denmon had his second straight strong game from 3-point range, this time making six and scoring 28 points in an 81-71 victory over Villanova in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

“There was a lid on the basket for a little while,” Denmon said. “We kept the ball moving and started making some shots.”

The 6-foot-3 senior guard made seven 3s while scoring a career-high 31 points in the Tigers’ last game against Northwestern State. He came into the game averaging 20.6 points and 3.3 3-pointers. On Tuesday, he was 6 of 10 from 3-point range, making all three attempts in the first 7:41 of the second half when Missouri (8-0) opened a 16-point lead.

Ricardo Ratliffe added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who last started a season with eight straight wins in 2006-07. Kim English had 15 points for Missouri, which cracked the top 10 this week.

The Tigers shot 42.4 percent from the field (28 of 66), well off the 52.5 percent they were at entering the game, a mark that is fourth nationally.

“We talk about finding ways to win when we don’t shoot the ball well,” Haith said. “I think this is the first night we didn’t shoot the ball well. We played defense and rebounded. Those will be the keys to our success.”

Maalik Wayns had 14 points and freshman Darrun Hilliard added 13 for the Wildcats (5-3), who have lost three of four.

The Wildcats used a 10-0 run capped by a 3 by Dominic Cheek to get within 61-55 with 9:52 left. They got as close as six once more, 68-62 on a rebound basket by JayVaughn Pinkston with 6:01 to play, but the Tigers went on a 7-1 run with Ratliffe, Denmon and English all scoring.

“It’s no surprise at how good a team they were,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We were trying to scrap and fight to keep it close and steal it at the end. They have so many answers and they are so intelligent. Their guards are good. That is a well-coached team.”

Missouri outscored Villanova 24-8 in fast-break points and that was a credit to point guard Phil Pressey, who had eight points and 12 assists — many when the Tigers took off after grabbing the rebound of a Villanova miss.

“It’s Phil,” Ratliffe said of his point guard, who gave him a behind-the-back pass for a dunk. “He’s got eyes, not only in the back of his head but in the side of his head, everywhere else. As soon as he drives I get my hands ready.”

It was Villanova’s sixth straight loss in a game against a ranked team.

“It’s a 40-minute game and we probably played well for 33 minutes against a great team,” Wayns said. “Those minutes are going to cost you. All you can do is go to practice and try and get better.”

Denmon scored 12 points in the final 9:20 of the first half as Missouri took a 42-29 lead. His 3-pointer with 6:12 left in the first half gave the Tigers the lead for good, 24-21. Villanova managed just eight points over the final 9:20 of the half when Missouri outscored the Wildcats 23-8.

— MU Sports Information —