COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jabari Brown tied a career high with 24 points and Johnathan Williams III grabbed 14 rebounds to help Missouri defeat Alabama 68-47 on Saturday.

Missouri (14-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) entered the game having lost two of three, including a 78-75 setback at Vanderbilt on Thursday. The Tigers only led 31-30 at the break against the Crimson Tide, but opened the second half with a 14-4 run to create some breathing room.

After shooting 52.6 percent in its 80-61 win against Mississippi State on Wednesday, Alabama converted 29.2 percent of its shots from the field against Missouri and couldn’t pull closer than 13 points in the final 10 minutes.

Shannon Hale scored 12 points and Retin Obasohan added 11 points for the Crimson Tide (8-9, 2-2), which is 0-7 away from home this season.

Missouri benefited from the return of Jordan Clarkson in the second half after he sat the final 12 minutes in the first. Averaging 18.8 points per game, Clarkson scored four points before the break but finished with 16.

The Tigers yielded only five 3-pointers – one game after allowing 12 to Vanderbilt – and limited Alabama to 25 percent shooting from behind the arc. Coach Frank Haith had lamented the Tigers’ inability to make several layups against Vanderbilt, and the team missed several more against the Crimson Tide.

Missouri shot 42.6 percent overall, including 52.4 percent (11 for 21) in the second half.

For its part, Alabama wasn’t much better around the basket. Trevor Releford, a senior guard from Kansas City, Mo., leads the Crimson Tide with 18.9 points per game but tied a season low with 10 points on four of 16 shooting.

After its initial run after halftime, Missouri gradually kept pulling away in front of a season-high attendance of 11,003. Before the game, fans could receive autographs from six members of the St. Louis Cardinals, headlined by NL championship series MVP Michael Wacha.

The Tigers hoped to put their troubles behind them by scoring the first seven points of the game, but Alabama scored 12 of the next 14. The teams then traded baskets until Williams’ jumper put Missouri ahead 31-30 with 53 seconds remaining before halftime.

— Associated Press —

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rod Odom scored a career-high 24 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and the short-handed Vanderbilt Commodores beat Missouri 78-75 Thursday night in the Tigers’ first visit to Memorial Gym as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

Vanderbilt (9-6, 1-2) snapped a two-game skid by avoiding foul trouble and hitting a season-high 12 3-pointers. The Commodores are down to seven scholarship players after leading scorer Eric McClellan first was suspended from the university, then kicked off the team for good last week. They lost their first two games without McClellan.

Missouri (13-3, 1-2) now has lost two of three. The Tigers were looking for their third road win this season trying to work their way back into the Top 25.

Kyle Fuller added 22 points for Vanderbilt. Dai-Jon Parker had 11, and Damian Jones added 10.

Jabari Brown scored 22 points for Missouri, while Jordan Clarkson had 18 and Ross 11.

The Tigers opened the second half by scoring the first eight points in taking their first lead since the opening bucket on a layup by Williams at 40-39. The teams swapped the lead back and forth before Fuller finished off a fast-break with a layup for Vanderbilt putting the Commodores back ahead 45-44 with 13:30 to go. That started a 10-2 spurt featuring a pair of 3s from Odom, the second giving Vandy a 53-46 lead with 10:52 remaining.

Misssouri pulled within 60-57 on a jumper by Brown with 4:17 left. First Fuller hit a 3-pointer, then Odom added his sixth 3 to push the lead to 66-59 with 2:00 left. The Tigers couldn’t get closer than the final score on a 3-pointer by Clarkson with 2 seconds left as Vanderbilt went 6 of 7 at the free throw line in the final 40 seconds with Fuller hitting all six of attempts at the line to seal the win.

These are two of the SEC’s best shooting teams and the league’s best defending against the 3-pointer with Vanderbilt (27.8 percent) just ahead of Missouri (28.6 percent). The Commodores shredded Missouri’s defense as they knocked down 3 after 3 and finished 12 of 32 (37.5 percent) – both season-highs allowed by the Tigers. That more than made up for Missouri outrebounding Vanderbilt 45-35 and the Tigers’ 36-16 scoring edge in the paint.

Missouri opened the game with a 3 by Brown for the Tigers’ biggest lead of the game.

Then Vanderbilt went on a 17-2 run started by a 3-pointer from Odom and Parker. Missouri countered with its own 14-4 run to get close. But the Commodores led 39-32 at halftime because they shot better from beyond the arc than they did inside as they hit 8 of their first 16 3-pointers.

— Associated Press —

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Earnest Ross made himself right at home in his old arena.

The former Auburn player hit four free throws down the stretch and Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points to lead No. 21 Missouri to a 70-68 victory at Auburn Arena on Saturday.

”You heard the boos,” Clarkson said. ”I think he quieted them down when he hit those free throws. It was a big win for him.

”He was more focused. You could see it in his eyes that he was ready to play on the defensive and offensive end. He finished the game out for us.”

Ross, who spent two seasons at Auburn before transferring in 2011, scored 16 points for Missouri (13-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference). He made four straight free throws in the final 1:34.

”Coach told me to just knock the free throws down and to be calm and patient,” Ross said. ”That was what I did. I just took my time, believed in myself and knocked them down.”

The game went down to the final moments.

Unable to get off a tying 3-pointer, Chris Denson missed a layup with 5 seconds left but drew the foul for Auburn (8-5, 0-2). He made one free throw then Torren Jones stepped on the baseline after rebounding the missed second attempt.

Wes Clark batted away Tahj Shamsid-Deen’s long inbounds pass to end the game and Jabari Brown collected the ball just before time ran out.

Brown added 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Ross had seven rebounds and was perfect on eight attempts from the line.

Missouri dominated in rebounds with a 44-28 advantage and bounced back from an overtime loss to Georgia that snapped a nation’s-best 26-game home winning streak.

”We got crushed on the backboard,” Auburn coach Tony Barbee said. ”I thought that was where the game was won and lost, in the trenches. I thought defensively we played a great game. I thought offensively we executed fairly well, shooting almost 54 percent in the second half.

”But when it matters most, in those key moments, your execution has got to be at its highest. And in those key moments, those last three or four possessions, our execution was at its lowest in this game.”

Shamsid-Deen had 13 points and six assists for Auburn. Denson had 11 points despite a 3-of-10 performance in free throws.

Missouri shot 32.7 percent (17 of 52) from the floor but also made 31 of 41 free throws. Jones had 11 rebounds.

”I thought we showed great toughness,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said. ”We didn’t shoot the ball well but we rebounded well. That’s an area we struggled with the other night against Georgia.”

Auburn fared much better from the field, hitting 23 of 53 shots (43.4 percent). But Auburn also made barely over half from the line, 14 of 26.

Denson’s drive gave Auburn a 67-66 lead with 1:51 left. Missouri reclaimed the lead with two free throws by Ross.

Ross then blocked Harrell’s shot on the other end. He was Auburn’s leading scorer and rebounder in his final season before leaving, and shook off a steady stream of heckling from students.

”To come out and play my old school on the road, it was a great feeling,” Ross said. ”I’m glad we got the win.”

Auburn walk-on Alex Thompson, who had eight points, drew a charge against Clarkson with just over a minute remaining. But Denson missed his shot and Ross made two free throws with 29 seconds left to set up the final sequence with Auburn needing three points.

Thompson had scored just one point in five appearances this season. He played an increased role with starter Allen Payne limited to two minutes with a hamstring injury.

Before the game, Barbee also announced the indefinite suspension of reserve forward Chris Griffin for violating an undisclosed school policy.

Clarkson had hit three of four free throws after Auburn’s Matthew Atewe fouled out and was called for a technical, giving Missouri a 56-51 lead with 8:12 left.

Brown’s long 3-pointer with 7 seconds left had given Missouri a 33-30 halftime lead and capped a closing 8-0 run.

It was Missouri’s first visit to Auburn and only the teams’ second meeting.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A day after attending a memorial service for his father in Garden City, Kan., Mark Fox called the shots in an upset that ended the nation’s longest home winning streak.

Georgia’s coach said the late Raymond Lewis Fox, a longtime high school coach in Kansas, wouldn’t have had it any other way. Fox thought his dad would have been proud, but also would have wondered why it got past regulation.

”He wouldn’t have patted me on the back. Hell no,” Fox said after Georgia’s 70-64 upset in overtime at No. 21 Missouri in a Southeastern Conference opener on Wednesday. ”He’d have told me to get the next one.”

Missouri coach Frank Haith said he sensed before the game that players weren’t mentally into it. The Tigers were outrebounded 43-34, including 15 offensive, and had less than a sense of urgency on both ends and took plays off.

”I hate cool,” Haith said. ”We were really too cool and I don’t like cool. Cool gets you beat and cool got us beat tonight.”

Haith is 40-2 at home in three seasons, the other setback to Kansas State on Feb. 21, 2012. The Tigers were ranked No. 3 for that one.

Missouri led by five early in overtime before fading. Jordan Clarkson held the ball for the final shot in regulation instead of passing for a better look, and freshman Johnathan Williams III blew a shot at a crowd-pleasing one-handed follow dunk with the Tigers leading by a point and 2:20 to go in regulation.

Fox recalled his father who died at 78 from lung diseases on Saturday, matched wits with the likes of longtime Purdue coach Gene Keady in Ellsworth, Kan.

”One of the last things he said was ‘You’ve got to play some defense,”’ Fox said. ”He was right. My dad was a real tough son of a gun.

”I got a little emotional at one point in the first half and caught myself – you know, ‘I’m going to get my butt chewed when I get home.”

Charles Mann scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 35.8 seconds to go in overtime, and Georgia overcame free-throw shooting struggles.

”Coach Fox had a bad couple days,” Mann said. ”So we just wanted to win it for him and just play hard. We just kept on believing.”

Nemanja Djurisic had 16 points and hit the tying 3-pointer with 1:39 to go, and Kenny Gaines and Brandon Morris hit a pair of free throws apiece in the final half-minute. The Bulldogs (7-6, 1-0) had lost consecutive road games by double digits at George Washington and Colorado and were double-digit underdog before ending the nation’s longest winning streak.

”This is definitely going to sting, especially losing at home” said Jabari Brown, who led Missouri with 19 points. ”It’s what happens when you don’t make the plays that you needed to make.”

Earnest Ross added 15 for Missouri (12-2, 1-1). Jordan Clarkson, who missed from the top of the key at the end of regulation, had 12 points.

Mann pulled up in the lane before hitting the go-ahead basket less than a half-minute after Brown missed a 3-point attempt.

Even with Morris’ free throws at the end, Georgia was 13 for 26 at line with Marcus Thornton just 1 for 6. Djurisic was 4 for 5 from 3-point range, matching his career best, after being held to four points his last game.

Georgia entered hitting just 65 percent from 3-point range, 12th in the conference.

Mann missed a 3-pointer for the lead with 24 seconds left in regulation and Clarkson held the ball before missing a bid to end it with about a second to go. Georgia ended a four-game losing streak against Missouri.

Missouri also was vulnerable in its previous game, trailing most of the first half before pulling away to beat Long Beach State by 10 on Saturday. The Tigers had been 4-1 trailing at the half, rallying to beat UCLA and North Carolina State, with the other loss to Illinois.

Missouri opened the second half on a 12-4 run and took the lead at 35-34 on another 3-pointer by Ross. Georgia went 7:10 between baskets in the second half.

Missouri spotted the Bulldogs eight points to start the game before settling in, and the Tigers got their first lead on a 3-pointer by Ross that made it 20-19 with about 6 minutes remaining. That lasted a half-minute before Djurisic answered with two straight 3s to key an 11-0 run that gave Georgia it’s largest lead at 30-20 before Missouri finished the half with five points in a row.

— Associated Press —

University of Missouri junior tailback Henry Josey (Angleton, Texas) has decided to bypass his final year of eligibility and make himself available for the 2014 NFL Draft.  Josey, fresh off being named the offensive player of the game in Mizzou’s 41-31 win over Oklahoma State in Friday’s 2014 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, joins fellow junior teammate Kony Ealy, a defensive end from New Madrid, Mo., who announced following the game that he would be declaring for the draft.

Josey starred for the Tigers in their dramatic Cotton Bowl win, as he ran for three touchdowns, including the game-winning score from 16 yards out with 3:08 left in the contest.  He also scored from 25 yards out earlier in the quarter to break a 17-17 tie, after he opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 3-yard run that staked Mizzou to a 7-0 lead.  Josey finished the game with 92 yards rushing, and also caught a pass for 10 yards.  He ended his junior season with 1,166 yards rushing and ranked second in the Southeastern Conference with 16 touchdowns.

He is only the second Mizzou running back to post two 1,000-yard seasons, as he ran for 1,168 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore in 2011 before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in game #10 against Texas.  That injury kept him out all of the 2012 season.

“This is really a bittersweet decision to make,” said Josey.  “I’m so grateful to Mizzou and my coaches and teammates and fans for all of their support and everything they’ve meant to me these past four years.  It’s difficult to think I won’t be with them next year.  But I’m really excited to have a chance to play professionally and work on fulfilling a dream I’ve had since I was a little kid.  I can’t possibly express how much I owe to so many people for helping me get to this position, my doctors, trainers, strength coaches, everyone who pushed me and helped me and believed in me, and of course my coaches for trusting me.  To the Mizzou fans, thanks so much for all of your prayers and thoughts the past couple of years, you truly inspired me to get back on the field.  I’m going to miss my teammates but I know they’ll do great things and I will always be a Mizzou Tiger.”

Head Coach Gary Pinkel said that while his program would miss Josey, he supports his decision.

“Henry Josey is a first-class person any way you cut it, and anytime you take that out of your program, it leaves a void,” said Pinkel.  “He is such an amazing competitor, and I’ve said time and again just how inspiring he has been for our team the last two years.  We were so proud of him for overcoming everything he had to deal with, and to be such a positive influence on and off the field.  We’re going to miss him, no question, but Henry wants to pursue his dream of playing professionally and we wish him nothing but the best and we’ll do everything we can to help him reach that goal.  The Mizzou Football program is in better shape because of his efforts, so we’re grateful for the time he spent with us, and we know he’ll represent Mizzou well going forward,” he said.

— MU Sports Information —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jabari Brown scored 22 points to lead No. 25 Missouri to a 69-59 victory over pesky Long Beach State on Saturday.

Earnest Ross added 16 points and Ryan Rosburg had 11 rebounds for the Tigers (12-1), who open Southeastern Conference play at home against Georgia on Wednesday. Jordan Clarkson, who leads the SEC with a 20-point average, had a season-low 11 points.

Missouri has won 26 in a row at home, the longest current streak in the nation. It also has an 81-game winning streak against non-conference opponents since losing to Sam Houston State to start the 2005-06 season. Long Beach State (4-10) cut the deficit to two points with just under six minutes remaining but Missouri outscored the 49ers 12-4 the rest of the way.

Tyler Lamb had 17 points on 4-for-13 shooting for Long Beach State.

Dan Jennings, Long Beach State’s leading rebounder, missed the last 16 minutes after a collision under the basket. Long Beach State had won three in a row since Lamb, a UCLA transfer, became eligible.

The Mizzou Arena was about half-filled, with attendance announced at 8,679 a day after the ninth-ranked football team beat Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. The entertainment was a skeleton crew of five cheerleaders, an alumni band and no Golden Girls.

Wes Clark’s 3-pointer gave Missouri its largest lead at 51-38 with 13:32 to play. Long Beach answered with a 10-2 run, five of the points from Lamb. Four straight points by Gulley cut the deficit to 57-55 with just over six minutes to go.

Missouri shot 58 percent in the first half and rallied from eight points down to take a 37-34 lead. Long Beach had an 18-13 rebounding advantage, plus the Tigers hurt themselves by missing six of their first 11 free throws.

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Henry Josey ran for 92 yards and three touchdowns, the last a 16-yarder with 3:08 left, and No. 9 Missouri beat No. 13 Oklahoma State 41-31 in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.

The former Big 12 and Big Eight rivals traded points on six consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter, until Oklahoma State quarterback Clint Chelf was sacked and fumbled with a minute left. Defensive lineman Shane Ray picked up the ball and rumbled 76 yards down the sideline in front of the stunned Cowboys bench to score.

SEC East champion Missouri (12-2) matched its school record for victories, giving the SEC its 10th win in the last 11 Cotton Bowls — all against the Big 12.

Josey’s go-ahead TD came a play after James Franklin’s 27-yard pass to Dorial Green-Beckham on third-and-9. Franklin, the Missouri quarterback plagued by injuries the last two seasons, had two fumbles earlier in the second half when Oklahoma State (10-3) overcame a 10-point deficit to tie it in just over 3 1/2 minutes.

Ray had been dragged into the end zone by Desmond Roland when the Oklahoma State running back bulled through the line for a 2-yard TD run with 5 minutes left to give the Cowboys their only lead of the night. Ray hit Roland immediately at the line, but couldn’t keep him from scoring.

Franklin was only 15 of 40 passing for 174 yards with an interception in the first half.

Chelf threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, completing 33 of 57 passes. He also ran 10 times for 48 yards, including a 23-yard run on third-and-10 only a few plays before All-SEC defensive end Michael Sam sacked Chelf and knocked the ball loose.

That gave Sam 11 1/2 sacks, the most in the SEC and matching a school record.

— Associated Press —