Kim Anderson picks up career win No. 300 as MU throttles Vanderbilt 72-52
The pregame report Missouri coach Kim Anderson received from his assistants wasn’t encouraging, but the final result was a milestone win.
“Today was the least-focused this team has been in shoot-around of any game this year … but they came out and played,” Anderson said.
Vanderbilt didn’t make a field goal during the final 12 minutes, 13 seconds Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
Meanwhile, the Tigers dominated the glass, which was expected, and outshot the Commodores from three-point range, which was not, during an easy 72-52 victory — the 300th of Anderson’s coaching career.
“We played extremely hard,” said junior forward Jordan Barnett, who scored a game- and career-high 23 for the second straight game and added a game-best nine rebounds. “It’s like we forced them to lay down and we took over, so it feels really good to be able to win in that fashion.”
The lopsided victory is the largest in SEC play for Mizzou (7-17, 2-10 SEC) since a 21-point drubbing of Alabama on Jan. 18, 2014 — a win that was later vacated.
“I bet you guys are surprised,” Anderson said with a smile opening his postgame press conference.
Asked later if he saw a 20-point win coming, Anderson admitted, “No, probably not a 20-point win. I certainly thought that we could compete with them and, if we played well, we’d have a chance to win. And we did, we played well.”
The Tigers out-rebounded the Commodores 43-25, including 16 offensive rebounds and a 21-4 edge in second-chance points.
“We really challenged our guys to go get offensive rebounds,” Anderson said. “We felt like maybe we could get some second-chance points and that really was the difference in the game.”
Vanderbilt (12-13, 5-7 SEC), which entered play as the SEC’s top three-point shooting team, only made 6 of 28 from distance compared to Mizzou’s efficient 9-of-19 long-range performance.
Anderson, who went 274-95 in 12 seasons at Central Missouri, is 26-61 in three seasons with Mizzou.
“It is special to win 300 games,” he said. “I guess not everybody gets to do it.”
The Commodores quickly were able to erase the Tigers’ six-point halftime lead, but Barnett made certain a brief lead on senior guard Nolan Cressler’s layup with 12:13 remaining was short-lived.
During a 9-0 Tigers run, Barnett, who also netted 23 on Wednesday at Texas A&M, scored seven — two go-ahead free throws, an acrobatic scoop layup in transition and his career-high fifth three-pointer.
“It was really fun, not just from the standpoint of me scoring, but I know I played as hard as I could,” Barnett said. “I know I did.”
Vanderbilt never drew closer than six points in the final 8:27 and Mizzou answered with a 12-1 run after the six-minute mark when first-year coach Bryce Drew’s squad pulled within 54-48.
An estimated crowd of 6,845 rose to its feet with a roar when Puryear — who finished with 13 points, including a trio of treys, and eight rebounds — splashed in a three-pointer from the right wing, extending the lead to 14.
“I’m going to sleep very good tonight,” Puryear said. “For us to string together two great halves and play at a high level the whole game, making shots when we needed to make them, I thought our execution today was better than it’s been all season.”
The crowd noise reached its apex a few minutes later when Barnett hustled to save a ball from going out of bounds with a blind flip to Puryear.
Senior Luke Kornet, a 7-foot-1 center, was the only Commodore to reach double figures, finishing with 11 points despite missing all nine three-point tries.
Missouri sophomore guard Terrence Phillips, who had 12 points and six rebounds, and senior forward Russell Woods, who scored 10 with five boards, joined Barnett and Puryear in double figures.
Sophomore guard K.J. Walton matched Barnett’s game-high nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Cullen VanLeer dished a game-high four assists.
Tod Palmer: 816-234-4389, @todpalmer
MISSOURI 72
VANDERBILT 52
TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers
Vanderbilt | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Kornet | 31 | 4-14 | 3-3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
Roberson | 26 | 1-6 | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Cressler | 30 | 3-3 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
LaChance | 33 | 3-11 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
Toye | 21 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
Willis | 20 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Fisher-Davis | 17 | 1-5 | 5-6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
Brown | 15 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
Baptiste | 7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Totals | 200 | 17-51 | 12-15 | 23 | 7 | 21 | 52 |
Percentages: FG .333, FT .800. Three-Point Goals: 6-28, .214 (Brown 2-3, LaChance 2-6, Cressler 1-1, Fisher-Davis 1-3, Roberson 0-2, Toye 0-2, Willis 0-2, Kornet 0-9). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 5 (Brown 2, Kornet 2, Willis). Turnovers: 14 (Roberson 3, Toye 3, Cressler 2, Fisher-Davis 2, Kornet 2, LaChance 2). Steals: 4 (Roberson 2, Cressler, Fisher-Davis). Technical Fouls: Roberson, 00:00 first. Fouled Out: None.
TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers
Missouri | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Puryear | 32 | 5-12 | 0-0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
Woods | 22 | 4-8 | 2-2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
Phillips | 33 | 5-11 | 2-2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
VanLeer | 30 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
Walton | 25 | 1-6 | 2-6 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Barnett | 29 | 6-10 | 6-6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
Geist | 20 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Hughes | 9 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Totals | 200 | 23-56 | 17-22 | 42 | 12 | 13 | 72 |
Percentages: FG .411, FT .773. Three-Point Goals: 9-19, .474 (Barnett 5-8, Puryear 3-3, VanLeer 1-3, Geist 0-1, Hughes 0-1, Phillips 0-3). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 3 (Barnett, Puryear, VanLeer). Turnovers: 14 (Phillips 6, Woods 4, Walton 2, Hughes, VanLeer). Steals: 5 (Phillips 2, Walton 2, VanLeer). Technical Fouls: Geist, 00:00 first. Fouled Out: None.
Half: Missouri 35-29. Att: 10,279.
This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Kim Anderson picks up career win No. 300 as MU throttles Vanderbilt 72-52."