Missouri shows no mercy to well-traveled Arkansas-Pine Bluff, wins 78-25
It’s been a long time since Missouri enjoyed a romp like Tuesday’s 78-25 crushing dominance against moribund Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Sure, the 53-point victory comes with caveats.
The Golden Lions, 2-12, aren’t a particularly good team and are a road-weary bunch.
Coach George Ivory’s squad won’t play its first home game of the season until Jan. 16 and already has traveled to Seattle, Hawaii, Virginia and California, among other stops.
Still, it was a good night to play for the Tigers, who hadn’t manhandled an opponent that badly since decimating Central Arkansas by 53 on Dec. 18, 2010, during Mike Anderson’s final season with the program.
The last time Missouri won by more than 53 was Nov. 22, 2009 — a 100-44 victory against Texas-Pan American.
It’s the fewest points the Tigers have allowed since a 36-25 win against Iowa State on Jan. 3, 1947.
Missouri controlled the boards 56-30 and went to the free-throw line at will.
Walk-ons Jimmy Barton and Adam Wolf combined for 12 minutes and were productive, too. Wolf delighted the crowd with six points down the stretch.
Freshman Kevin Puryear led Missouri with 13 points and added eight rebounds, while junior Wes Clark scored 11.
Sophomore Jakeenan Gant finished with seven points and a game- and career-high 11 rebounds, while junior Russell Woods matched his career-high with 10 boards.
Freshman Terrence Phillips added five assists, one fewer than the Lions.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff couldn’t find the range from anywhere. The Lions shot a miserable 15.4 percent, going 8 of 52 from the field, and even shot a laughable 20 percent at the free-throw line, going 3 of 15.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff committed 21 turnovers and managed only six assists on those eight baskets.
The Tigers pounced early against the Lions and led 39-12 at halftime on the way to ending the second three-game skid of the season.
Missouri’s lead stood at 9-5 after a three-pointer with around 15 minutes remaining in the first half by Golden Lions senior JoVaughn Love.
The Tigers dominated from there.
Gant was perfect on four free-throw attempts, helping Missouri build the lead to 16-5 before another Love three-pointer.
Gant then smashed a dunk that kicked off the game-deciding run.
Senior Ryan Rosburg also added a dunk, which turned into a three-point play, in transition as the Tigers pushed the tempo and the Lions struggled to keep up.
Clark heated up with three three-pointers in a little more than 2 minutes, the last of which made it 37-8 with 3:00 remaining before halftime.
Woods and freshman guard K.J. Walton got the starting nod in place of sophomore guard Namon Wright.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff — which shot 4 of 30 for the half, a dismal 13.3 percent — missed 14 consecutive shots from the field during Missouri’s scoring surge.
The Tigers dominated on the glass 32-12, including 10 offensive rebounds on 16 missed shots, and went 13 of 15 at the free-throw line.
The only major blemish for Missouri was 10 turnovers.
MISSOURI 78
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 25
TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers
ARKANSAS- PINE BLUFF | Min | FG-A | FT-A | O-R | A | PF | PT |
Handley Jr | 12 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Wallace | 24 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Love | 24 | 2-7 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
Robinson | 32 | 1-12 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
Parker | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Berry | 26 | 0-5 | 0-3 | 4-10 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Cox | 16 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Jackson | 16 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Whiting | 15 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tillman | 10 | 0-2 | 0-4 | 1-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Lynch | 8 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cunningham | 7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Johnson | 4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Bayless | 3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
TEAM | 1-5 | ||||||
Totals | 200 | 8-52 | 3-15 | 12-30 | 6 | 21 | 25 |
Percentages: FG .154, FT .200. Three-Point Goals: 6-19, .316 (Handley Jr. 2-2, Love 2-4, Cox 1-2, Robinson 1-7, Wallace 0-1, Lynch 0-1, Jackson 0-2). Blocked Shots: 2 (Jackson, Berry). Turnovers: 21 (Robinson 7, Whiting 3, Handley Jr. 3, Wallace 2, Tillman, Love, Parker, Berry, Jackson, Johnson). Steals: 6 (Whiting, Robinson, Wallace, Jackson, Cunningham, Cox). Technical Fouls: None.
TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers
MISSOURI | Min | FG-A | FT-A | O-R | A | PF | PT |
Phillips | 18 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
Walton | 12 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Clark | 23 | 3-7 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
Puryear | 17 | 4-9 | 5-6 | 4-8 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
Woods | 15 | 2-4 | 2-3 | 4-10 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
VanLeer | 22 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Wright | 21 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
Gant | 20 | 1-7 | 5-6 | 4-11 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
Isabell | 18 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Allen | 11 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
Rosburg | 11 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Barton | 7 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Wolf | 5 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
TEAM | 1-4 | ||||||
Totals | 200 | 27-61 | 18-22 | 17-56 | 19 | 15 | 78 |
Percentages: FG .443, FT .818. Three-Point Goals: 6-15, .400 (Clark 3-5, Isabell 1-2, VanLeer 1-2, Wright 1-3, Barton 0-3). Blocked Shots: 11 (Gant 4, Wolf 2, Walton, Puryear, Wright, Clark, Phillips). Turnovers: 13 (Woods 3, Isabell 3, Phillips 2, Puryear 2, Walton, Clark, Allen). Steals: 12 (Wright 2, Puryear 2, Isabell, Allen, Wolf, Gant, Phillips, Walton, Barton, Rosburg). Technical Fouls: None.
Half: Missouri 39-12. Att: 6,154. Officials: Karl Hess, Rusty Phillips, Will Howard.
AP-WF-12-30-15 0428GMT
Tod Palmer: 816-234-4389, @todpalmer
This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Missouri shows no mercy to well-traveled Arkansas-Pine Bluff, wins 78-25."