Latest entries in Live blog: Missouri vs. Nebraska pregame
Stay updated with The Maneater's live coverage of Saturday afternoon's men's basketball game. The Tigers are set to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 12:30 p.m.
Feb. 14, 2009
Missouri wins going away
Consider phase one of the Mizzou Arena retribution tour complete.
Missouri avenged its Jan. 10 loss to Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. by defeating the Cornhuskers, 70-47, today at Mizzou Arena. DeMarre Carroll and Matt Lawrence paced Missouri with 13 points apiece. Two other Tigers - J.T. Tiller and Marcus Denmon - finished in double figures.
After a road game against Colorado next week, the Tigers will return to Mizzou Arena to face Kansas State, which handed Missouri its only other conference loss, an 88-72 blitzing in Manhattan, Kan. on Jan. 28.
Ramsey electrifies Mizzou Arena
Missouri junior forward Keith Ramsey blocks a shot in the second half of Saturday's game against Nebraska. Ramsey had three blocks and the No. 17 Tigers crushed the Cornhuskers 70-47 in front of a sold-out Mizzou Arena.
In what's been a semi-tame Mizzou Arena today, Keith Ramsey is doing his best to bring the Missouri crowd to its feet.
With the Tigers leading 50-34, a Nebraska forward drove to the left side of the hoop hoping to put a layup off the glass. Ramsey swatted the ball with enough force to make it audible from the third row of press here in Mizzou Arena. Ramsey began pumping his fist and yelling "Let's Go!" to a then-erupting Missouri crowd.
A few minutes later, Ramsey threw down a thunderous one-handd dunk on a fast break to reignite the crowd. Missouri leads 56-37 with over six minutes to play.
Three-pointers push Missouri out to 15-point lead
Three-pointers from J.T. Tiller, Matt Lawrence and Marcus Denmon have played a large role in helping Missouri extend a six-point halftime lead into a 15-point advantage with 13:20 to play.
Throughout the first part of the second half, the foul motif has continued. 10 fouls have been called in the half's first 6:40, five on each team. J.T. Tiller just picked up his third foul, giving he and guards Zaire Taylor and Miguel Paul three apiece.
Missouri leads Nebraska by six at halftime
With a little over two and a half minutes remaining in the first half, Missouri appeared to be losing its grip on momentum.
After a TV timeout with Nebraska down by only two points, Miguel Paul came out and drew his third personal foul on a three-point attempt by Brandon Richardson. Paul's time on the floor was likely largely the result of two fouls each on J.T. Tiller and Zaire Taylor. Richardson went 1-for-3 at the line to cut the lead to one.
However, Missouri rallied, beginning with a Matt Lawrence corner three to push the lead back out to four. On Nebraska's next possession, Keith Ramsey got a steal on the baseline and Marcus Denmon fed DeMarre Carroll for a dunk on the ensuing fast break. Nebraska came back down the floor, only to have Ramsey block a dunk attempt by Chris Balham.
Missouri leads 25-19 at halftime. Carroll leads Missouri with nine points, two more than he had in the entire game in Missouri's loss to Nebraska in Lincoln in January.
Tiger lead cut to two
Nebraska has reeled off six consecutive points since the last TV timeout, cutting Missouri's lead to two. The Tigers lead, 18-16, with 3:28 remaining in the first half.
The most telling stat thus far is the foul discrepancy. Missouri has seven fouls to Nebraska' four. Of Missouri's four primary guards at the one and two spots, J.T Tiller, Zaire Taylor and Miguel Paul all have two fouls. Marcus Denmon has none.
Missouri has been fortunate, as Nebraska has not shot well from the charity stripe. The Huskers are currently 2-of-7 from the line.
Tigers taking control, but at a price
Since Nebraska's last lead when the game was 5-4, Missouri's gone on a 13-6 run to give the Tigers an 18-10 lead with 7:41 to play in the first half. The Tigers have been sparked by two DeMarre Carroll three-pointers from just above the top of the key.
However, the Tigers lead is coming at a bit of a price. Missouri's top two guards, juniors Zaire Taylor and J.T. Tiller, each have two early fouls. As a result, Missouri coach Mike Anderson is having to rely heavily on freshman Marcus Denmon and largely untested freshman Miguel Paul.
Tigers finding shooting touch
After opening up 1-for-7 from the floor, Missouri's shooting touch is starting to come back.
Zaire Taylor hit a deep two, DeMarre Carroll hit a three and Matt Lawrence hit a putback off the glass to give Missouri a 7-0 run and put the Tigers up 10-4. Lawrence, normally known as a three-point shooter, finds himself now with two straight games with a rebound-putback combination.
Shots not falling for Missouri early
It isn't quite as sloppy as Monday's start against Kansas, but Missouri isn't finding the rims friendly early against Nebraska.
The Tigers have opened up 1-for-7 from the floor, including 0-for-3 from Zaire Taylor. Missouri's early offensive struggles have been compounded by three turnovers.
Nebraska appears to be employing the style of play that Kansas State used against the Tigers in Manhattan. Nebraska is playing high pressure basketball, and collapsing two or three men down low when Missouri feeds the ball into the paint. Offensively, Nebraska is pushing the ball up the floor at a high tempo before slowing the pace considerably upon crossing halfcourt.
With 15:45 to play in the first half, Missouri trails, 4-3.
Starting Lineups
Here are today's announced starting lineups:
MISSOURI
1 D. Carroll
5 L. Lyons
24 K. English
4 J.T. Tiller
11 Z. Taylor
NEBRASKA
4. S. Harley
5 S. Henry
11 A. Dagunduro
24 C. Miller
32 C. Balham
Video Preview: No. 17 Missouri vs. Nebraska
Senior Staff Writer Ross Taylor and Sports Editor Lenny Goldman take a quick look at the matchup between the No. 17 Missouri Tigers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Mizzou Arena.