Tigers sluggish in 9th win
Published Dec. 5, 2006
The fast pace of the Missouri men's basketball team means it needs depth. On Sunday, the bench was a major factor in a 21-point win against Evansville.
Led by junior forward Darryl Butterfield and freshman guard J.T. Tiller, the MU bench scored 32 points and helped carry the Tigers in the second half to a solid — if unspectacular — 73-54 win over the Evansville Purple Aces.
The Tigers (9-0) burst out of the gate, taking early leads of 14-1 and 23-7 over the Purple Aces (4-3). But Evansville closed the half on an 8-0 run and prompted MU coach Mike Anderson to say after the game that his team looked slow.
"I thought we came out flat," he said.
Junior center Kalen Grimes said the early start at 12 p.m. might have had some effect on the team.
"I think with such an early start, we were kind of tired to begin with," he said.
But in the second half, the Tigers went on a 15-7 run in the first five minutes to put the game out of reach. Anderson said Tiller helped spark the team on both ends of the floor.
"In the second half, we came out with an injection of energy from Tiller," he said. "He gives us that energy we need, and he ignited us today."
Tiller said he's familiar with playing in a quick system from his days at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga.
"I'm used to playing fast," he said. "And if I don't do it, I won't get on the floor."
Evansville coach Steve Merfeld said the pace wore down his team.
"I can't say enough about the job coach Anderson has done in such a short amount of time," he said. "We were always worried about where the next trap was going to come from, and we could never get in a comfort zone."
MU held Evansville to 28 percent shooting overall and 19 percent behind the three-point arc. Starting guards Kyle Anslinger and Jason Holsinger were a combined 0-for-20.
"Not too often are their guards going to shoot like that, so we got lucky in that respect," Anderson said.
Grimes led Missouri's evenly spread out scoring with 12 points and also added 12 rebounds. Butterfield and junior guards Stefhon Hannah and Jason Horton had 10 points as well.
Although the Tigers are one of only 17 undefeated Division I teams, all nine wins have come at Mizzou Arena. Horton said their next game, Saturday night in West Lafayette, Ind., against the Purdue Boilermakers will be a major test.
"If we want to be taken seriously, then we have to win road games," he said. "It's a huge challenge."
Horton said he isn't worried about the team getting sluggish during its six-day break from games.
"We don't have to worry about conditioning with coach Anderson," he said. "The practices are so fast and intense that when we actually play, it feels kind of slow."