Tigers get first road win of the season

By Sam Wilson

Published Jan. 29, 2008

Seven-hundred and fifty miles away from mid-Missouri and seven hours before he fractured his jaw during an altercation in downtown Columbia, there was a positive moment for senior guard Stefhon Hannah.

There were about 30 seconds remaining in the Tigers’ game at Colorado. The Tigers led 63-62, but Colorado had just rebounded a Missouri missed free throw. Hannah stole the ball on a cross-court pass and had an unimpeded lay-up to make the score 65-62.

Colorado was not able to recover from this deficit, and the Tigers escaped Coors Events Center with a 66-62 win.

“He made a big play for us in Colorado, so that’s the kind of stuff we’re going to miss,” junior guard Matt Lawrence said after practice at Mizzou Arena on Monday.

The Colorado game was a game of runs for both teams. The Buffaloes scored the first 11 points of the game and led much of the way through. But it was the Tigers that went on a run in the second half.

Colorado led by 10 at halftime and by double-digits for much of the second half. But Missouri (12-8, 2-3 Big 12) was able to chip away at the lead and be on top at the end. It was the Tigers’ first true road win of the season, having beat Maryland at a neutral site in Kansas City.

“It seemed like it was just going to be the same way,” Lawrence said. “We were going to fight back at the end and just not pull it off. Finally, we got guys together, and we knew what we were doing.”

Lawrence, who had struggled with 3-pointers in recent games, shot 3-for-7 from behind the arc Saturday. Junior forward Leo Lyons, who had 22 points, 16 of them in the second half, led the Tigers in scoring. Lyons also led the Tigers with seven rebounds in just 22 minutes of playing time. Hannah had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.

In the second half, Missouri shot 48.5 percent from the floor, compared with just 38.1 percent for Colorado (9-10, 1-4). This was a sharp decline from the 52.2 percent the Buffaloes shot in the first half. Colorado was 0-6 from behind the arc in the second half.

The team’s next game is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at home against Nebraska. Coach Mike Anderson said he wants to see the same type of performance his team had in Saturday’s second half.

“I keep saying that we’re close, that we’re about to turn that corner,” Anderson said. “And you saw our team start making plays. Number one: they never panicked. You look at Matt Lawrence, he hits the big shot, J.T. Tiller has a big deflection, which turns into a steal and dunk for Leo Lyons. More than anything else, I thought our defense really stepped up.”

For the sophomore guard Tiller, one of the team’s main issue is remaining poised.

“We just got to keep it rolling,” he said. “Work on our defensive stops, keeping poised and staying mentally strong.”