Tigers win opener, 86-65
Early veteran leadership gives way to a freshman surge.
Published Nov. 15, 2008
A crowd of 5,463 at Mizzou Arena got a look at the Missouri men’s basketball team’s mix of old and new Saturday, as Missouri opened the season with an 86-65 win over Prairie View A&M.
Missouri came out a bit shaky, which coach Mike Anderson attributed to first game jitters.
“I thought we came out with some nerves,” Anderson said. “We missed a lot of easy chip shots early on."
After quickly falling into an 8-2 hole, Missouri’s veterans took charge.
Seniors Leo Lyons, DeMarre Carroll and Matt Lawrence and junior J.T. Tiller scored Missouri’s next 17 points. Missouri did not lead until nearly six and a half minutes passed, but the surge by the upperclassmen eventually gave Missouri a 19-14 lead.
During a TV timeout, Anderson went with nearly wholesale changes to his lineup, leaving Lawrence as his only remaining starter on the floor. The change gave way to the debuts of heralded freshmen Miguel Paul, Marcus Denmon and Kim English.
“I thought our guys came off the bench and gave us some excellent, excellent minutes,” Anderson said.
The trio added 13 consecutive Missouri points in an eight-minute stretch in the first half. Paul and Denmon showed impressive range from deep, combining for three 3-pointers. But Paul made one of his most impressive plays on an open three-pointer he didn’t take.
Standing in nearly the exact same spot where he hit his first three, Paul pump-faked a charging defender, stepping inside the arc and drilling a pull-up jumper.
Paul, touted as a pass-first point guard, had no reservations shooting the ball, finishing with 11 points.
“We call it ‘Lights Syndrome’ when all of the lights are on and you want to do something so bad for your family and everyone watching you,” Lyons said.
Lyons and his frontcourt mate Carroll dominated a much smaller Prairie View A&M team. The duo finished with 40 combined points and 17 combined rebounds.
The twosome’s dominance inside helped Missouri to a 47-35 rebound advantage and a 26-8 edge in second-chance points.
Despite the win, Anderson continued to harp on Missouri’s defense. Anderson said that at times, the team lacked a “sense of urgency” once a big lead had been established.
That was the case at the end of the first half, as Missouri’s 19-point lead was cut to 12 before halftime.
“He was pretty upset about the defense,” Lyons said of Anderson's halftime speech. “I can’t say what he said.”
Carroll attributed any shaky defensive play to still-developing chemistry.
“It’s a trust system, honestly,” Carroll said. “You have to trust your guys that if you get beat, the next guy is going to be there to help you out.”
Later this week, Missouri (1-0) heads to Puerto Rico to take part in the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Tigers begin Thursday with Xavier, which received the most votes of the non-ranked teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
With a tough tournament field awaiting, the team already knows which talking points they can expect to hear from Anderson this week.
“Going into these games in Puerto Rico, I think our defense will get better. Coach will emphasize defense more,” Carroll said. “Hopefully we’re get more steals and cut back on turnovers.”
