MU's English excels again in tournament

Missouri's Kim English shoots over Chattanooga's Keegan Bell during the second half Tuesday in Columbia, Mo. English led all scorers with a career-high 26 points in Missouri's 99-56 victory. (L.G. PATTERSON ~ Associated Press) [Click to enlarge]

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri guard Kim English must have thought his career-high 25-point total Sunday was a little low.

The sophomore nearly matched that mark in the first half Tuesday against Chattanooga.

English scored 21 of his new career-high 26 in the opening half as Missouri rolled to a 99-56 victory over Chattanooga in the second round of the South Padre Island Invitational.

"He was on fire," Missouri coach Mike Anderson said. "Our guys did a good job of getting him the ball."

This season, first-half scoring has been nothing new for Missouri. The Tigers (3-0) headed to the break with a 59-28 lead and have scored at least 50 points in the first half of all three of their games this season -- something last year's Elite Eight squad did just five times.

English slowed down after the break, but the Tigers did not. Their aggressive defense created a school-record 24 steals in the game and forced the Mocs (2-2) into 29 turnovers. Opposing teams are averaging 25 turnovers per game against Missouri.

"We hit them pretty good early," Anderson said. "We had 19 deflections in the first half and that just tells you how active we were."

While the Tigers' gaudy turnover statistics will make the defense-first Anderson happy, Missouri's offense was no slouch Tuesday. The Tigers hit 18 3-pointers -- two short of the school record -- in 37 attempts.

"They [Chattanooga] like to double the post a lot, and they left the opposite wingman open every time," senior guard Zaire Taylor said. "All of our guards can shoot, our big men can shoot, everyone on this team can shoot."

English continued to do his best work off the bench. Anderson removed him from the starting lineup before Sunday's game against Texas-Pan American in an effort to take some pressure off the sophomore. English had struggled through the Tigers' two exhibition games and season opener, shooting just 23 percent.

In the last two games, English has hit 49 percent of his shots, including 10 of 17 from 3-point range. His 26 points against the Mocs came in just 18 minutes.

"That tells you how efficient he played," Anderson said.

English's performance Tuesday was summed up when he made a fade-away, rainbow shot from the corner while being fouled. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, and English high-fived a young fan to complete the moment.

"I mean it was a good shot," English said. "I practice every shot I shoot, and I knew I could make it."

The lineup change hasn't just benefited English. Sophomore Marcus Denmon, who replaced English in the starting lineup, set a career high with 17 points Tuesday. Justin Safford was the third Tiger in double figures with 10 points.

"Marcus is playing not only offensively," Anderson said. "I think defensively he's doing a lot of good things and on offense he moves the ball, gets the ball to the right people."

Chattanooga's offense was not hampered just by turnovers. The Mocs shot 3 of 20 from 3-point range, and 40 percent overall. In addition, their leading scorer, Ridge McKeither, did not start after being 30 seconds late for the team bus.

"We don't have to beat Missouri to go to the NCAA Tournament," Chattanooga coach John Shulman said. "We've got to lay down the law and guidelines now."

DeAntre Jefferson led Chattanooga with 12 points and Jeremy Saffore had nine.

Missouri senior captain J.T. Tiller missed his second straight game with a contusion in his left foot, but told his coach he would be ready when the Tigers travel to South Padre Island, Texas, for the next two rounds of the tournament.

"According to J.T., I'll have him back, Anderson said. "I was talking to the doc and he said for Thanksgiving you get J.T. back. That was music to my ears."