Tigers ride big second half past Buffaloes

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Quin Snyder might want to consider moonlighting as a motivational speaker.

He must be delivering some kind of halftime speech because it worked again Tuesday as his Missouri Tigers (14-13, 6-7 Big 12) rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to beat Colorado 63-54. Jason Horton made three straight 3-pointers midway through the second half, helping Missouri blow open a close game. It was Missouri's third second-half rally in four games.

Both of Missouri's leading scorers -- Horton with 14 and Jason Conley with 13 -- scored all of their points in the second half. Linas Kleiza added 10 points and 10 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season.

Jayson Obazuaye had 16 points and Glean Eddy added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Colorado (13-12, 4-9). Richard Roby, Colorado's leading scorer with a 16-point average, scored nine points. He fouled out with 4:12 to play.

Snyder was clearly frustrated by Missouri's first-half play, when the Tigers fell behind 24-18 by shooting 27 percent from the field, committing 10 turnovers and appearing willing to toss up 3-pointers from any angle. He tried several combinations of players, even turning to walk-on guard Brian Dailey, who didn't score but impressed the coach with his hustle and scrappiness -- the kind of play Snyder said he expects from the entire team.

"I don't think it's effort-related as much as mental focus," said Snyder, who conceded his halftime speech consisted largely of "yelling at them, trying to motivate them."

Missouri has followed a five-game losing streak with a four-game winning streak. If the Tigers can win their final three regular-season games -- at Texas on Saturday, at Iowa State on March 2 and against No. 8 Kansas on March 6 -- they could be back in contention for an NCAA bid.

The Buffaloes beat Missouri 64-62 on Jan. 26, but came into this game short-handed. Coach Ricardo Patton announced Monday that four players -- Julius Ashby, Marcus Hall, Chris Copeland and Martane Freeman -- were suspended for the Missouri game for violating team rules. Patton did not specify the violation.

Copeland is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game, Hall leads the Buffaloes in assists at 4.4 per game, and Ashby is the leading rebounder at 6.1 per game.

The short bench appeared to catch up with Colorado in the second half, when Missouri quickly took control. The Tigers tied the game 26-26 4 minutes into the half on Horton's short jumper. They went ahead for good at 33-31 with 12:25 to play on Marshall Brown's jumper.

Brown's putback 30 seconds later gave Missouri a four-point lead, then Horton scored the Tigers' next nine points during a 15-3 run that made it 46-34 with 7:57 to play. After that, Colorado never got closer than seven points.

"Certainly, I thought we wore down in the second half," Patton said. "They played hard but just kind of ran out of ammunition down the stretch."

Kleiza agreed with Snyder's assertion that the Tigers sometimes appear to lack focus for the entire 40 minutes.

"We don't get ready for a game, or if we do, we don't keep our focus through the second half," Kleiza said.

Many of Missouri's early losses were the result of second-half letdowns. But lately, the Tigers have dominated the final 20 minutes.

On Feb. 12, Missouri trailed No. 16 Oklahoma by 11 at the half, only to rally and win in 68-65 in overtime. A week later, the Tigers were down six points to Nebraska, then shot 54 percent in the second half and won 56-63.

On Tuesday, the Tigers shot 27 percent in the first half and 52 percent in the second half.

"We came out really flat," Horton said. "It was hard because once you're in a funk, it's hard to get out of it."