Alabama's Norris leads Tide past Missouri 80-71

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Riley Norris made three 3-pointers and scored 18 points to help Alabama beat Missouri 80-71 on Saturday.

Arthur Edwards and Justin Coleman made back-to-back 3-pointers to give Alabama its largest lead of the game at 67-43 with 9:28 remaining.

"Sometimes we play like a real basketball team, and as I told them yesterday in practice, sometime they wanna be the Washington Generals, but the only problem with that was not many of them knew who the Washington Generals were," Alabama coach Avery Johnson said.

Retin Obasohan had 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Alabama (13-9, 4-6 SEC).

"(Obasohan) gets in the lane, he's got that floater. Thing's hard to guard," Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. "Give him credit. He's a good player. I remembered him from a year ago. ... He's definitely improved."

Obasohan put up 25 points in Alabama's overtime win against Mississippi State last Tuesday.

Alabama shot 45 percent from the field in the first half and hit 5 3-pointers to build a 40-28 lead. Missouri was limited to 38 percent shooting in the half.

Coleman added 14 points for Alabama and Jimmie Taylor and Edwards each had 11. Taylor also blocked four shots.

"Other people focus on 11 points," Johnson said of his point total. "I'm focusing on blocked shots."

Freshman Kevin Puryear scored a season-best 22 points to lead Missouri (8-15, 1-9). Senior Ryan Rosburg also set a career-high with 17 points and the duo combined for 13 boards but the Tigers were outrebounded 38-30.

After 20 minutes of play, Missouri had six turnovers but finished with nine. Alabama had three turnovers in the first half before adding 10 more in the final frame.

Down 24, Missouri pulled within seven with less than 30 seconds left thanks to a 28-11 spurt over nine minutes. Coleman sealed the win for Alabama after he was sent to the line with 24 seconds left and sank both free throws.

"Obviously, when it came down to it, the rebounding was a major factor and the second-chance points," Anderson said.

Tip-ins

Missouri: The Tigers have lost eight straight games. Their last win came on Jan. 9 against Auburn.

Alabama: Obasohan's five-game streak of at least 20 points was snapped. He has scored 20-plus points in eight of his last 10 games.

Up next

Missouri heads to Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Alabama hosts No. 8 Texas A&M on Wednesday.