Bench carries Tigers past UMKC

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- On a team with eight or nine potential starters, Missouri coach Mike Anderson doesn't hesitate to blend a mix-and-match lineup -- or quickly yank a first-teamer gone flat.

On Wednesday night, those "other" starters keyed a 20-0 first-half outburst to lead Missouri to a 91-57 victory over Missouri-Kansas City in a game that started out looking like the Tigers might suffer their first nonconference home loss in more than four years.

Zaire Taylor, forced into a reserve role after a stomach flu sidelined him against Illinois one week ago, scored all 10 of his points in that first-half flurry. Missouri's bench scoring equaled UMKC's point total, with second-unit members Taylor, Laurence Bowers, Marcus Denmon and Miguel Paul accounting for all but eight of the Tigers' 36 first-half points.

"Thank goodness for our bench," Anderson said.

Bowers scored a career-high 17 points, was perfect from the field (5 for 5) and hit all seven of his free throws. Denmon added 14 points, and starter Kim English scored 11 after being held scoreless in the first half.

UMKC's Spencer Johnson shoots between Missouri's Zaire Taylor and Steve Moore during the first half of their game Wednesday in Columbia, Mo. (L.G. PATTERSON ~ Associated Press)

English scored nine straight points in less than two minutes at the start of the second half as Missouri quickly extended a 12-point halftime lead with a 20-4 run.

Taylor, a fifth-year senior who sat out one year after transferring from Delaware, said he has no qualms about his new role, noting that he still played 20 minutes -- two more than starter Michael Dixon, a freshman.

"I just do whatever coach wants me to do," he said. "Look at his resume -- it speaks for itself. I think he knows what he's doing. [He] always said that it is not how you start the game, but how you finish."

His team's start was one to forget.

Missouri (10-3) missed its first nine shots and didn't score for nearly five minutes in falling behind 6-0 against UMKC (7-6).