Brown responds to Snyder's coaching with double-double

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A little hounding from the coach paid big dividends for Marshall Brown.

Missouri coach Quin Snyder got on the sophomore forward last week to be more aggressive, get to the boards and attack the basket.

The result: Nineteen points and 11 rebounds for Brown in the Tigers' 68-56 win Wednesday over Eastern Illinois.

Brown's first career double-double was a welcome sight for Missouri (5-4). Snyder is seeking consistent play from someone other than Thomas Gardner, the Big 12's leading scorer at 20 points per game.

"I was really happy to see Marshall play as aggressively as he did on the glass," Snyder said. "I thought that was a big lift for us, and that's one reason he scored, too.

"We've got to have better play from him. It's good to see him kind of breaking through a little bit since he hasn't played as well as of late."

Since scoring a career-high 20 points in Missouri's season-opening loss to Sam Houston State, Brown was averaging just 7.5 points prior to the Eastern Illinois game. In the previous four games, he scored a combined 22 points.

Brown also entered the game averaging a little more than 5 rebounds a game.

"Once he goes to the boards, then everything else flows," teammate Jimmy McKinney said. "His jump shots start sinking. You also can get a lot of tip dunks and chances to keep it alive for our team to get a second shot."

Against Eastern Illinois, Brown's biggest offensive rebound came when he grabbed Marcus Watkins' missed layup and dunked it with one hand with 7:19 left and Missouri leading 48-43. The play ended an 8-0 run by the Panthers and sparked a 12-0 run for the Tigers that put the game out of reach.

"I was feeling that we were kind of dead on defense, and I kept trying to get the guys going, and I guess that play helped get us going on defense and we finished it off," Brown said.

McKinney said, "Once Marshall started going hard to the boards then everyone else started going hard to the boards."

The aggressiveness also helped Brown get to the free throw line 13 times, making nine. The 13 attempts were more than twice his previous high this season.

The Tigers play Oakland on Friday before closing out nonconference play against Louisiana-Monroe on Monday.

"We needed a win, we got one, and we need to keep getting better. We've got work to do," Snyder said. "I think the more guys we can get right now that have some success will really help our team continue to play with some confidence."