Denmon, Missouri men's basketball team shoots down Navy

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- No. 10 Missouri needed a different strategy to counter Navy on Saturday after the Tigers dispatced their first eight opponents with hot shooting and quickness.

Missouri coach Frank Haith said earlier in the week that his team would need to exhibit patience against the Midshipmen, who play at a slower tempo and are more physical in the paint.

Haith's words came to fruition. The Tigers overcame an uncharacteristic slow start and used their defense to pull away from Navy 84-59.

Marcus Denmon, who scored 31 and 28 points in his previous two games, finished with 22 to help Missouri (9-0) match its best start since the 2006-07 season with its 64th consecutive home victory against nonconference opponents.

Missouri went on a 16-3 run to take the lead after trailing early. The Tigers finished the first half with a 27-11 burst.

"I feel they came out to a good start, but once the ball's thrown up and we started to get a couple of stops, I felt that us being patient helped us start to take off," Denmon said.

Ricardo Ratliffe, who entered the day leading the Big 12 in field goal percentage (77.3), made 6 of 9 shots and added 14 points. He was disappointed with how Missouri started and said Haith challenged the team to match Navy's intensity during the first timeout.

Asked what he told his team, Haith said, "We need to pick it up a little bit."

J.J. Avila scored 26 points for Navy (3-8). The Midshipmen took a 5-0 lead at the outset but trailed 45-26 at halftime.

"As a team, I thought we played hard," Avila said. "Missouri is a really good team. I think it was a good learning experience for us, playing someone a lot better. I can't say we almost had it, but we played well."

This was the first matchup between the teams since the first round of the 1994 NCAA tournament, when the top-seeded Tigers defeated the No. 16 Midshipmen 76-53.

Navy entered the game making 51 percent of its shots from inside the arc, compared to 29 percent on 3-point attempts. But the Midshipmen seemed flustered by Missouri's defensive pressure. Twenty-five of Navy's 55 shot attempts were from 3-point range, including 14 out of 27 in the first half.