Dominance in second half gives Snyder some hope

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Quin Snyder hopes this is the breakthrough he's been waiting for.

Missouri, one of the preseason favorites in the Big 12, was in danger of falling below .500 Saturday night against Nebraska. The Tigers missed 14 of their first 17 shots and didn't reach double digits in scoring for almost 13 minutes. They were down by as many as 10 points in the early going.

Then the Tigers (8-7, 3-2 Big 12) took off, finally putting it all together in a 72-51 victory.

The second half was all Missouri, highlighted by a 29-2 burst of dominance during which Nebraska went eight minutes between baskets.

Leading the way was Rickey Paulding with 19 points. Paulding was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line after his struggles cost Missouri in an overtime loss to Texas at home on Tuesday.

Building on effort

Now, the test will be whether Missouri can build on that effort. The Tigers play Wednesday at Colorado.

"I think we've been gaining over the last few weeks," Snyder said. "The Texas game can knock you back, but we played well and I think we played well tonight.

"When you play well, you should gain confidence."

Missouri began the season ranked fifth and rose to third in mid-December before faltering.

The Tigers have 12 regular-season games remaining plus the Big 12 tournament -- plenty of time, they feel, to right the ship.

"Nebraska is a good team and we kind of put it to them a little bit," center Arthur Johnson said. "We're working at it, and every day we see it getting better and better."

Freshman Thomas Gardner added 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting for Missouri, matching his career high, and Johnson had 10 points.

Nate Johnson had 11 points for Nebraska (11-5, 1-4), which has lost four of five. The Cornhuskers had appeared dangerous after beating Baylor by 26 points on Wednesday and losing by two at Texas last weekend.

Nebraska took its only lead of the second half on a 3-pointer by Brian Conklin that made it 44-43 with 9:33 to go.

From then on it was all Missouri.

"We had some breakdowns on defense and it kind of snowballed from there," Conklin said. "Once you get that crowd going and their confidence going, you're in trouble."