McKinney's tip-in for Missouri sinks Islanders

~ The Tigers rallied to win an 82-81 decision at home.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A little scrap and a little luck helped Missouri get back on track.

Jimmy McKinney tipped in a shot with 7.4 seconds left to lift Missouri (3-3) past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 82-81 on Saturday.

McKinney's shot was the Tigers' third field goal attempt on the possession, preceded by an unsuccessful jumper by him and Thomas Gardner's attempt at a tip-in.

The Islanders (5-3) had a chance to win with 4.8 seconds left, but Aaron White's pass went off the hands of Cedric Smith and to Gardner, who was fouled.

Gardner missed both free throws with 2.8 seconds left, but Josh Ervin's desperate half-court heave was short for TAMU-Corpus Christi.

Missouri never trailed in the first half but had to rally past a pesky Islanders team to snap a two-game losing streak.

"We won, and I was really pleased with how we won," Tigers coach Quin Snyder said. "That last offensive possession, just to have our guys smother the glass."

McKinney finished with 19 points, and Gardner matched his career-high 30 points for the second straight game, going 11-for-22 from the field and 5-for-9 on 3-point shots.

"[Gardner's] in a groove right now," Missouri's Marshall Brown said. "When a player keeps hitting shots like that, you've just got to keep feeding him the ball."

Gardner also made a big defensive play. With 49 seconds left, he intercepted a pass by White and went the length of the court for an uncontested dunk to give Missouri an 80-78 lead.

Josh Washington followed Gardner's dunk with a 3-pointer to put the Islanders ahead 81-80 with 35 seconds left.

But it was the lack of rebounding by the Islanders on Missouri's final possession and the costly turnover that left Washington frustrated.

"Once you get in that groove, you can't be stopped unless you make some bonehead plays, and we did toward the end," Washington said.

Islanders coach Ronnie Arrow said the inbound pass with 4.8 seconds left was thrown to the wrong guy.

"We got it in, and we fumbled it," Arrow said. "Whatever it was, it wasn't the right one. We threw it to the wrong guy."

TAMU-Corpus Christi went on a 13-3 run early in the second half to open a seven-point lead.

The Islanders also led by as much as five with 4 minutes left.

Washington, who didn't make a basket from the field in the first half, scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half on 9-for-11 shooting. He was 5-for-7 from 3-point range.

White and Daniels had 14 each for the Islanders, who shot 64 percent from the field in the second half.

"That was tough," Gardner said. "It seems like a lot of people shoot well on our rims, like they're soft or they're big. I don't know what it is."

The Islanders are 3-20 against Big 12 opponents.

---

MISSOURI 82, TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 81

TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (5-3)

Smith 4-9 1-3 9, Ca.Nelson 2-2 0-1 4, Washington 9-11 0-0 23, Ervin 2-6 4-4 9, White 5-9 1-1 14, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Mintz 1-4 0-0 3, Daniels 5-7 4-4 14, Menifee 1-2 0-0 2, Mitchell 1-3 0-0 3, Engelken 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 30-56 10-13 81.

MISSOURI (3-3)

Brown 4-7 1-2 9, Young 3-5 1-1 7, McKinney 3-8 12-14 19, Gardner 11-22 3-7 30, Horton 2-6 0-0 5, Douglas 0-1 2-2 2, Lyons 1-2 3-4 5, Watkins 0-1 0-0 0, Dandridge 0-0 0-0 0, Lawrence 0-1 1-2 1, Grimes 2-6 0-1 4. Totals 26-59 23-33 82.

Halftime--Missouri 41-38. 3-Point Goals--Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11-19 (Washington 5-7, White 3-4, Mitchell 1-2, Ervin 1-3, Mintz 1-3), Missouri 7-19 (Gardner 5-9, McKinney 1-2, Horton 1-4, Douglas 0-1, Lawrence 0-1, Brown 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 31 (Smith 8), Missouri 34 (Brown 5). Assists--Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 19 (Ervin 7), Missouri 15 (Horton, McKinney 4). Total Fouls--Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 22, Missouri 17. A--6,850.