Missouri 'D' strangles NU in second half

Struggling Tigers rally for 63-56 victory over Cornhuskers.

By Eric Olson ~ The Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Missouri made up for its lack of offense Wednesday night with a big second half of defense.

The 25th-ranked Tigers held Nebraska to six field goals and 22.2-percent shooting in the final 20 minutes and rallied for a 63-56 victory.

"If you look at how we played the entire 40 minutes, that's a heck of a win," Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. "It wasn't pretty, but it's one of those that's really gratifying because of how you did it.

"You want to be able to win when you don't shoot well and you have foul trouble. Our guys played through a lot tonight."

Arthur Johnson had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who ended a three-game road losing streak. Rickey Paulding added 14 points and Travon Bryant 10 for the Tigers (12-4, 3-2 Big 12).

Andrew Drevo hit four 3-pointers and led the Cornhuskers (9-10, 1-5) with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Nate Johnson had 14 points.

Nebraska, which shot a season-low 30.9 percent for the game, has lost three straight and five of six.

"It's kind of the same old story in conference play," Drevo said. "The second half we can't get the ball to fall. They played some good pressure defense, but we got some good shots. They just didn't fall."

Missouri wiped out a nine-point halftime deficit in the first 7:22 of the second half. The Tigers, who shot 44.8 percent for the game, made 55.2 percent of their attempts after the break.

"They played with a little more fire in the second half," Nebraska coach Barry Collier said. "That's to their credit."

Ricky Clemons scored on a fast-break layup with 12:38 left to cap a 12-3 spurt and give Missouri its first lead of the game, 41-40.

Freshman Kevin Young scored twice inside and Bryant hit two free throws as the Tigers stretched their advantage to 49-41.

But Nate Johnson sank a 3-pointer and two free throws and, after Arthur Johnson scored, Jason Dourisseau hit a foul shot and lay-in to bring the Huskers to 51-49.

Missouri scored the next six points for a 57-49 cushion and sealed the game when Josh Kroenke took a pass from Jimmy McKinney and drilled a 3 with 1:28 left.