Pressey helps Missouri men's basketball team wrangle Longhorns

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri needed someone to step up, and Phil Pressey was not shy.

The sophomore point guard had 18 points, including seven straight to get the ninth-ranked Tigers out of trouble in the second half of an 84-73 victory over Texas on Saturday.

Pressey had 10 assists, and perhaps his most impressive stat was zero turnovers.

"He orchestrated the whole game," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "Look what he did for the other guys. That's what he does. He makes the game really easy for those other guys."

Ricardo Ratliffe made his first eight shots and had 21 points, while Marcus Denmon had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers (16-1, 3-1 Big 12). Ratliffe, who takes all his shots close to the basket, entered the game leading the nation in shooting at 76.8 percent.

"I just make sure I try to finish the play whenever they look for me," Ratliffe said. "I get down on myself sometimes and my teammates pick me up because I think they don't expect me to miss anymore, either."

J'Covan Brown scored 34 points, including the 1,000th of his career, for Texas (12-5, 2-2). The point total is a record for an opponent at the Mizzou Arena, which opened in 2004, topping Julian Wright's 33 points for Kansas in 2007.

Brown was 6 of 7 on 3-pointers and made all eight free throws.

"I was just going, just playing. I wasn't worried about carrying my team," Brown said. "Coach was calling my number and I was just making big shots."

Myck Kabongo had 12 points and 10 assists, while Jonathan Holmes had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Longhorns. But Clint Chapman had six points in 16 minutes while saddled with foul trouble, and Sheldon McClellan, Texas' second-leading scorer with an 11.8-point average, was held to six points on 2-of-8 shooting.

"It was just silly turnovers and not capitalizing off our turnovers," Kabongo said. "We've just got to be smarter than what we were today."

Pressey reached double figures in assists for the fourth time this season and first in conference play. It helped Missouri improve to 10-0 at home, and this was the closest call.

"I tell you what, he had a terrific game," Missouri coach Frank Haith said. "What he meant to us offensively, what he did out there was tremendous. He had the ball all the time."