Tigers buzz by Bills 69-67

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Wesley Stokes ignored Missouri's big scorers, both of whom were calling for the ball, and beat the buzzer himself.

Stokes, who had the game-tying shot hit over him seconds earlier, made a tough 18-footer as the No. 2 Tigers survived an upset bid by St. Louis, 69-67 Monday night.

"In high school, I used to do that a lot," Stokes said. "I used to always have the ball in my hands at the last second because my coach had a lot of confidence me, but I could get used to this."

During a timeout before the final play, Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert both made it clear what Stokes, the point guard and the team's fifth-leading scorer at 10.3 points, should do once he caught the inbounds pass.

"We just looked at Wes and said 'Give me the ball, give me the ball,"' Gilbert said. "And Wes just came down and did it himself."

Stokes took possession near midcourt and dribbled near the top of the key, then shot over Marque Perry for the game-winner.

"They didn't collapse on me, so I just went ahead and created a little bit of space for my jump shot," Stokes said. "When I saw it go through the net, I was overwhelmed."

The situation was reversed on the previous play when Perry, who scored nine points over the final 39 seconds, tied it with a 3-pointer over Stokes with 4.8 seconds to go.

"He made a big shot. Good for him," Perry said. "I might go out and have burgers with him sometime."

Arthur Johnson led Missouri (8-0) with 16 points and 14 rebounds, his third straight double-double.

"That's what good players do," Johnson said.

Rush and Gilbert had 18 points each for the Tigers, off to the school's best start since the 1991-92 team began the season 11-0.

Stokes finished just 2-for-7 from the field and had four points and Missouri was 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

Perry had 20 points and Kenny Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds for St. Louis (2-4), which has lost three straight at home to start the season. The last time that happened was in 1991-92, when the Billikens finished 5-23.

St. Louis coach Lorenzo Romar unloaded his frustrations on guard Josh Fisher during a second-half timeout, and it kept his team in the game. With 9:01 to go, he became enraged at a charging call on Chris Braun, throwing his jacket on the court and drawing a technical that helped Missouri take a 54-48 lead, and a few minutes after that he exhorted the crowd to cheer.

"We've lost enough as far as I'm concerned," Romar said. "You've got to know your team and this team probably just needs more of a kick in the pants.

"If we let down at all, Missouri was capable of going up 20 on you like that."

Perry rebounded from 4-for-16 shooting in a loss to Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday.

Gilbert started slow and finished strong for the second straight game, missing his first four shots and finishing 8-for-15. Gilbert scored six straight points for Missouri in a late stretch run to put the Tigers ahead 62-56 with 2:34 to go, and also had two free throws in the frenzied final minute.

Missouri has taken two of three since the in-state rivals resumed playing after an 18-year absence. The schools do not have a contract for next season.

"Obviously, nothing's official, but Quin has never said 'Hey, we're not playing,"' Romar said, referring to Missouri coach Quin Snyder. "So I don't see any reason why it wouldn't continue."

St. Louis was 6-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half, taking a 35-31 lead. Drew Diener and Perry each hit two from long range, while Missouri was 1-for-6.