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Mizzou survives scare from Oregon

Dec 3, 2010 - 8:29 AM Eugene, OR (Sports Network) - Marcus Denmon finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, and No. 9 Missouri survived Oregon's second-half surge to escape McArthur Court with an 83-80 victory.

The Tigers (6-1), just two days after losing to Georgetown in overtime, saw a 20-point halftime lead shrink to three in the closing seconds.

Johnathan Loyd had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but his runner from just past midcourt fell short to end the comeback bid.

Kim English chipped in 12 points for Missouri, which received 11 points apiece from Ricardo Ratliffe and Michael Dixon.

E.J. Singler paced the Ducks (4-3) with 19 points, while Loyd, Jay-R Stowbridge and Joevan Catron all scored 15 in the loss, the team's third in four games.

Oregon made just one field goal in the first 10 minutes of the game, and found itself down 20-8 following a Ratliffe dunk midway through the first half.

"We didn't come ready to compete," proclaimed Oregon head coach Dana Altman. "I'm not sure if it was apprehension or not being confident, but we need to play more up and down."

The margin moved to 44-24 by the intermission -- thanks to the Tigers making 64.3 percent of their shots -- but the Ducks finally got going in the second half.

Singler connected on a layup and a three-pointer to cap a 10-0 run that pulled the hosts within 49-41 with 13 1/2 minutes remaining.

Missouri continued to keep Oregon at bay, however, and two Dixon free throws with 29 seconds to go provided the visitors with an 80-74 lead.

Loyd kept things interesting by hitting a pair of long range shots around two more Dixon freebies to cut the margin to 82-80 in the closing seconds.

Matt Pressey had a chance to ice it at the line with 5.3 seconds remaining, but only made the first of two free throw attempts. Singler got the rebound on the second miss and passed to Loyd, who sprinted up the court but couldn't get enough behind his deep runner to force overtime.

"I thought the first half we had great energy, but credit Oregon, they wouldn't go away," Missouri head coach Mike Anderson said. "You have to stay poised on the road even in the face of adversity."

Game Notes

This game was part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series...Missouri has won all five meetings between the teams...Pressey scored 10 points for Missouri, which made 54.7 percent from the field...Oregon connected on 8-of-15 three-pointers in the second half and wound up hitting 42.4 percent of its shots overall.