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Missouri handles Baylor in Big 12 battle

Feb 11, 2012 - 10:44 PM Columbia, MO (Sports Network) - Phil Pressey scored 19 points behind four three-pointers and No. 4 Missouri used a second-half surge to down No. 6 Baylor, 72-57, on Saturday.

Marcus Denmon and Michael Dixon added 16 points and six assists apiece for the Tigers (23-2, 10-2 Big 12), who went 8-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second half. They have won five straight since a loss at Oklahoma State on January 25.

"I thought we did a great job with our perimeter guys guarding the ball," said Missouri coach Frank Haith. "That really got us going in the second half when we were able to share the ball, get the ball moving a lot quicker, and I felt like we got in some really good looks and obviously we made some shots."

The Bears (21-4, 8-4), who were coming off of Wednesday's loss to Kansas, were paced by Quincy Miller's 20 points. Leading scorer Perry Jones III had just four points on 2-of-12 shooting. Baylor has dropped 11 straight trips to Columbia, last winning in Missouri in 1948.

Each of the Tigers' previous three wins had been decided by one possession, but that was not the case on Saturday. They were up 38-37 in the second half before unleashing an 8-0 run to create space.

Dixon started the burst with a three and Steve Moore threw down a trailing slam before Kim English capped it with a trey for a 46-37 lead. Quincy Acy stopped the run with a free throw, but the Tigers continued their onslaught from the perimeter, burying the Bears in the process.

Dixon and Denmon both connected on a pair of threes and Pressey also hit one from deep over the next five-plus minutes of play, as the margin stretched to 61-47. Denmon's layup increased the advantage to 16 with under four minutes to play and the Tigers weren't tested the rest of the way.

Earlier, Miller opened the game with a trey and followed with a layup for a 5-0 Baylor lead. Missouri responded with six straight on jumpers from Ricardo Ratliffe, Denmon and Dixon, setting the tone for a back-and-forth first half.

Pressey's third trey of the half came with 41 seconds to play and gave the Tigers their largest lead to that point, 33-27. But Pierre Jackson's putback on the other end marked Baylor's 12th offensive rebound and 14th second-chance point and made it 33-29 at the break.

"At the end of the day, when you are playing Missouri, you are going to give up something," said Baylor coach Scott Drew. "So we decided we were going to give up the three. We didn't do as well of a job challenging shots as we wanted to, but credit them for making them."

Game Notes

The Tigers won both meetings with the Bears this season. They took an 89-88 victory in Waco on January 21 and lead the all-time series 15-10...Denmon moved into 10th place on Missouri's all-time scoring list, surpassing Jon Sundvold (1,597). He now has 1,605 career points...Jones entered Saturday averaging 14.3 points per game.