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Missouri blasts Ole Miss to maintain home success

Feb 10, 2013 - 1:08 AM Columbia, MO (Sports Network) - Alex Oriakhi scored a career-high 22 points and pulled down 18 rebounds to help No. 21 Missouri continue its dominance at Mizzou Arena with a 98-79 win over Ole Miss on Saturday.

Oriakhi went 7-for-10 from the floor and finished 8-for-10 from the free throw line to help the Tigers (17-6, 6-4 SEC) improve to 81-4 at their home venue dating back to the 2008-09 season.

Phil Pressey also dropped in 22 points and Keion Bell finished with 21 for Missouri, which is 14-0 at home this season.

"It was important that we were able to keep scoring. I thought we had some slips on the defensive end, so it wasn't perfect, but all in all we did a nice job holding our composure," said Mizzou head coach Frank Haith.

Marshall Henderson and Jarvis Summers scored 16 points apiece, while LaDarius White added 13 points for the Rebels (18-5, 7-3), who have dropped three of their last four games.

"I thought we initially were on our heels. It seemed like we were running uphill the whole game. At the end of the half, Marshall hits a three and we cut it to 16, then have the first possession in the second half," said Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy. "You get a couple baskets together and put some game pressure on them, then make some adjustments. Anytime they did miss shots, which was not often, Oriakhi got the offensive rebound."

Oriakhi's jumper with 15 1/2 minutes left sparked a 27-8 run to put the Tigers up 33-13 with just over nine minutes to go in the first half.

Missouri's lead grew to 23 points at 50-27, but the Rebels cut the lead to 50-34 entering the break.

The Tigers continued to cruise in the second half, pushing the lead over 20 points several times over the final 20 minutes.

With 7 1/2 minutes remaining the Rebels allowed their frustrations to get the best of them as Reginald Buckner was ejected for throwing a punch at Laurence Bowers.

Buckner and Oriakhi got tangled up and fell to the floor, leading to a shoving match between a few Ole Miss and Missouri players. After the referees got in between the two sides, Buckner threw a punch that connected with Bowers' face and was ejected.

Oriakhi and Bowers were each charged with technical fouls on the play, but Bowers, who received a technical for hanging on the rim earlier in the game, was forced from the game after receiving his second technical.

Game Notes

The Tigers scored 20 points off of 11 Ole Miss turnovers ... Mizzou outscored the Rebels, 42-30, in the paint ... The Tigers are 133-21 all-time at Mizzou Arena ... Buckner scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting before his ejection.