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Lyons' double-double helps Missouri rout Colorado

Feb 21, 2009 - 11:20 PM BOULDER, Colorado (Ticker) -- Missouri forward Leo Lyons missed the first matchup with Colorado. The Buffaloes probably wish he wasn't on the court this time around either.

Lyons had 13 points and 15 rebounds as No. 10 Missouri rolled to a 66-53 victory over Colorado on Saturday.

Marcus Denmon added 11 points for the Tigers (23-4, 10-2 Big 12), who have won six straight and 10 conference games for the first time since 1999-2000.

Lyons missed the Tigers' 107-62 rout of the Buffaloes in Columbia last month. He was serving a one-game suspension after his arrest on traffic violations. The senior forward said that turned out to be an advantage.

"I just knew that they have not seen me this year," he said. "You could kind of tell from the beginning, they were trying to double DeMarre (Carroll), but they left me one-on-one. Me not playing (in the first game) kind of helped me a little bit."

"I think maybe not playing, he was a little hungry," Missouri coach Mike Anderson said. "He played well here last year, so maybe he had some flashbacks."

Austin Dufault scored 15 points for the Buffaloes (9-17, 1-11), who fell to 0-9 on the road.

The Tigers shot 48 percent (14-of-29) in the first half and closed the opening session on a 20-9 run to take a 37-26 lead. Lyons led the way with nine points and Matt Lawrence added seven points off the bench.

"He (Lyons) came to play tonight," Dufault said. "He didn't get to play against us last time when we were there. He played really hard."

Colorado, which was coming off its lowest point total in 49 years, never really threatened the rest of the way.

The Buffaloes got within nine points twice in the second half. The last time was when Trey Eckloff's jumper made it 54-45 with 6:40 remaining. But the Tigers responded with an 8-0 run to seal the victory.

Colorado, which shot 40 percent (18-of-44), was coming off a 46-41 loss to Nebraska on Wednesday. The Buffaloes have lost seven straight - their longest losing streak since an eight-game slid in 1995-96.

"We are not yet collectively strong enough or tough enough for all 40 minutes," Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "They need to grow up, they'll win when they get tired of losing."