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Bowers and Missouri blow past Tennessee State

Dec 8, 2012 - 10:57 PM Columbia, MO (Sports Network) - Laurence Bowers recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, as 12th-ranked Missouri used a big second half to beat Tennessee State, 68-38.

Alex Oriakhi added 15 points and 10 boards for Missouri (8-1), which is off to an 8-1 start for the third consecutive season. Stefan Jankovic donated 14 points.

"The defense was great, especially in the second half," Oriakhi said. "We just responded as a team; we said we have to get stops and that's exactly what we did. From our defensive rebounding to contesting shots, it was great. We definitely showed improvement."

Missouri has won 71 straight home games against non-conference opponents.

Robert Covington and Jordan Cyphers had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Tennessee State (4-6), which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Tennessee State held an 18-15 lead with under nine minutes left in the first half.

However, Missouri responded with an 8-2 spurt to end the half. Bowers tallied five points during the flurry, including a 3-pointer to give Missouri a 23-20 lead at the break.

Missouri then put the game away with a huge second half. The home team started the final period on a 14-3 run. Negus Webster-Chan capped the burst with a 3- pointer to make it 37-23 with 12:39 remaining.

Missouri outscored Tennessee State by a 45-18 margin in the second half.

"In the first half, we can definitely play with (anyone) when we're playing our type of basketball," Tennessee State head coach Travis Williams said. "We played well the first half; we played smart, got some shots that we wanted, and played well defensively the first half. The second half was a big let down for us. We let (Missouri) throw the first punch in the first four minutes of the second half and it dictated how the second half was going to be."

Game Notes

Missouri won the only previous matchup between these two teams, taking an 89-75 decision in the 1995 season opener ... Missouri has won 23 consecutive games in the month of December dating back to Dec. 12, 2009 ... Missouri shot 45.3 percent from the field and went 15-of-19 from the foul line ... Tennessee State made 23.8 percent of its shots and went 2-of-5 from the charity stripe.