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Missouri handles Georgia without Bowers

Jan 17, 2013 - 6:19 AM Columbia, MO (Sports Network) - Jabari Brown and Earnest Ross each knocked down three 3-pointers en route to 15 points apiece as No. 17 Missouri rolled past Georgia, 79-62, on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena.

Alex Oriakhi added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers (13-3, 2-1 SEC), who were without star forward Laurence Bowers due to a sprained MCL in his right knee.

Missouri, which has won three of its last four, will travel to Florida on Saturday to take on the 10th-ranked Gators.

"It was a really good win for us. I thought we bounced back great. We had five guys in double figures and 32 points in the paint," said Missouri head coach Frank Haith. "I was really encouraged with the way we played inside-out. All in all, it was a really good win for us."

Vincent Williams poured in a game-high 23 points to pace the Bulldogs (6-10, 0-3), who have dropped three straight.

"Missouri has a really good team. That was a hard-fought game. I thought our team played really hard," said Georgia head coach Mark Fox. "Certainly 19 turnovers is hard to overcome on the road against a good team, but Missouri has a very good basketball team and a team that just has scoring all over the floor; that was difficult for us to stop."

Missouri opened the game on a 13-4 run before a 3-pointer from Ross pushed the margin to 20-9 with just under 9 1/2 minutes left in the first half.

The Tigers continued to lead by double-digits for much of the half until a late 5-0 spurt from the Bulldogs, capped by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's 3- pointer with 21 seconds left, sent Georgia into the break facing a 38-30 deficit.

Early in the second, Brown and Ross combined on an 8-2 spurt to press the lead to 46-32 just under five minutes into the frame.

Georgia responded with a 9-3 swing to pull within eight, but the Tigers ripped off the next seven points to grab a 56-41 advantage with 10 1/2 minutes left.

The Bulldogs would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way, as the Tigers used a 9-2 surge to build a comfortable 67-49 edge with just over five minutes remaining.

Game Notes

Bowers missed his first game on Sunday when the Tigers dropped a 64-49 decision at Ole Miss ... Missouri has won all four meetings between the two schools ... Georgia fell to 0-6 on the road this season ... Keion Bell tallied 14 points for the Tigers ... Caldwell-Pope finished with 15 points for Georgia.