There's No Place Like Home

Bowers, Ratliffe have breakout game
by MizzMatt

Kim English finished with 16 points.

Columbia, MO- The Missouri Tigers basketball team looked to remain undefeated in Mizzou Arena this season as they hosted the Baylor Bears on ESPN2.  How would they do after notching their conference road win against Iowa State?

Well, for starters, Laurence Bowers notched a double-double.  Ricardo Ratliffe had 12 rebounds...in the first half alone.  Despite the game having a slow start (four points combined in the first four minutes), the Tigers jumped out to a 13-pt lead at halftime, 33-20.  Baylor hit a half court three pointer at the buzzer to avoid having their lowest points in the first half all season (18 against K-State, 1/24).

The Tigers relied on their big guys down low to carry them through the game, as the perimeter game struggled throughout.  The scoring was relatively low, as the turnovers played a part in the story of the game.  Baylor committed 21 turnovers to Missouri's 15.  Mizzou fell just short of their season average of 83.5 (5th in nation), but still come away with a 77-59 victory to go 17-0 at Mizzou Arena this season.

Laurence Bowers led all scorers with 20 points, Kim English tallied 16, Marcus Denmon added 13 and Ricardo Ratliffe netted 11 to lead the Tigers' scoring.  The biggest story of the game is Baylor's Lacedarius Dunn, who has scored at least 20 points against every team in the Big 12 except Missouri.  Dunn finished the game with 12 points.

Missouri improves to 22-6, 8-5 and will go on the road to Manhattan, KS to take on the K-State Wildcats.  Baylor falls to 17-10, 6-7 before returning home to face #17 Texas Tech.

The Tigers are now 79-10 at Mizzou Arena under Mike Anderson, with one home game remaining (Kansas, March 5th).