Missouri
Coastal Carolina
Men's Basketball Downs Coastal Carolina, 75-61
1/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Kareem Rush had 21 points and nine rebounds Tuesday as Missouri beat Coastal Carolina 75-61 in its final tuneup for the Big 12 season.
Missouri's big men, Arthur Johnson and Tajudeen Soyoye, had big games against the smaller Chanticleers.
Soyoye turned in a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Johnson had 14 points and seven blocks, one short of his own school record of eight that he set Saturday.
Coastal Carolina (2-11) suited up only one player taller than 6-foot-6, and when the game began the Chanticleers had 6-foot-4 guard Derrick Robinson taking the tip-off against Missouri's 6-foot-9 Soyoye.
Missouri (9-3) didn't exploit its height advantage in the first half, outrebounding Coastal Carolina just 21-20 and attempting 12 3-pointers before the break.
After opening up an early 27-8 lead, the Tigers made only two field goals in the final 10 minutes of the half. Coastal Carolina responded with a 17-3 run to cut the margin to 37-32 by the half.
Missouri opened up a 47-36 lead with 15:17 left, and never led by less than 10 again.
The Tigers also had a sizable free-throw advantage, scoring 17 points from the line to just five for Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers were called for 23 fouls, while the Tigers had a season-low 10.
Missouri had problems shooting from behind both the free-throw and 3-point lines, though, hitting just 53 percent of its free throws and a season-low 19 percent from long range.
Clarence Gilbert scored 11 points and had a game-high six assists for Missouri, which improved to 6-0 at home.
Torrey Butler had 23 points for Coastal Carolina, which is 0-8 on the road this season. Tony Darden and Alvin Green added 10 points each for the Chanticleers, but Green also committed 10 of Coastal Carolina's 23 turnovers.
