University of Missouri
Tennessee-Martin
Tigers Take Down Tennessee-Martin, 89-63
11/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 13, 2001
By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Tennessee-Martin concentrated on stopping Kareem Rush, and he still scored 28 points.
The preseason All-America led No. 8 Missouri to an 89-63 victory over Tennessee-Martin in the first round of the inaugural Guardians Classic on Tuesday night.
"Kareem had 28 and I thought we did a good job on him," Tennessee-Martin coach Bret Campbell said. "So I don't know what would have happened if we didn't do a good job on him."
Arthur Johnson added 10 rebounds and four first-half blocked shots for Missouri, which swatted away seven shots in the first half and 10 overall.
The Tigers will play Air Force, which beat Yale 68-62, in the second round of the 16-team tournament on Wednesday night.
"I was pleased with a lot of things we did and I'm pleased we get a chance to play again tomorrow," coach Quin Snyder said. "We get to grow up really fast."
Rush, who led the Big 12 with a 21-point average last season, was 8-for-15 from the field and added three assists, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
"My first game was what I expected," Rush said. "We came out with a defensive mindset and I think we did what we set out to do."
Johnson, who finished with five blocks, set a school record with 65 as a freshman.
"Blocked shots come naturally to me," Johnson said.
Missouri, ranked to begin the season for the first time since 1995, put Tennessee-Martin away with a 20-2 run midway through the first half. Clarence Gilbert hit three 3-pointers, one from about 5 feet beyond the arc, and Rush had eight points in the run that gave the Tigers a 31-10 lead with seven minutes remaining.
Before that, Missouri had been surprised by Tennessee-Martin's defensive intensity.
"It kind of pushed us back, but we came back strong," Rush said. "We've got to be ready for that because every team is going to come after us like that."
Gilbert added 19 points and was 5-for-9 from 3-point range for Missouri, which had lost its previous six games when ranked - five against Big 12 foes. Missouri, which also got 11 points from Wesley Stokes and 10 from Rickey Paulding, has won 10 of its last 11 openers.
Tennessee-Martin missed 19 straight shots during one stretch and went 8:40 between baskets, shooting 21.6 percent in the first half and trailing 41-27. The lone points in the run came on two free throws by Jeremy Sargent.
"Well, you aren't going to stay in a lot of games long when you miss a huge string of shots," Campbell said. "We're really not that bad of a shooting team."
Okechi Egbe, who averaged 13 points last season and was the Ohio Valley Conference freshman of the year, spent most of the game chasing Rush and scored six points before fouling out. Brian Foster, who also averaged 13 points last season, was held to two on 1-for-7 shooting.
Sargent had 13 points and Ned Rolsma and Jair Peralta each had 12. Sargent, who averaged 9.9 points last season, missed Tennessee-Martin's final exhibition with a pinched nerve in his lower back.
Tennessee-Martin closed to 13 points with 11:20 to go before Missouri went on a 13-4 run that made it 69-47 with just over eight minutes left.
