Nov 14, 2001

Box Score

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Missouri decided it was time to pull off an inside job.

Clarence Gilbert scored 20 points and Kareem Rush had 19 as the No. 8 Tigers passed up long shots and beat Air Force 86-58 Wednesday night in the second round of the Guardians Classic.

Missouri made seven 3-pointers, a low total for a school that had 11 double-figure games last season and averaged 8.5 per game.

"That was the type of game Coach said it was going to be, penetrating and kicking it, not settling for jump shots," Gilbert said. "It's a lot of fun.

"I like to get in there and play around with it, see what happens."

Gilbert, the lone senior on the team, shot 8-for-13 and added four steals. Rush, a preseason All-America, was 6-for-12 and made three 3-pointers.

"We knew they were going to play off of us and we thought we had an advantage by driving the ball and kicking it to each other," Rush said. "That's the game plan for the rest of the year."

Missouri dominated inside in all facets, also outrebounding Air Force 31-12.

"Obviously, we're a little small," Air Force coach Joe Scott said. "They showed they can control the basket, which is going to help them."

Rush, who led the Big 12 with a 21-point average, had 28 points and six rebounds in an 89-63 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday. Gilbert had 19 points and made five 3-pointers in that game.

Arthur Johnson added 19 points and five rebounds for Missouri (2-0), which shot 59 percent to advance to the tournament semifinals Tuesday in Kansas City.

"There were some possessions offensively that were artistic," coach Quin Snyder said. "They just looked great."

The Tigers led 36-23 at halftime, then put the game away with a 16-2 run to start the second half. Rush jump-started the run with seven points in the first 2:12 and Wesley Stokes had a pair of layups.

"Sometimes I try to step it up and get my team some runs," Rush said. "I thought those couple of 3s I hit pushed our lead out a little bit."

Joel Gerlach had 28 points on 9-for-10 shooting for Air Force (1-1), which played Missouri for the first time since 1964.

Gerlach was 5-for-6 from 3-point range for the Falcons, who beat Yale in the opening round. But he also had five turnovers.

"He's going to score on guys, I've told him that," Scott said. "But he needs to start holding onto the ball."

Lamoni Yazzi, who led Air Force with 21 points in a first-round victory over Yale, missed his first five shots and was scoreless until he made a layup with 1:58 to play. Yazzi added a 3-pointer in the final minute.

Air Force shot 53 percent but got off only 38 shots - 18 fewer shots than Missouri - due to its more deliberate style.

"We're a young team," Scott said. "To compete against a team like Missouri, a top 10 team, we're just not ready for that."

Gilbert and Rush each had 11 points and Johnson had 10 in the first half.