Feb 15, 2004

Box Score?|? Quotes?|? Notes

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri scored on 21 of 22 possessions in a dominating first half, and got a season-best 23 points from Arthur Johnson and a career-best 20 from freshman Thomas Gardner in a 94-60 victory over UNLV on Sunday.

The Tigers (11-10) played their most complete game of a mostly discombobulated season, taking a commanding 54-27 lead and hitting a season-best 13 3-pointers overall. Missouri was in such command, displaying a transition game missing most of the season, that its offensive rebound total (13) topped UNLV's overall rebound total (11) in the half.

Missouri took control with an early 15-0 run for a 19-8 lead with 11:24 left, then finished the half with a 22-6 run that included eight points from Johnson.

Gardner was 4-for-5 from 3-point range and had 18 points in the half, while Johnson had 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

Jason Conley added 17 points and Travon Bryant 11 for Missouri, which perhaps benefited from another pre-game practice session led by coach Quin Snyder. Snyder introduced the tactic before a 77-65 victory over Colorado on Tuesday.

Odartey Blankson had 16 points and 10 rebounds for UNLV (12-9), which has lost three straight games - all on the road. Romel Beck added 13 points and J.K. Edwards 12.

It wasn't much of a state homecoming for coach Charlie Spoonhour, who coached a combined 16 seasons at Saint Louis and Southwest Missouri State.

Johnson had eight of Missouri's first 13 points en route to the first 20-point game of the season for the Big 12 preseason player of the year. The Tigers ran away in the first half despite a poor start from leading scorer Rickey Paulding, who was 1-for-6 and had only two points before finishing with 12 points and a career-best nine assists.

Missouri's first-half point total topped its previous season best of 52 points against North Carolina-Greensboro in a 106-98 victory Dec. 21. The Tigers topped 80 points for the first time in 10 games and had, by far, their largest margin of victory.

Missouri stretched the lead to as many as 38 points in the second half despite playing with only four reserves. Freshman forward Linas Kleiza, who has a dislocated right shoulder, elected to have season-ending surgery and senior swingman Josh Kroenke missed his second game with a gash in his leg from a practice accident.