Missouri Stomps Sooners In Big 12 Opener

The Missouri Tigers proved why they are the No. 6 team in the country Tuesday night with an 87-49 drubbing of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Kim English and Marcus Denmon combined for 43 points and 16 rebounds for the undefeated Tigers who were dominant from the start and managed nearly 60 percent shooting from both the field and from three-point range on the night.

Oklahoma struggled offensively the entire night and finished only 33 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three point range.

Denmon hit an early three pointer for the first points in the game to jumpstart the Tigers who would lead the entire game.

The Sooners (10-3, 0-1) had a small spark from Andrew Fitzgerald midway through the first, but the rest of the team seemed dazed throughout the game and never got going.

At the half, the Tigers held a 43-25 advantage thanks to stellar shooting. Missouri shot 60.7 percent from the field to open the game and manage 58.3 percent from three-point range.

Oklahoma's offensive struggles only produced 34.4 percent from the field in the opening half and the Sooners went 1-of-7 from the three point line.

Missouri (14-0, 1-0) led by as many as 18 in the first half and as the second half began, two quick buckets give the Tigers a 20 point lead that they extended into as much as a 42 point lead in the second half.

With just 10 minutes left to play, the Sooners had only scored 13 points since the half and Missouri had built a 40 point lead.

Plenty of missed shots from the Sooners mixed with the quickness of the Tigers proved to be too much for Oklahoma to handle.

Fitzgerald was the only spark for the Sooners who finished with 8-of-15 shooting for 18 points and had six of OU's 16 rebounds in the game. Steven Pledger scored 11 for OU and grabbed four rebounds.

The Tigers shot 59.3 percent from the floor and went 12-of-21 from three point range for 57 percent.

The Sooners, who rank among the top five nationally in rebounding at 42.2 per game, only grabbed 23 rebounds against the Tigers who corralled 38. Missouri dominated in the paint scoring 36 points down low compared to the Sooners 10.

Four Tigers scored in double figures. English finished with 23 points and nine rebounds while Denmon added 20 points and seven rebounds. Ricardo Ratliffe had 13 points and eight rebounds and Michael Dixon came off the bench for Missouri to score 13 points.

Next up for the Sooners is the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. in Norman.