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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Missouri 90, South Carolina 68
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 28, 2013
Where: The Colonial Center Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Officials: # Jim Burr, # John Cahill, # Anthony Greene
Attendance: 9360
Missouri 90, South Carolina 68: Keion Bell scored 24 points and Jabari Brown added 23 as the visiting Tigers shot 69.6 percent from the field and ran away from the Gamecocks.

Alex Oriakhi added 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting and Phil Pressey handed out nine assists and did not even have to attempt a shot as Missouri (20-8, 9-6 SEC) improved to 2-6 on the road in conference play. The Tigers moved into a tie with Tennessee for fifth place in the SEC.

Damien Leonard hit six 3-pointers en route to 20 points and Brenton Williams scored 10 for South Carolina (13-15, 3-12), which could not keep pace in the second half.

Missouri shot 69.9 percent in the first half but only took a 45-38 lead into the locker room as the Gamecocks hit seven 3-pointers in the period. The Tigers ended the half on an 11-4 run that included three dunks from Oriakhi and another from Bell.

Missouri scored on its first nine possessions of the second half and pushed the lead out to 76-51 on Tony Criswell’s layup with 10:56 to play. Laurence Bowers’ dunk with 3:36 left brought it to 87-63 before the Tigers emptied the bench.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
South Carolina slumped to 31.3 percent shooting in the second half and finished 10-of-26 from 3-point range. … The Gamecocks have dropped two straight and eight of their last nine. They finish up the regular season with two of three on the road. … Missouri is one game behind fourth-place Mississippi and two games back of Alabama in third. The top four seeds get a first-round bye in the SEC tournament.
Top Game Performances
 
Missouri   South Carolina
Keion Bell 24 Scoring Damien Leonard 20
Phil Pressey 9 Assists Bruce Ellington 4
Tony Criswell 5 Rebounds Michael Carrera 4
Keion Bell 7 Free Throws Made Michael Carrera 3
Jabari Brown 2 Steals Michael Carrera 2
Laurence Bowers 2 Blocks R.J. Slawson 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Missouri 90 69.6 6-9 20-26 19 28 5 6 12
South Carolina 68 42.9 10-26 10-14 14 18 2 5 10