Kobe Brown scored 20 points, grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds and earned six assists as the Missouri Tigers defeated the visiting Paul Quinn College Tigers 91-59 Monday night in Columbia, Mo.
DaJuan Gordon scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds for Missouri (4-3). Amari Davis scored 14 and Javon Pickett added 12.
Brandon Johnson scored 17 points for Paul Quinn, a Dallas-based NAIA school that is 3-4 overall but 0-4 against NCAA Division I teams this season.
Spencer McElway scored 13 and grabbed 11 rebounds for Paul Quinn and Anei Anei-Yor added 12 points.
Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin started a small lineup, replacing 7-foot-3 center Jordan Wilmore with 6-foot-6 Ronnie DeGray III. But Missouri still dominated the lane against its overmatched opponent, earning a 49-36 edge in rebounds.
Gordon (five points) and Brown (four) paced Missouri to a quick 9-4 margin. Then Mizzou went scoreless for the next 4:33 as Paul Quinn clawed back to take a 10-9 lead.
After missing 10 of its first 11 tries from beyond the arc, Missouri hit its next three three-pointers — two by Pickett followed by one from Davis — to get rolling toward a 30-14 lead.
Missouri cooled down from long range late in the half, but its defensive pressure was too much for Paul Quinn. Despite shooting just 4 of 19 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, Missouri built a 42-19 lead.
After the break, Missouri opened with a 13-4 run to push its lead to 55-23.
Paul Quinn used a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 71-51 before Missouri regrouped and mustered a final push. Martin was able to expand his rotation and all 10 players who saw action for Missouri scored.
–Field Level Media
