Columbia, MO – No Laurence Bowers, no problem for Missouri. At least not against Vanderbilt.
Jabari Brown had 21 points, Alex Oriakhi matched a career high with 18 points and the 22nd-ranked Tigers remained unbeaten at home by crushing the Commodores, 81-59.
Oriakhi also grabbed 12 rebounds for the Tigers (15-4, 4-2 SEC), who improved to 12-0 at Mizzou Arena this season. Phil Pressey supplied 12 points and six assists.
"I thought our guys were excellent," said Missouri coach Frank Haith. "That's what got us going - our defense."
Missouri played its fifth straight game without Bowers, who was averaging a team-best 16.8 points before spraining his right MCL earlier this month against Alabama. The Tigers needed a second-half surge Tuesday to get by South Carolina but took control of Saturday's game with a 32-2 burst in the first half.
Rod Odom paced Vanderbilt (8-10, 2-4) with 17 points.
"We were completely outplayed today, really in every facet, so there's not a whole lot to say about this going wrong or that going wrong," said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings.
Down 11-8, Brown tied the game with one of Missouri's season-high eight first- half 3-pointers. Keion Bell, who missed Tuesday's contest with a sprained ankle, scored six straight points after Oriakhi hit the go-ahead layup.
Brown, Pressey and Earnest Ross drained three consecutive treys to put the Tigers up 32-13 with 6-plus minutes to play. Ross capped the prolonged run with another triple that made it 40-13.
Missouri led 49-20 at halftime after shooting 54.8 percent.
The Commodores opened the second half on a 16-4 surge, but they were unable to dig out of the massive hole as Missouri evened this series at 3-3.
Game Notes
Bell ended with 12 points, while Ross scored nine with seven rebounds ... The Tigers held a 40-18 rebounding edge ... Kedren Johnson had 11 points for Vanderbilt.
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