Columbia, Mo. • After watching his team recover from blowing a big lead in the first half, Missouri coach Kim Anderson gathered his team for a timeout midway through the second half Tuesday against Miami (Ohio). He could sense momentum seeping away.
“We were up 20 and kind of messing around and I said, ‘I’ll bet you this game ends below 10,’ ” Anderson said. “It got to 12. But you know what, they responded because they didn’t want me to be right.”
Anderson was never happier to be wrong.
Earlier in the night, the Tigers needed a Terrence Phillips 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half to recapture the lead and avoid another disaster against a mid-major conference opponent.