They worked their way through coach Cuonzo Martin’s extensive checklist during the past week and emerged looking like a new team. Their 71-56 victory over Xavier on Tuesday night at Mizzou Arena was most convincing.
The individual highlight was, of course, Jeremiah Tilmon’s breakthrough 23-point, 10-rebound performance. But Missouri (7-3) overcame a sluggish start and an early 9-3 deficit to dominate much of the game, building a 62-33 lead before getting a bit careless in the last 8 1/2 minutes.
Yet Xavier is a name-brand basketball program out of the powerful Big East. The Musketeers handled Illinois earlier this season, 83-74, and extended SEC contender Auburn into overtime.