11/16/2008

By JOSHUA MOSLEY  / Associated Press

Leo Lyons scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half to lead Missouri to an 86-65 victory over the Prairie View A&M Panthers in the season opener Saturday.

"He was enforcing his will and our guys got the ball to him," coach Mike Anderson said of Lyons. "Hopefully he can get some more minutes like that out of him."

Missouri (1-0) led by as many as 24 in the second half despite shooting just 43 percent from the field — although the Tigers shot 44 percent from the 3-point line.

Freshmen Miguel Paul and Marcus Denmon combined to shoot five-of-nine from beyond the arc in their first regular season college game.

"That's the thing about our basketball team," Anderson said. "There's some balance there but on any given night it can be guys like Miguel Paul and Marcus Denmon coming off the bench and giving us great minutes."

Denmon was one of four Missouri players in double figures, scoring 15 points. DeMarre Carroll added 19 points and nine rebounds, leaving him a rebound short of his fifth career double-double since transferring from Vanderbilt before the 2006 season.

A frenetic Missouri defense forced the Panthers (0-2) into 25 turnovers — leading to 20 Tiger points — while holding Prairie View to 41 percent shooting.

"That's how we play and if they turn it over it's to our advantage," Lyons said.

The Panthers got 14 points from Donald Bell.

With the win, Missouri has won 28 straight home games over non-conference opponents dating back to the 2005-2006 season. Missouri is now 35-1 in its last 36 home openers and 81-21 all time in season openers.