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Allen, Isabell lead Tigers

Sometimes, success comes from the most unlikely places.

As Kim Anderson repeatedly said he would cut down his rotation, D’Angelo Allen saw his minutes dwindle, failing to get off the bench at all for three games. Tramaine Isabell has seen the floor more frequently, but still sporadically. Spurred by foul trouble and a sluggish start, Anderson turned to the sophomore pair for a spark against Auburn. The result was a 76-61 win which Missouri led by as much as 26 points.

“This was as ready as I’ve seen this group all year,” Anderson said. “I don’t even know who played what minutes, but everybody, I thought, came in and contributed. And for us to win, we have to do that.”

With Wes Clark, Russell Woods and Jakeenan Gant on the bench in foul trouble, Isabell and Allen responded. Mizzou outscored Auburn 24-8 in the final eight minutes of the first half, racing to a 15-point lead at the break. Isabell scored eight points and Allen had five points, three rebounds and a block in the first half. Both were good for a three-pointer along the way.

“I got to bring that spark and bring energy,” Allen said. “That’s what I did and we got the win.”

“He was tremendous tonight,” Kevin Puryear said of Allen. “I’m super happy for him, super proud of him. He’s been through a lot this season and to see him have a moment like that, I’m extremely happy for him and he’s definitely deserving.”

“The thing about me, I’m not really worrying about all the playing time and things like that. I am a little sad, but it’s nothing. It’s just a learning thing and it’s making me keep going hard,” Allen said. “I’m not worrying about that. Just keep on producing every time I get a minute to get in the game.”

That first half also featured three technical fouls, including one on Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, who too vocally asked for the officials to review a call. It was Pearl who, perhaps unwittingly, provided the Tigers some energy.

“We kind of have some bad blood from last year,” Isabell said of Missouri and Auburn. “We know that probably some cheap shots or something’s gonna happen. When it happened, I feel like everybody just locked in and it sparked us up and we played hard.”

Where did that bad blood come from?

“Bruce Pearl,” Allen said. “I love him, though. He’s a good man. I like how he comes and brings the compete to the arena, to the Zou. “I just like his competition level.”

When Auburn crept back a bit in the second half and threatened to make the proceedings interesting, Isabell drained a three and barked at his defender on the way back down the court. He then lead a fast break that resulted in a layup by Allen, putting Missouri up 61-42 just under the 12-minute mark and the Tigers mostly put it on cruise control the rest of the way.

Mizzou got its usual contribution from its leading scorer. Puryear had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“It was actually motivated by my mother,” Puryear said of his first double-double. “She called me on the phone yesterday, she said, ‘I don’t think you’re being intense enough.’ So I was like, ‘Alright, mom, I’ll see what I can do on the intensity part. I just wanted to be angry about it, be as aggressive as I could in all aspects of the game.”

But it was the deep bench that put Missouri in command and guided the Tigers to their first league win--and just their fourth in 21 SEC games dating back to last year. It all added up to Mizzou’s first league win of the season and its first win over a team from a major conference this season. Rather than trailing by 20--which they had done in each such prior chance this season--the Tigers spent most of the second half trying to push their own lead that high. The lead hit its zenith at 74-48. It all started with Allen and Isabell charging the Tigers up in the midst of a nip-and-tuck, ho-hum first half.

“Tramaine came in and played well. DA came in and played well,” Anderson said. “I thought that was impressive.”

Isabell ended the night with 12 points. Allen added seven and each grabbed four rebounds as Missouri’s bench outscored Auburn’s 40-5.

“I think he deserves a lot of credit,” Isabell said of Allen. “He’s an energy guy. He brought that. He brings it every day. We know when we put him in exactly what he’s gonna bring.

“That’s just who DA is. He’s a winner. He wants to win whether he’s playing 40 minutes or zero minutes.”

On Saturday, it helped Missouri earn a win. The goal now is for it to lead to another.

“Every game, they’ve got to play like this,” Anderson said.

Missouri is now 8-7 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play. The Tigers host Arkansas on Tuesday night.

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