March 20th, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
After a relatively slow-paced first half, the 3rd-seeded Missouri Tigers – in their game against 14th-seeded Cornell Big Red on Friday at Boise, ID – opened things up quite a bit as they exploded for 49 second half points, easily defeating Cornell 78-59 in Round One of the NCAA Tournament.
By controlling the pace early, the Big Red managed to go to their locker room at halftime only trailing by 4; unfortunately for Cornell, Missouri exploded offensively as the Tigers’ talent simply outclassed the renowned defense of Cornell, which sealed the deal in the second half while coasting to the easy win.
Missouri’s high scorer was Leo Lyons (no comment there) with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists while DeMarre Carroll and Kim English added 13 each – with Carroll grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists along with 2 steals and a block while English made three 3-pointers, grabbed 2 boards and dished out an assist.
Cornell was led by Ryan Wittman with 18 points (including four 3-pointers), 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while Alex Tyler added 13 with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Missouri advances as they hosts 6th-seeded Marquette on Sunday.
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