Johnson sparks Missouri

Senior's double-double helps Tigers to 82-77 win over A&M

? Arthur Johnson kept his brain engaged, but he let his body do the heavy lifting.

“I just stopped thinking so much,” Missouri’s senior center said. “I decided to quit worrying, and just play. It wasn’t lack of confidence. I was just thinking too much about everything.”

Johnson’s trust in his instincts paid off in a solid game at both ends of the floor. He had 19 points, 12 rebounds and a key blocked shot in the struggling Tigers’ 82-77 win Saturday over Texas A&M.

“It’s obvious when you watch our team that we’re not hitting on all cylinders all the time, and I don’t think it’s for a lack of want or will,” Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. “There just isn’t the continuity you’d like to see all the time.”

That was apparent against the Aggies (7-5, 0-1), who dropped to 2-10 against Missouri and are 0-5 against the Tigers in Columbia.

“It never got away from us,” Texas A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. “We knew they’d make their run, and we fought back and we got back in the game.”

Junior-college transfer Randy Pulley, who became eligible at the semester break, made his first start at the point for Missouri. He had four points, four assists and three turnovers in 35 minutes.

“He was not perfect tonight, but he is our most confident player with the ball,” Snyder said. “He gets the ball up the court quicker and gets us into our transition offense, and he’s also been solid on the ball defensively.”

Kevin Turner led the Aggies with 14 points. Wright and Jesse King added 12 points each, Andy Slocum had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Leandro Garcia-Morales finished with 10 points.

Texas Tech 83, Oklahoma State 62

Lubbock, Texas — Andre Emmett scored 19 of his season-high 32 points in the second half as Texas Tech beat Oklahoma State in each team’s Big 12 Conference opener.

Tech (13-2) broke the game open with an 11-0 run midway through the second half, during which Emmett scored six points and had two steals in a 25-second span.

Emmett, whose career high is 35 points, was 12-of-21 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.

The Cowboys (10-2) also had been averaging 83 points before the loss, which snapped a six-game win streak.

Tech has won nine straight.

Ross scored 18 points and Robert Tomaszek added nine for Tech.

Ivan McFarlin scored 13 points, and Tony Allen and Daniel Bobik added 11 points each for the Cowboys.

No. 18 Texas 79,

Baylor 57

Austin, Texas — Brad Buckman had 16 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 18 Texas open its Big 12 schedule with a win. P.J. Tucker added 13 points for the Longhorns (9-2), who ran their home winning streak to 23 games. Harvey Thomas scored 19 points for Baylor (5-9, 0-1). Playing with just five scholarship players, Baylor kept it close in the first half by using a zone defense that kept Texas from getting the ball to its post players.

Iowa State 89,

Nebraska 74

Ames, Iowa — Jake Sullivan matched his career high with seven three-pointers and scored 23 points while Jackson Vroman added 15 points and 11 rebounds, leading Iowa State.

The Cyclones (9-2, 2-0 Big 12) put up impressive numbers against a team that had been leading the conference in scoring defense (53.1) and field goal percentage defense (.345) and had not allowed more than 64 points in a game.

Nebraska (10-2, 0-1) kept pace with Iowa State for about 30 minutes, but could not stay with the Cyclones down the stretch. Nate Johnson led the Cornhuskers with 23 points and Jake Muhleisen added 16, including four three-pointers.

Kansas State 92, Savannah State 51

Manhattan — Tim Ellis scored a career-high 22 points, and Jeremiah Massey and Marques Hayden each had double-doubles as Kansas State beat Savannah State. Kansas State (8-3), which led by as many as 33, broke a two-game losing streak and won its eighth straight game at home. The Wildcats had lost consecutive road games at UMKC and Saint Louis.

Colorado 78,

Northern Colorado 48

Boulder, Colo. — David Harrison scored 18 points, and Michel Morandais, Jayson Obazuaye and Scott Senger each had 12 as Colorado rolled past Northern Colorado. The Buffaloes (8-4) outshot Northern Colorado 51 percent to 30 percent and outrebounded the Bears 39-30.