Semoball

Ingram's big second half helps Alabama beat Missouri men's basketball

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Dazon Ingram scored 18 points -- including 15 in the second half -- and grabbed nine rebounds to help Alabama overcome dismal first-half shooting and defeat Missouri 57-54 Wednesday.

Riley Norris, Braxton Key and Jimmie Taylor each added nine points, and the trio combined for 19 second-half points. Bola Olanyian grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds.

Ingram's layup with 5:49 to play capped an 8-1 spurt and pulled the Tide within one with. Jordan Barnett hit 1 of 2 free throws on the other end before Taylor made a jumper and Ingram hit back-to-back 3s to make it 53-47 and Alabama led the rest of the way. K.J. Walton's 3-point play trimmed Missouri's deficit to 55-54 with 1:31 to play, but neither team scored again until Ingram's pair of free throws with two seconds left sealed it.

Alabama (15-10 , 8-5 Southeastern Conference) had its worst offensive half of the season, making just 5 of 27 (18.5 percent) field-goal attempts before the break. After a jumper by Key opened the scoring just 16 seconds in, the Tide missed 18 of their next 19 shots over the next 15 minutes.

K.J. Walton had nine of his 12 points in the first half and Kevin Puryear finished with 11 for Missouri (7-18, 2-11).

Alabama missed its first five second-half shots. But, after a 3-pointer by Jordan Geist gave Missouri an eight-point lead with 7:52 to play, the Tigers made just one if its last eight shots while Alabama hit 7 of 9 down the stretch.

Geist added nine points for Missouri.

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