ESPN Men's Basketball

COLUMBIA, Mo -- Thomas Gardner scored 19 points and had a career-high seven assists as Missouri beat Oakland, Mich., 74-58 on Friday night.

Missouri (6-4) closed the game with a 16-4 run that spanned more than six minutes. Glen Dandridge and Jason Horton sparked the spurt with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.

Marshall Brown and Jimmy McKinney each had 14 points for the Tigers, and Kevin Young added 12 points and 14 rebounds, his second career double-double.

Vova Severovas led the Grizzlies with 15 points and six rebounds. Calvin Wooten, a transfer from Rutgers who entered the game averaging 22.8 points, finished with nine points.

Missouri tried to pull away early in the first half, jumping out to an 11-point lead, but Oakland battled back. The Grizzlies took advantage of 10 Missouri turnovers and went on a pair of 8-0 runs and an 8-2 run to trim the Tigers' lead to 36-32 at halftime.

Missouri point guard Jason Horton, who dressed but did not play in Wednesday's game against Eastern Illinois, did not start again but saw his first action with 2:06 left in the first half.

Missouri's final nonconference game is Monday against visiting Louisiana-Monroe. Oakland will start Mid-Continent Conference play Monday at Valparaiso.

The game was the third in three years between the two teams. Missouri is 3-0.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index