It was just over a year ago, in an arena packed full of fans - one half dressed in blue and orange, the other sporting black and gold - that Shaun Pruitt and his Illinois teammates exposed a problem that would show itself throughout Mike Anderson’s first season in charge of the Missouri basketball season.

Parker Eshelman photo

Missouri’s DeMarre Carroll blocks a shot attempt by Purdue’s Scott Martin during the Tigers’ 73-63 victory Dec. 8 at Mizzou Arena. After struggling in the paint and especially on the boards last season, their first under Mike Anderson, the Tigers have improved their rebounding with the help of junior transfer Carroll, who is averaging 6.6 rebounds per game this season, and better play from Leo Lyons (4.9).

Foreshadowing later performances by the frontlines of Big 12 Conference foes such as Kansas State, Iowa State and Nebraska, Pruitt manhandled the Tigers inside, scoring 19 points and ripping down nine rebounds, to lead the Fighting Illini to a 73-70 victory at Scottrade Center.

"He got a lot of trash buckets off a lot of our mistakes," said Missouri forward Leo Lyons, who’ll be charged with making sure his team doesn’t fall victim to the same fate in tomorrow night’s 7:30 p.m. tip-off against Illinois, which has won seven consecutive games in the Braggin’ Rights series.

The 6-foot-10 Pruitt, the Illini’s top scorer and rebounder this season, might as well have been 10-foot-6 with how easily the Tigers’ smaller front line allowed him to get to caroms coming off the rim in last season’s meeting. He tipped in three baskets and pulled down five of Illinois’ 17 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 22 second-chance points.

The Illini enjoyed a 39-31 edge overall on the glass, a margin dwarfed by the discrepancies in some of Missouri’s other losses, especially a pair against the Wildcats, who outrebounded the Tigers 41-17 and 41-19. In fact, Anderson’s team lost the rebounding battle in all but two of its 12 losses a year ago, and when those boards come at the offensive end, they lead to extra scoring opportunities for opponents.

The prevailing wisdom has been that Missouri will have to start beating people on the glass before it can really turn itself into a consistent winner against the tougher teams on its schedule, but the Tigers’ coach said that’s not necessarily the case.

"One thing about rebounding, I look at it different," Anderson said. "I want to be in the ballpark when you talk about rebounding because the way we play, we create turnovers and we get a lot of possessions that people are not aware of when you play up-tempo basketball."

Missouri often extends it defense the length of the floor, swarming opposing ballhandlers in hopes that the pressure will create mistakes that lead to turnovers and easy baskets by the Tigers. Even when it hasn’t pressed this season, Anderson’s team has leaned on a matchup zone that tries to speed up the opposition into making mistakes.

But both defenses require the Tigers to scramble all over the court, which can make it difficult for them to get into good rebounding position.

Anderson "always says you’ve got to give up something to get something," junior forward DeMarre Carroll said. "We might give up rebounds, but we can get it back in steals and turnovers. He just wants us to be close, because if we’re anywhere close and we’re winning the steals and turnovers, we’re going to come out with the victory."

Or at the very least be in a position to win the game, as Missouri was in three-point losses to Michigan State and Arkansas.

Both those teams outrebounded the Tigers, and by an average of five in each game, but those disparities didn’t cost them as much as turnovers in the early going or missed shots down the stretch.

Only in Missouri’s loss at California did poor rebounding spoil any chance at victory. The Golden Bears, led by 6-11 center DeVon Hardin and 6-10 forward Ryan Anderson, battered the Tigers under the basket, ripping down 41 rebounds to MU’s 20. They enjoyed a 17-6 edge in second-chance points.

That performance aside, the Tigers see reason to believe they’ve gotten better on the glass this season and are better prepared to deal with a player like Pruitt in the paint.

The addition of Carroll gives Missouri a relentless player who’ll chase after every ball that bounces off the rim. He’s averaging a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game, ninth-best in the Big 12.

Lyons also has picked up his play under the basket this season, averaging 4.9 rebounds per game, and he’s twice reached double figures in rebounds.

But the responsibility of keeping the Tigers competitive on the glass as the season progresses doesn’t just fall to Carroll and Lyons or reserve forwards Darryl Butterfield and Marshall Brown.

"We’ve got to be a team that’s going to rebound by committee," Anderson said. "I think you’re seeing our guards rebounding. They’re sticking their noses in there, and I’ll tell you, when our guards rebound, it makes us a lot more effective at fastbreaking and just playing really, really up-tempo."

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