Tigers score 45 after halftime on way to their fourth straight Big 12 victory.
Quin Snyder’s emotions ranged from angry to disappointed.
Missouri had another bad first half, another poor shooting night and once again snuck by with a win.
At no point did the Tigers play spectacularly on offense, but they took advantage of a short-handed Colorado team in the second half for a 63-54 win Tuesday in front of 9,488 at Mizzou Arena.
It was Missouri’s fourth straight win and puts the Tigers in a tie for seventh with Texas A&M in the Big 12 Conference.
Linas Kleiza, who quietly had 10 points and 10 rebounds, said if the Tigers hope to make it five in a row Saturday against Texas, they can’t play like they did in the first half Tuesday.
“Now we’re a second-half team. Earlier we were a first-half team,” Kleiza said. “We’ve just got to put 40 minutes together and play hard because we’re going down to Austin, Texas. If we play a first half like that, you’re out. You can pack your bags at halftime and go home.”
Missouri (14-13, 6-7) didn’t pack its bags Tuesday despite scoring 18 in the first half.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 28-10 run and finished with 45 second-half points.
A weary Colorado team (13-12, 4-9), which was without four of its players, aided Missouri’s second-half surge.
Colorado coach Ricardo Patton suspended starters Julius Ashby and Marcus Hall as well as reserves Chris Copeland and Martane Freeman on Monday for violating team rues. They served one-game suspensions and will return Saturday.
“We saw two completely different (Missouri) teams,” Snyder said. “I want to give our guys credit for what they did do to be better, but at this point in the year, we’ve just got to be more focused in our preparation.”
Missouri was anything but prepared in the first half, and its play conjured up memories of its five-game losing streak.
The Tigers turned the ball over 10 times, trailed by as many as nine points and were done in by their worst enemy: the 3-pointer. Facing the Buffaloes’ 2-3 zone, Missouri attempted 22 shots, 14 of which were 3-pointers. The Tigers shot 21 percent from behind the arc.
“We were thinking, ‘We can’t let this game go away because we know we’re capable of playing better. There’s no way we should be down six,’” Missouri’s Jason Conley said. “When we started the second half we said, ‘You know what, we’re just going to take it over.’ Unfortunately, we didn’t finish them off, and we’ve had a problem with that.”
Jason Obazuaye kept the Buffaloes close, tying a career high with 16 points.
But they lost a key component with 4:12 left when Richard Roby, the team’s leading scorer, fouled out.
Roby, who scored 15 and hit the decisive 3-pointer in the previous game against Missouri, finished with nine points in the rematch.
Jason Horton, who scored a team-high 14, helped distance the Tigers, making three consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half.
It was one of the few hot streaks for Missouri, which shot 30 percent on 3-pointers.
“I’m not tired of winning,” Horton said. “As long as we keep winning, I don’t care really (how we play). Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter as long as you get the ‘W.’
“Winning can get addictive, and I hope it does.”
Snyder also wants more.
“I want to win five in a row, six in a row,” Snyder said. “I do think we’re playing better. I do think there’s been progress.”