Nick King photo

Missouri's Justin Safford, left, blocks a shot by Stetson's Garfield Blair in the first half. Missouri beat Stetson 78-44 Saturday at Mizzou Arena. •  Slide Show: Missouri 78, Stetson 44

The effects of a week off from competition were apparent to all of the 7,409 spectators who watched the Missouri basketball team’s game against Stetson tonight at Mizzou Arena.

In their first game after final exams, the Tigers started sluggishly, turning the ball over four times in the first four minutes, and never really got in sync during a first half that saw them shoot 31 percent from the field.

Nick King photo

Missouri's DeMarre Carroll, second from left, collides with teammate Miguel Paul while grabbing a loose ball from Stetson's Shawn Brown, left, during the second half. Brown's teammate Tim Lang, far right, looks on.

But with DeMarre Carroll and Matt Lawrence setting the tone, Missouri turned things around after intermission. The two combined to score nine points in the first 2 minutes 10 seconds of the second half as the Tigers began to pull away in a 78-44 victory.

Carroll finished with 14 points. Lawrence had 12 and was 4 for 6 from the field.

But it was Missouri’s bench that did most of the work to turn what had been a nine-point game at halftime into a rout. Justin Safford matched his career-high with 10 points, including five in the second half. Marcus Denmon had all of his eight points after intermission. Same with reserve forward Keith Ramsey. Seldom-used frontcourt players Laurence Bowers and Steve Moore combined for 11 points as the Tigers shot a sizzling 70 percent after intermission.

With the victory, the Tigers improved to 9-1 heading into Tuesday night’s Braggin’ Rights matchup against Illinois at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

By the time Missouri was finished with Stetson, it was hard to remember the Hatters actually led for much of the game’s first seven minutes. They owned a 9-6 edge with 13:25 left in the opening half.

The usually dependable combination of Carroll and Leo Lyons couldn’t find their range. The two missed 10 of their first 14 shots, and nobody picked up the slack in the early going.

With the offense out of sorts, it was the defense that propelled Missouri into the lead. The Tigers held the Hatters 27.6 percent shooting and, during one stretch, kept them without a point for 7 minutes, 10 seconds. Denmon had four of the team’s six first-half steals.

With Safford coming off the bench to provide five points and a key block on Garfield Blair, Missouri finally pulled in front. The Tigers ended up building a lead as large as 24-11 on Matt Lawrence’s 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining.

Stetson managed to score seven of the last 11 points in the first half, and A.J. Smith’s pull-up with 1 second left pulled them within 27-18 at intermission. The Hatters, who missed 1 of 17 3-pointers, got no closer the rest of the game.

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