COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Kevin Puryear scored 18 points and hauled in eight rebounds as Missouri held off Omaha for an 85-78 victory Wednesday night.

The Tigers' leading scorer was particularly efficient, shooting 5 for 8 from the field and 7 for 8 from the free-throw line in 25 minutes of play.

Terrence Phillips caught the hot hand early, making his first three 3-point attempts for a total of nine first-half points. Phillips finished with 14 points before fouling out with 2:36 to play.

The Tigers led 37-30 at halftime after shooting 50 percent from the field, while holding the Mavericks to 33.3 percent shooting.

Despite its sharp shooting, Missouri struggled to hold onto the ball in the first half, committing 13 turnovers, it's most in a half all season. Omaha took advantage of the sloppy ball handling, scoring 13 points off turnovers in the half.

The second half told a different story, as the Tigers committed only five turnovers, leading to five points for the Mavericks. Meanwhile, Omaha committed 10 second-half turnovers, leading to 16 Missouri points.

Big man Jake White led Omaha with 18 points, including 14 in the second half. White also grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds, recording his second double-double in the last three games.

Devin Patterson added 17 points to go with seven assists and Tra-Deon Hollins had 13 points, including nine in the second half. Omaha's leading scorer and rebounder, Tre'Shawn Thurman, was held in check most of the night, finishing with nine points on 2 of 7 shooting. Thurman drew a technical foul with 5:30 left in the game by reacting to a charging call and fouled out of the game.

The Tigers won both the rebounding and points-in-the-paint margin for the third consecutive game, outscoring the Mavericks 32-20 in the paint and outrebounding them 37-34.

Missouri forward Jakeenan Gant scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds and K.J. Walton added 10 points on a perfect 3 for 3 from the field.

Tip-ins

Missouri: The Tigers held five of their first seven opponents to less than 40 percent shooting... Gant blocked a shot in six of the Tigers' first seven games and leads the team with seven... This was only the second meeting between the schools. Missouri won the first meeting 105-83 on Nov. 29, 1983 in Columbia.

Omaha: Hollins entered the game leading the nation in steals with 34, an average of 4.3 per game...The Mavericks entered the game ranked eighth nationally in steals with 81 over the course of eight games... Omaha leads the Summit League in eight statistical categories including points per game (88.5) and rebounds per game (41.4).

Up next

Missouri visits No. 13 Arizona Sunday.

Omaha visits Grand Canyon Sunday.