Thumbing through the Missouri game notes a few days ago, J.T. Tiller noted the school record was eight steals.
The defensive-minded guard took a run at that mark on Saturday, ending up one shy while setting the tone in a 97-86 victory over Texas Tech. The Tigers had a season-best 20 steals and hounded the Red Raiders into a season-high 29 turnovers.
"Our whole mentality was a defensive approach," Tiller said. "That's how I get my butterflies out, trying to play defense and get the team cranking."
DeMarre Carroll had 27 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Missouri (17-3, 4-1), which led by 18 points in both halves. Carroll scored seven points in the final 6½ minutes to help hold off a late Texas Tech rally.
"My teammates, they saw I was hot so they tried to get me the ball," Carroll said. "I just tried to show them they could have confidence in me when it gets down to crunch time."
Marcus Denmon had 14 points and Kim English 13, while Leo Lyons added 12 off the bench, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Tiller added eight points, two blocked shots and two assists.
"J.T. was everywhere," coach Mike Anderson said. "He just has a nose and a great feel for the game."
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Missouri has won four in a row and eight of nine, and the 4-1 start in conference play is Missouri's best since 2001-02, when it ended up one victory shy of the Final Four behind Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert. After throttling their first two Big 12 opponents at Mizzou Arena by a total of 76 points, Saturday's game drew season-high attendance of 13,357.
"The crowd was awesome," Anderson said. "They got entertained."
Missouri topped its victory total from last season, a 16-16 finish, and won its 14th straight at home to set a record at the 5-year-old Mizzou Arena. The 17-3 start represents the school's best start since 1994-95.
Alan Voskuil had 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals for Texas Tech (11-8, 1-3), which has lost four of five. Robert Lewandowski added 16 points and John Roberson 15.
"I really thought we hurt ourselves, especially early on," coach Pat Knight said. "We made just some dumb passes and some dumb plays.
"I thought our defense was really good once we got them into a half-court set, but they still got 35 points off turnovers."
The turnovers, including five each by Voskuil and Roberson, negated Texas Tech's 46-30 rebounding advantage. The team's previous season worst was 23 turnovers at Baylor on Jan. 10.
"It's a tough thing to play on their home court with the way they play, with traps and pushing it up," Knight said. "We can't go against a tougher team than this."
The Red Raiders cut the deficit to seven points before Missouri settled it with eight straight points, the last seven by Denmon on a layup, two free throws and a 3-pointer for an 85-70 cushion with just under 4½ minutes to go.
Tiller topped his previous best of six steals and ended up one shy of Reggie Smith's school record of eight against Florida A&M on Dec. 3, 1992.
Tiller had two steals, two blocks and a layup in the first 2½ minutes, helping Missouri take an early 10-1 lead. Texas Tech committed five turnovers in the first 1:40, forcing Knight to call a pair of early timeouts.
Texas Tech settled down somewhat at the end of the half, scoring seven straight points in one stretch to help cut the deficit to 53-41 at the break.
