After two struggles on road, Tigers head to LSU tonight

Laurence Bowers could see his first action in three weeks tonight for the Tigers.
Laurence Bowers could see his first action in three weeks tonight for the Tigers.

COLUMBIA - The first two Southeastern Conference road ventures weren't kind to the Missouri basketball team.

In losses to Mississippi and Florida, the Tigers were outscored by a combined 38-11 in the first 10 minutes and were promptly blown out.

Missouri hopes to avoid another slow start as it travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU today (7 p.m., KMIZ-TV).

"It's like sometimes you try and get it all back in one play, even though there's no 10-, 12-point shot," guard Earnest Ross said. "When you play with that mindset, then you kind of start to take quicker shots, not as good shots, stuff like that."

Mississippi jumped out to a 9-0 lead on Missouri, while Florida led 11-0. At that point, the Tigers already seemed out of both games.

No. 17 Missouri (15-4, 4-2 SEC) was without leading scorer Laurence Bowers in both losses and is questionable for today's game.