COLUMBIA, Mo. » A day after his cousin died of a gunshot wound in Kansas City, Marcus Denmon understandably hit the court in a funk.

By the end, the junior guard made the biggest play that kept No. 15 Missouri’s homecourt winning streak alive at 51 straight.

Denmon scored all but two of his 21 points after halftime and made a three-point play off his steal and layup with 5.8 seconds to go in overtime as the Tigers held off Vanderbilt 85-82 last night.

"The first half he played with a heavy heart, he lost a family member," coach Mike Anderson said. "In the second half he was the big-time leader."

Missouri (7-1) entered with 43 straight nonconference home wins with an average margin of 26 points under Anderson, in his fifth season.

"At home, you want to come out with a comfortable win," said guard Michael Dixon, who had 15 points and hit a layup that tied it at 82 with 33 seconds to go. "This was far from comfortable."

Ricardo Ratliffe added 14 points and nine rebounds for Missouri.

On the deciding play, Denmon deflected a pass toward the Missouri basket, retrieved the ball in plenty of time for a layup while being fouled by Brad Tinsley, then added the free throw.

"There’s really no excuse for how that all unfolded," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "Nevertheless, we had our chances. We could have salted the game away with some free throw makes."

John Jenkins had 23 points and five 3-pointers for Vanderbilt (7-2), which had won five straight.