Missourians love to scream "show me," after all, they live in a state called the "Show Me" state.

UTM’s Skyhawks didn't want to show a predominate crowd of Missourians they couldn't play basketball or shoot the ball well. Going into Tuesday's consolation round of the Guardians Classic Regional at Southwest Missouri State's Hammons Center, the Skyhawks showed they were experiencing some shooting woes. The Skyhawks shot a horrific 23 percent from the field and 13 percent from three-point range in the first half of a 73-62 loss to San Francisco Monday, Nov. 17.

Maybe the thought of hearing "show me" haunted the Skyhawks after the loss to San Francisco, because they put a screeching halt to the shooting woes and lambasted Western Illinois 96-67 in Tuesday's consolation round of the Guardians Classic.

The Skyhawks shot a blistering 60 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from the arch in the first half. They cruised to a 51-29 halftime lead. Newcomers Justin Smith and Chris Carter led the Skyhawks with 14 and 11 first-half points.

The Skyhawks also out-rebounded Western Illinois 24-12 in the first half.

"We told the guys we had to play 40 minutes of basketball if we were going to win," said the Skyhawks' head basketball coach Bret Campbell. "We only played 20 minutes against San Francisco, and to be truthful about it, we played about 36 minutes against Western Illinois. With 3:58 to go we were up by 42 points and Western Illinois goes on a 15-2 run. I won't complain about a 29-point win.

"Honestly, I was proud of our effort against Western Illinois," Campbell said.

The Skyhawks showed Missourians and everyone in the Hammons Center they could shoot the ball, and they could crash the boards. The Skyhawks shot 48.5 percent from the field in the second half, and they won the battle of the boards 51-27.

"When you out-rebound a team 51-27 and you grab 18 offensive rebounds, that's the sign of a good basketball team," Campbell said.

Smith finished the game with 26 points to lead all scorers. Carter finished with 11 points and sophomore Cleve Woodfork poured in 13 points in 15 minutes of action.