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AUBURN, Ala. -- Cinmeon Bowers flexed his muscles for the crowd after making a late basket and drawing a foul, and did it with his play the rest of the night.
Bowers collected 20 points and 14 rebounds, many off his own misses, to lead Auburn to an 85-79 victory over Missouri on Saturday night.
As for the flex: "I just felt like doing something," he said.
Malcolm Canada scored the final six points for Auburn (9-6, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), which trailed by eight points early in the second half.
Keith Shamburger led Missouri (7-8, 1-1) with a season-high 21 points, making 5 of 9 3-pointers.
Bowers powered for a basket with 1:30 left, flexing before the first of his three straight free throw misses. Wes Clark then hit a quick 3-pointer for his eighth straight point, making it 79-77.
Canada hit a jumper and then made four consecutive free throws over the final 21 seconds to seal the win while Missouri missed three straight 3-pointers.
"We got behind, came back, they made a run," Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. "We didn't make the plays we needed to at the end but I was really proud of the way we fought. We've been a little banged up and a little short at the guard spot, but we hung in there.
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"Down the stretch, we couldn't stop the dribble penetration and couldn't keep them off the line."
KT Harrell added 14 points for Auburn while K.C. Ross-Miller had 13 points and five assists before fouling out. Canada scored 10 points.
Bowers made repeated trips to the free-throw line, thanks in part to nine offensive rebounds. He made 11 of 18 free throws and hit both attempts after Keanau Post was called for a flagrant foul in the second half.
"When he did that, I knew it was war time," Bowers said. "It sparked me up. I can't play silent. I like to talk a lot of junk."
Clark finished with 16 points and Tramaine Isabell had 12 points and four assists for Missouri.
Auburn grabbed the lead for good with an 11-0 run capped by Canada's free throw with 3:28 left for a 74-67 edge.
Shamburger hit two free throws and Clark made a basket and subsequent foul shot to cut it to 74-72 less than a minute later.
Missouri trailed by as many as eight points before starting a 13-0 run that carried over into the second half. Shamburger's two free throws with five seconds left cut the deficit to 41-40 at halftime.
Then Missouri scored the first nine points after the half, capped by Shamburger's 3-pointer to go ahead 49-41.
Antoine Mason gave Auburn the lead back with a layup and 3-pointer for his first points of the night.
"Their energy kind of took over the game," Clark said. "They played a little bit harder than us the last three minutes."
TIP-INS
Missouri: Leading scorer Johnathan Williams III had nine points and eight rebounds but also committed five turnovers.
Auburn: Made 10 of 19 3-pointers (52.6 percent). Hit 25 of 37 free throws (67.6 percent).
UP NEXT
Missouri: Visits No. 1 Kentucky on Tuesday.
Auburn: Visits Florida on Thursday night.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Bowers reached double digits in both scoring and rebounds for the ninth time this season, and did it with ex-Auburn and NBA star Charles Barkley in the stands. He came into the game as one of only three major conference players averaging a double-double.
PLAYING HURT
Tahj Shamsid-Deen scored six points during the second-half spurt. He had totaled three points in the previous three games while nursing a shoulder injury.
