In multiple meanings of the word, balance has defined No. 9 Mizzou's surprising and exhilarating start and helps explain the Tigers' claim to being the top team in the area and perhaps one that will make a dent in the NCAA Tournament.

In nine of Mizzou's 11 games, at least four players were in double figures. Four times, five Tigers had 10 or more.

Five players have scored 20 or more in a game, and three have had 29 or more.

Also reflecting a sense of proportion, MU is consistently taking high-quality shots because it almost constantly is seeking the best one.

Often zipping the ball from a decent look to a good look to a great look, Mizzou is second in the nation in scoring, 87.9 points a game, largely because it's second in the land in field-goal percentage (52.6 percent) and averages 17 assists.

That mentality flourishes with the symmetry, spacing and structure stressed by first-year coach Frank Haith.

The veteran team's fundamental soundness also is apparent in everything from free throw shooting (77.9 percent, sixth in the nation, on pace to be the best in documented MU history) to its defensive smarts.

Despite starting a four-guard lineup because of the season-ending knee injury to forward Laurence Bowers, despite emphasizing half-court defense over the frenzied full-court style favored by predecessor Mike Anderson, the well-positioned Tigers have a plus-5.1 rebounding average after having a minus average in each of the previous six seasons.

Perhaps as significantly, though, Haith seems to have injected emotional equilibrium into MU, which at times appeared splintered in the final weeks under Anderson and lost five of its last six games.

Name a player, and he's shown strong improvement — even senior guard Marcus Denmon, who was first-team All-Big 12 a year ago and will merit consideration for All-America honors this season.

But if any one player represents the difference between the end of the Anderson era and the beginning of Haith's, it's senior Kim English, whose relationship with his coach had disintegrated under Anderson and is flourishing under Haith.

Miss a field goal under Anderson, and English was looking for the hook. Miss under Haith, and he expects to hear, "Keep shooting!"

There are other reasons for his improvement, including more consistent form and release points, but there is no denying he is an entirely different player:

A season after shooting a career-worst 36.6 percent, English is shooting 53.8 percent from the field, including 53.2 percent from 3-point range, second-best in the nation.

Much remains to be known about MU, which has a strength of schedule of just 302 and figures to get its best challenge of the season to date Thursday against No. 25 Illinois in a matchup that often defies prediction.

The Tigers haven't even played their first true road game (Dec. 30 at Old Dominion), and virtually every one of their 18 Big 12 games probably will be more of a challenge than any of their games to date.

Their absence of size hasn't been a factor, but it could be a vulnerability later — especially because MU has such little depth: Mizzou only comfortably goes seven-deep now, even as Haith tries to cultivate freshman forward Kadeem Green.

But Mizzou so far is in sync and playing with a revived mind-set that is something between urgency and fury, all traits that suggest it's going to stay in stride and go places even if it hits speed bumps along the way.