COLUMBIA, Mo – Led by a career-high 33 points from Caleb Grill, University of Missouri men’s basketball pulled away from Eastern Washington for an 84-77 win on Monday night. With the win, the Tigers improve to 2-1 on the season and 2-0 in Mizzou Arena.
MIZZOU LEADERS
Two Tigers scored in double figures to lead Mizzou to victory. In addition to his career-high 33 points, Grill tied a Mizzou Arena record with eight made three pointers, while also posting a game-best nine rebounds. Junior Mark Mitchell added 13 points.
GAME RECAP
The Tigers responded to an early run by the Eagles and after taking the lead six minutes into the game, they never gave it back.
Eastern Washington jumped out to an early 12-4 advantage only for Mizzou to respond with an 11-0 run of their own, highlighted by a Caleb Grill fastbreak dunk and a Mark Mitchell layup. Overall, Grill tallied seven of the team’s 11 points during the stretch as the Tigers took a 15-12 advantage.
The Tigers then took advantage of their ability to draw fouls, attempting the first 12 free throws of the game to build a comfortable lead. Another 6-0 run by Mizzou stretched the advantage to 15 and forced Eastern Washington to call its first timeout. Grill led Mizzou with 16 points and four threes in the opening 20 minutes of action, giving them a 45-33 advantage heading into the locker room. Mitchell also reached double figures with 10 first-half points
Eastern Washington cut the deficit to seven, before six quick points by Grill and Jacob Crews extended the lead back to 13, leading to an Eastern Washington timeout. The Eagles responded and would cut Mizzou’s lead down to two before Grill responded with five-straight points. He then sealed the victory with 1:17 remaining, sinking his eighth three pointer en route to the 84-77 win.
TEAM STATS
Mizzou shot 54.2 percent in the winning effort with a 10-of-18 clip (55.6 percent) from 3-point range. The Tigers also held the Eagles to 51.8 percent from the field with a 9-of-25 mark from 3-point range.
UP NEXT
The Tigers look to extend their winning streak to three, hosting Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night. Tipoff at Mizzou Arena is set for 6:30 p.m.
