COLUMBIA, Mo.- Led by five Tigers in double figures and a career-best performance from Tamar Bates, the Mizzou men’s basketball team cruised to a 92-59 victory over Central Arkansas on Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. With the win, the Tigers finish their non-conference campaign with an 8-5 record, while the Bears drop to 3-12.
Bates led the way with a career-best 25 points – making his first nine attempts and all three of his 3-point attempts to lead Mizzou. He also added season-best totals of four rebounds and three assists in the winning effort.
Graduate guard Sean East II chipped in 16 points on a 7-of-9 clip, while sophomore forward Aidan Shaw also set a new career-high with 10 points and added five rebounds to his effort. Graduates Noah Carter and Connor Vanover rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points apiece.
In the game’s opening minutes, Mizzou would jump out to an 11-3 advantage. Despite the early deficit, Central Arkansas wouldn’t let the Tigers pull away, as the Bears would fight back to stay within single digits.
With a score of 26-25 in favor of Mizzou, a Shaw slam would help spark the Tigers’ offense as the first half came to a close. Mizzou would go on to outscore Central Arkansas, 20-6, over the final seven-plus minutes to give the Tigers a 46-31 lead into the break.
The Tigers would ride the momentum from the end of the first half into the second as they would begin to pull away. Mizzou would use a pair of scoring runs to help build its lead to over 30-plus points and maintain it until the final buzzer to secure a 92-59 victory.
Mizzou collected a season-best 47 rebounds, while limiting Central Arkansas to only 22. The 25-rebound advantage is the highest margin for Mizzou in eight years as the Tigers outscored the Bears 23-5 in second-chance points and 46-16 in points in the paint.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will open the new year with their SEC opener Georgia on Jan. 6. Tipoff is slated for noon and the game can be viewed on the SEC Network.
Fans can get their tickets for the SEC opener and all remaining home games at Mizzou Arena by visiting MUTigers.com/MBBTix or by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS.
