COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri men’s basketball rode a dominating first five minutes and notched its fourth win in a row, defeating Arkansas, 83-65, at home on Saturday night. Mizzou improves to 15-3 on the season and 4-1 in SEC play for the first time in program history. Arkansas falls to 11-7 on the season and 0-5 versus league foes.
MIZZOU LEADERS
Graduate Caleb Grill and senior Tamar Bates both reached 1,000 career points, tallying 17 and 15 points respectively. Grill shot 70.0 percent – and 3-of-5 from 3-point range – while notching five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Bates recorded a season-high of three made 3-pointers – all in the first 20 minutes as Mizzou built its lead.
Five players scored in double-digits on the night including junior Mark Mitchell, who scored 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Graduate Tony Perkins added 11 points and recorded three assists for the Tigers, while sophomore Trent Pierce tallied 10 points, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 for the game.
GAME RECAP
The Tigers started strong, with a 3-pointer from Bates opening the scoring as Missouri went on an 18-0 run within the first five minutes of the game. Mizzou made seven of its first 10 shots in the game, while forcing the Razorbacks to miss 11-straight field goals in building an 18-2 advantage just over five minutes into the game.
Arkansas would go on to cut Missouri’s lead to nine before the Tigers would go on another 7-0 run to gain back a 16-point lead. A last-minute shot inside the paint by Mitchell would allow the Tigers to end the first half with a 52-35 lead. Missouri ended the period with 15 assists, 19 rebounds and four steals.
Missouri carried its momentum over into the second half with a shot from behind the arc by Mitchell to kick off scoring. Arkansas would go on an 8-0 run to bring the Razorbacks within 10 of Missouri before a layup by Pierce allowed the Tigers to remain in front by double digits.
A tip-in layup by graduate Jacob Crews off of an Arkansas turnover with just over five minutes left would spark an 11-3 run for the Tigers, finished with a dunk by Grill off of another Arkansas turnover en route to a convincing 18-point win, 83-65.
TEAM STATS
Missouri shot 46.0 percent in the winning effort, including an 11-of-23 effort from 3-point range. The Tigers also turned 13 Arkansas turnovers into 13 points and earned 16 points off of fastbreaks.
Mizzou also held the Razorbacks to 44.4 percent shooting and just 21.7 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-23).
UP NEXT
After four-straight wins, Missouri looks to maintain its winning streak against Texas on Tuesday night. Tipoff in Austin is slated for 8 p.m. on SEC Network.
