Caleb Grill lights up Pacific in Missouri's win

Caleb Grill scored 25 points and made five steals as Missouri routed Pacific 91-56 Friday night in Columbia, Mo.

Tamar Bates added 11 points and Trent Pierce scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in just 14 minutes for Missouri (4-1).

Coach Dennis Gates used 12 players and 11 of them scored as Missouri got 57 points off of its bench. Grill sank seven 3-pointers.

Elias Ralph led Pacific (3-4) with 19 points. Seth Jones added 15.

Pacific missed just of 29 shots from 3-point range and got outscored 17-6 at the free-throw line.

Pacific raced to a 9-4 lead with its half-court offense freeing up cutters to the basket. Ralph scored three times at the rim during that run.

With Marques Warrick hitting two free throws and a 3-point jumper, Missouri used a 7-0 run for its first lead at 11-9.

Missouri picked up its offensive pace by forcing live-ball turnovers with its 1-3-1 zone defense and then scoring in transition. It pushed its lead to 27-15 with 3-pointers by Grill and Josh Gray.

Grill hit consecutive 3-pointers, then converted his steal into a fast break basket to put Missouri up 40-24.

Pacific countered with a 5-0 run with Jones hitting a 3-pointer, but Missouri closed the half with a 14-2 surge to take a 54-31 lead into the break,

In the first half, Missouri hit 10 of 19 shots from 3-point range, outscored Pacific 13-0 in transition and built a 31-7 edge in bench points. Pacific turned the ball over seven times in the first 20 minutes.

Grill and Mark Mitchell hit 3-point jumpers to keep Missouri rolling into the second half with a 9-2 push for a 63-33 lead.

Pacific could get no closer than 26 points during the rest of the game.

--Field Level Media