Missouri takes down Alabama State behind hot-shooting first half

Jacob Crews pumped in six 3-pointers and scored a team-high 20 points Thursday night as Missouri eased past visiting Alabama State 85-77 in Columbia, Mo.

Crews missed just two of his nine shots for the Tigers (9-2), which connected on a sizzling 64.7% of shots from the field. Anthony Robinson II added 19 points and five assists, while Mark Mitchell contributed 15 points and Sebastian Mack came off the bench to chip in 10.

Asjon Anderson scored a game-high 23 points for the Hornets (3-7), going 5 of 10 on 3-point attempts. Damarien Yates added 13 points in a reserve role and fellow sub Tyler Bird chipped in 11. Micah Simpson tallied 10 for Alabama State, which canned 13 of 26 from beyond the arc, far above their 35.9% rate prior to tipoff.

Missouri never trailed and led for all but 15 seconds, but they never really pulled away. In fact, Tigers coach Dennis Gates was forced to call the first timeout of the second half when the Hornets cut the lead to 63-54 at the 13:14 mark after a long 3-pointer by Simpson.

Missouri enjoyed a 46-26 advantage in points in the paint.

The Tigers started the game aiming to activate their usually strong offense after a tough 80-60 loss Sunday to Kansas in Kansas City. They managed to do so immediately, jumping out to a 20-12 lead less than seven minutes in on Mitchell's 3-point play.

Missouri scored almost at will in building a 52-39 lead, finishing the half with 20-of-28 shooting from the field and averaging nearly 1.6 points per possession.

The one problem from their perspective was that they couldn't keep Alabama State from scoring, either. The Hornets sank 50 percent of their shots, including an impressive 8 of 14 from the 3-point line in the first half.

But the difference was that Missouri continually punished Alabama State in the lane, ending the half with a 30-10 advantage in paint points.

--Field Level Media