Missouri uses balanced attack to put away Alabama State

Tamar Bates scored 16 points and Mark Mitchell added 14 as Missouri defeated Alabama State 82-65 Monday night in Columbia, Mo.

Trent Pierce (12 points, eight rebounds) and Tony Perkins (12 points, five rebounds) also had strong games for the Tigers (11-2), who remained unbeaten at home.

Starting Missouri point guard Anthony Robinson II sat out the game with an illness, but guard Caleb Grill returned for the Tigers after missing five games with a neck injury.

Grill scored six points in 11 minutes. The Tigers used 12 players and 10 of them scored.

D'Ante Bass scored 14 points and Tyler Mack added 11 for the Hornets (4-9).

Pierce started with Robinson out and he hit an early 3-point jumper to propel Missouri to a 7-2 lead.

After the Hornets cut their deficit to 9-7, the Tigers began pulling away with a 13-4 run capped by Marques Warrick's 3-pointer.

Jasteven Walker briefly stabilized Alabama State with a 3-pointer, but Missouri pushed out to a 30-14 lead with Perkins and Pierce dunking during that surge.

CJ Hines and Bass teamed to score five consecutive points for the Hornets. But Grill hit a triple to send the Tigers rolling to a 42-24 halftime lead.

Alabama State made seven steals in the first 20 minutes, but the Hornets missed 25 of 35 shots from the field.

Missouri opened the second half with an 8-2 burst, with Bates and Mitchell each attacking the basket twice to put the Tigers up 50-26.

As the Tigers continued rotating players in and out of the game, Jacob Crews and Aidan Shaw hit 3-pointers to keep them in control.

The Hornets cut their deficit to 17 points with a 14-5 run, with Mack hitting a trio of 3-point jumpers.

Missouri ended any Alabama State comeback when Bates hit three free throws, Perkins threw down a fastbreak dunk and Pierce hit a corner 3-pointer to make it 78-53 with 3:34 left.

--Field Level Media