Missouri pulls away for 77-54 exhibition win over Missouri-St. Louis

Midway through the second half, Missouri-St. Louis was still hanging around Saturday against Missouri in exhibition action at Mizzou Arena.

The Tigers led by nine, a lead that seemed comfortable but far from dominant, until a 10-2 run powered by senior Keith Shamburger and junior Deuce Bello.

Shamburger, a Hawaii transfer, and Bello, a Baylor transfer, each scored five during a back-breaking spurt that buried the Tritons during a 77-54 victory.

“We turned it up second half and it was a whole different game,” Shamburger said.

The exclamation point came with 6:44 remaining when Shamburger lobbed a alley-oop from 25 feet away for Bello, who was left alone at the rim and thundered home a powerful dunk that put the Tigers in front by 17.

It was academic from there.

Freshman guard Montaque Gill-Caesar led Missouri with 19 points on seven-of-11 shooting.

“Coach told me to come out and be aggressive,” Gill-Caesar said. “They want me to attack … and I think we had a lot of mismatches this game. We wanted to expose them early.”

Making his 2014-15 debut after missing most of October with a knee injury, sophomore Johnathan Williams III poured in 13 with a game-best 12 rebounds.

“It was pretty fun being back out there with my teammates again,” said Williams, who was two of 10 from the field but went eight of 10 from the free-throw line. “Loving the game of basketball, it was pretty exciting.”

Shamburger also put together a solid all-around performance with 13 points, including three three-pointers, along with six rebounds and six assists.

During the closing minutes, freshman Jakeenan Gant punctuated an efficient afternoon off the bench with a couple jams. He finished with six points, five rebounds, two steals and a block in nine minutes.

Upset-minded Missouri-St. Louis — which plays in the same NCAA Division II conference as Missouri’s first exhibition opponent, William Jewell — stormed to an 11-point first-half lead behind some sizzling shooting.

The Tritons started the game seven of 11 overall, including five of six from three-point range, and led 25-14 after a layup by junior Tre Ogles midway through the first half.

As Missouri-St. Louis cooled off, missing eight straight threes at one point and making only two of the final 19 tries from deep, Missouri found its rhythm and countered with a 25-9 run to close the first half.

“It was a great game,” first-year coach Kim Anderson said. “Not that we played great … but it was great because we had to play from behind and it showed our guys that they need to be a little bit more serious about things.”

Williams scored eight of his 12 first-half points during the run, while Gill-Caesar and sophomore Wes Clark, who finished with eight points and four assists, each scored six as the Tigers rallied into the lead.

It didn’t help that Missouri was getting whipped on the boards in the first half. The Tritons owned a healthy 19-10 edge at one point, but the Tigers wound up winning 40-33 on the glass.

Missouri associate coach Tim Fuller wasn’t on the bench. He was away from the team to deliver a eulogy at the funeral of one of his best friends, Anderson said.

This story was originally published November 8, 2014 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Missouri pulls away for 77-54 exhibition win over Missouri-St. Louis."