Missouri Tigers basketball blows out Lincoln in exhibition game. Here’s the recap

Eager to prove that 2024-25 will be different than last season — which included an 0-18 mark in SEC play — the Missouri Tigers basketball team started its exhibition slate with an exclamation point.

To the tune of 90 points and a doubling up of its Saturday opponent.

The Tigers dispatched Lincoln 90-45 at Mizzou Arena. Transfer wing Mark Mitchell — a Kansas City product who played at both Bishop Miege and Sunrise Christian (Wichita) — scored 22 points in his first contest in black and gold.

Caleb Grill, who also played his high school hoops in Kansas, added 20 points and six rebounds. The two went 14 for 17 from the field.

Grill missed 23 games last season due to a wrist injury.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been able to play an actual basketball game,” Grill said, per the Columbia Missourian. “Having that ability to just go out there, I just wanted to give everything I had to the game and play as hard as I could on both ends of the floor.”

Missouri sophomore Anthony Robinson II added a game-best six steals. The Tigers totaled 15 steals and shot 10-for-19 from 3.

“I thought (Robinson) did a tremendous job of executing our defensive game plan,” coach Dennis Gates said, per the Columbia Missourian. The analytics show that he is one of the top players in the country at being disruptive defensively.”

Saturday’s action was never in doubt, as the Tigers reached the 30-point mark before Lincoln managed to score 10. The margin was 34 (53-19) at half and 45 by the end of the game.

The Tigers, in fact, led by as many as 50 points, 80-30, in the second half.

Missouri now looks to the start of the regular season, with a road game at Memphis up next. That game will tip at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. It will be shown on ESPN+.

The Tigers’ home opener will be Friday, Nov. 8, against Howard.

This story was originally published October 26, 2024 at 6:05 PM.