Missouri Tigers top 100 points in basketball blowout, their 3rd straight victory

After losing 19 straight men’s basketball games, the Missouri Tigers have now won three in a row.

Thursday’s victory was a chart-topper as MU broke the 100-point barrier in an easy 111-39 victory over Mississippi Valley State at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The Delta Devils of the Southwestern Athletic Conference were little match for the host Tigers of the Southeastern Conference.

Seven — that’s right, seven — Mizzou players scored in double-figures, led by Marques Warrick with 16 points and Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill with 15 apiece.

MU feasted on a whopping 15 steals, turning many of those takeaways into easy buckets at the other end of the court. The Tigers also outrebounded the Delta Devils 42-28, with Blue Valley High grad Aidan Shaw pulling down a team-leading six boards.

With the win, Missouri improved to 3-1 — the Tigers’ only loss to date this season came in their season opener at Memphis — while MVSU fell to 1-2.

Thursday’s game was fast-paced from the outset. Mizzou raced to a lead that swelled to 12-2 in the opening five minutes and continued to snowball as the night progressed.

Bates, who’s from KC and played at Piper High in Kansas City, Kan., and Warrick, a fifth-year guard transfer from Northern Kentucky, each hit 3-pointers during the blistering initial stretch.

The score was 41-11 with 6 minutes left in the opening half. And shortly before halftime, the Tigers were shooting a scorching 62% as a team. It was apparent by then that the rout was on.

The score was 51-19 at halftime. Warrick and Bates each drained three 3-pointers in the first half — Warrick was 3 for 3 beyond the arc at that point, while Bates was 3 of 4. (That’s how Bates’ evening ended from 3-point range, while Warrick was 4 of 4.)

Overall, MU’s first-half scoring was fairly evenly distributed, as Warrick was the only Tiger in double-figures at intermission (11 points at halftime).

MU shot 15 of 30 from the floor, including 9 of 18 from deep, as a team in the first half.

For the game, the Tigers were 37 of 65 (56.9%) from the field and 15 of 31 (48.4%) from long distance.

Missouri’s next game is Friday, Nov. 22 against Pacific. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.

The Tigers will then turn around and play host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff two days later in a Sunday, Nov. 24 game that’s scheduled to tip at 4 p.m.

This story was originally published November 14, 2024 at 8:40 PM.