Caleb Grill stretchered off in Missouri Tigers win vs. Lindenwood: Recap & injury update
The Missouri Tigers blew out Lindenwood thanks to a strong second-half performance, particularly from a bench unit that contributed 64 points on Wednesday night.
But the Tigers’ 81-61 victory at Mizzou Arena may be more remembered for a scary scene in which guard Caleb Grill was stretchered off the court and taken to the hospital.
Grill, a Wichita native, suffered an injury to the head and neck area. A Mizzou release noted Grill was taken to the hospital as a precaution and that he is responsive.
Grill gave a thumbs up while being stretchered off the court.
“We’ll go over there and check on him and make sure everything’s OK,” coach Dennis Gates said in his postgame news conference, adding the Tigers were awaiting the results of a CT scan. “To my knowledge, he was responsive with us, leaving this arena with his thumbs up, rolling out.”
The Tigers led by as many as 24, but the score was tied as late as the 3:35 mark in the first half, when MU’s Jacob Crews broke a 25-all deadlock with a 3-pointer. That sparked a 12-2 MU run to end the half.
Lindenwood gave Mizzou more of a challenge than anticipated, trailing by only 11 at the 13:21 mark in the second half and then 12 at the 11:56 mark.
Trent Pierce scored 12 second-half points in helping put the game away. Marques Warrick, who scored 17 points off the bench, contributed 11 of his points in the second half.
Tony Perkins led all MU scorers with 18 points. The Tigers’ starters combined for 17 points, with just five coming in the second half.
Missouri committed 20 turnovers and shot only 22.7% from 3, which helped keep the game close. But MU got to the line for 29 free throws and scored 42 points in the paint, compared to 21 free throws and 32 paint points for Lindenwood.
The Tigers also had a 15-9 advantage in offensive rebounds and 18-11 lead in second-chance points.
Grill played seven minutes before exiting. He entered the game as the Tigers’ leading scorer, averaging 15.5 points per contest. He scored two points on Wednesday.
He was injured while attempting to grab a rebound around the 10-minute mark in the first half. A Lindenwood player appeared to make contact with Grill in the head, causing Grill’s head and neck to snap back before he fell to the ground.
“Precaution is the (direction) we’re going to always take,” Gates said, “when you get an elbow in the back of the neck, head area.”
Mizzou returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 3, against Cal. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 8:23 PM.
