First-half three-point blast gives Mizzou an 83-65 victory over rival Arkansas

The Missouri Tigers (15-3, 4-1 Southeastern) sought their fourth straight SEC win after dropping their opener to Auburn when they hosted Battle Line rivals the Arkansas Razorbacks (11-7, 0-5 Southeastern) , who were looking for their first conference win of the season. The hosts rode a first-half barrage to an 83-65 victory, securing a spot on the nation’s NCAA Tournament radar.

Caleb Grill and Tamar Bates were at the epicenter of a first-half three-point barrage. The duo contributed 26 of Mizzou’s 52-point first-half tally while shooting 75% from three-point land. Grill finished the game with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, while Bates finished with 15 points on 6-12 from the field. The two not only shared the three-point success, but also shared milestones as they both surpassed 1,000 career points tonight.

After the first bucket of the game went to the Razorbacks, it was all Tigers as a Bates-fueled 18-0 run ensued, sending a hostile Mizzou Arena crowd roaring from the jump. The run ended with an Arkansas putback at 13:41, ending a nearly six-minute scoring drought.

Arkansas’ problems didn’t just come from shooting inefficiency, as they had a poor record not only on draw fouls, but converting them at the line. Future Hall of Fame coach John Calipari’s group helped itself to just four free throws on eight attempts.

The first bucket was Arkansas’ first, last, biggest and only spike of the game.

Missouri’s first half was characterized by being quick out of the end of every Arkansas possession to get the numbers advantage in transition. This caused the Razorbacks’ defense to become somewhat discombobulated, leaving countless Tigers open on the perimeter, giving them the opportunity for the triple or a clean drive to the hoop.

That efficiency led the Tigers to 14 assists and just two turnovers in the first 20 and a 17-point lead at 52-35. The Tigers’ usual bread and butter of getting to the foul line wasn’t very prevalent thanks to the hot shooting and methodical passing.

Arkansas’ offense had a tough job matching the offensive intensity of Mizzou early on, and the strong defense of Razorback stars Boogie Fland, DJ Wagner and Adou Thiero is why they couldn’t. Fland in particular had his lowest point total and field goal percentage of the season with four points at a clip of 15%.

The defensive issues for Arkansas weren’t just because they weren’t able to get guys in transition, as they lacked patience against Mizzou’s rotation, constantly falling for the extra pass that led to a lot of high percentages and open looks.

Mark Mitchell’s eagerness to attack flowed in more as the Tigers looked to slow down with Mitchell taking advantage of advantageous matchups set up by the off-ball screens. Mitchell continued his hot start in SEC play with 17 points shooting 6-15 from the field.

Arkansas found success in the second half on offense with much more gusto when fighting shots and a similar formula to head coach Dennis Gates’ group in the first half. The Razorbacks looked much more willing to get into transition quickly and get players like Fland and Wagner in space, using Zvonimir Ivisic on the defensive and offensive glass to get it going.

The offensive explosion for Missouri, on the other hand, stalled somewhat in the second half for the third straight game, with the majority of missed shots coming from the same open looks the Tigers helped themselves to in the opener.

After not getting within double digits since being down 25-16 with 10:34 left in the first half, Arkansas flirted with overcoming that barrier several times in the second frame. But the thought of letting their conference rivals within single digits seemed to motivate the Tigers as new waves of offense came from the adversary. The popular Trevon Brazile had a chance to finally take the Razorbacks into the single digits, but missed two straight free throws thanks to a restive student section.

The Tigers rallied after those two misses and ended the game on a 13-5 run to secure a convincing victory.

Statistically, the Tigers shot 46% from the field and 47.8% from three-point land. Arkansas shot 44.4% from inside the arc and an abhorrently poor 21.7% from downtown. On the glass, Missouri was able to secure the advantage by holding a slight edge in offensive rebounds and. Missouri dominated in picking up live-ball turnovers with 10 steals in the tilt.

Missouri will now saddle up to Austin to take on NCAA Tournament hopeful Texas on Tuesday, January 21 at 7 p.m. 8:00 p.m. CST.