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Mizzou got 31 points from Mark Mitchell and 25 points from Caleb Grill on Wednesday night as it simply overwhelmed the No. 4 team in college basketball.
The 15th-ranked Tigers (20-6, 9-4 SEC) won their third consecutive game and their third this season over an AP top 5 opponent, beating Alabama 110-98 in Columbia. Dennis Gates’ group joined the 1988-89 Tigers as the only teams in program history to topple 3 AP top 5 opponents in a single season. But that wasn’t the only history Wednesday night’s win made.
With 110 points on the scoreboard, Mizzou recorded the third-most points it has ever scored in a game against a ranked opponent. It was the program’s first time hitting triple digits against a ranked foe since Nov. 30, 2010, against Georgetown. It was also the most points scored in a conference game since 2001, and the first 100-point game for Mizzou against a conference opponent since 2009.
The 59 points Mizzou scored in the game’s first 20 minutes were the most in the first half of a conference game since 1996 when the Tigers put 61 on Nebraska.
“Whenever you can score 110 points in a game, no overtime, it says we’re continuing to take the steps we need to take,” Gates said after the game. “I’m proud of the direction we’re going in. … I still don’t think our team has played its very best.”
Mizzou opened the game on a 12-0 run. Trent Pierce and Anthony Robinson hit triples before the sold-out crowd could settle into its seats. Mitchell went to work from there, scoring 18 of his career-best 31 in the first half while making 8 of his 11 shots. Alabama had no answer for him.
Robinson added 12 on 5-of-6 shooting, Grill scored 10 first-half points, and Mizzou went into the break with a 59-46 lead. The Tigers shot 61% from the field and banged home 6 triples. Alabama couldn’t stop the bleeding, but it didn’t help the issue with 10 first-half turnovers.
Alabama’s Mark Sears got hot in the second half and attempted to pull the Crimson Tide back into the game, scoring 21 of his game-high 35 points, but Mizzou had answers all half.
Sears scored 8 straight Alabama points midway through the frame to get the margin to 6 with 9:51 to play. Mizzou then answered with a 9-0 run over the next 2 minutes to push the lead back into double-digits. A Sears triple with 50 seconds to play got it back to 6 before a bucket, a steal, and 2 free throws from Tamar Bates in the span of 7 seconds iced the game. Mizzou went back up by 10, Robinson blocked a triple from Sears at the other end, and that was all she wrote.
Mizzou will play each of its next 4 games against opponents with losing records in conference play. Up next is a trip to Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Saturday.
Alabama (21-5, 10-3 SEC) will look to keep this skid from turning into a slide when it hosts No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday. The Tide have lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Related: While Missouri residents wait for the state to launch legal betting later this year, DFS apps are available for college basketball fans to take advantage of right now.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
