Fresh off a stellar win at No. 5 Florida earlier in the week, Mizzou Basketball had another big test on Saturday as the Tigers welcomed a conference foe in Arkansas into Mizzou Arena.
Tamar Bates helped Mizzou get off to a fast start, scoring 13 of the Tigers’ first 20 points, giving the home fans a jolt of energy and opening up a 20-4 advantage. Mizzou never looked back after this point, and neither did the fanbase, bringing energy the entire game.
Caleb Grill has been a force to be reckoned with offensively this season, and Saturday was no exception. Grill scored 11 points in the first half on an extremely efficient 4-of-5 shooting performance.
Mizzou went into halftime with a commanding 52-35 lead, doing an outstanding job taking care of the basketball; only committing two turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
The story of the win at Florida was a near second-half collapse, in which the Gators climbed right back into the game from a double-digit deficit. Even in the Vanderbilt win, Mizzou couldn't comfortably handle a double-digit lead and let the Commodores hang around.
Once again, despite leading by 17 points at halftime, the game never felt out of reach, as Mizzou couldn't pull away. After committing just two turnovers in the first half, the Tigers threw the ball away seven times in the second half. This allowed Arkansas to cut the deficit to just ten points with five minutes remaining.
Sensing a potential comeback, sophomore guard Anthony Robinson took matters into his own hands, getting to the free-throw line and then draining a step-back three-pointer to open up the game.
Once again, it was Grill and Mitchell leading the way for the Tigers as both notched 17 points in the victory. The Tigers now sit at 4-1 in SEC play, placing them second in the conference. This start is the best Mizzou has had since joining the SEC in 2012.
The win extends Mizzou’s win streak to four, and in all likelihood, the Tigers will be ranked in the AP top-25 come Monday.