Mizzou basketball dazzles in dominant victory over Pacific

The Missouri Tigers (4-1) put together another impressive performance, taking down the Pacific Tigers (3-4) 91 to 56. They've now won four consecutive games, and are beginning to garner some much needed momentum with tougher competition on the horizon.

On Friday evening it felt like deja vu at Mizzou arena, with the Tigers getting off to a sluggsih start, once again. But, when coach Dennis Gates went to his bench, they provided a much needed spark.

Trailing 9-4, about three minutes into the game, Gates subbed in Marques Warrick and Caleb Grill, who quickly changed the game.

The tandem helped propel Mizzou to a 23-6 run over the next seven minutes of game action, giving the black-and-gold Tigers a 27-15 lead with 8:36 remaining in the first half.

Mizzou was able to play aggressive defensively, helping lead to points in transition, finishing the half with 13 of them in total.

Once Mizzou caught fire from the field, it was able to pull away from Pacific late in the first half, entering the break with a 54-31 advantage.

The black-and-gold Tigers went into the locker room on an 11-0 run, thanks to three-pointers from Grill, Marcus Allen and Tamar Bates.

Grill had another game where he couldn't miss from the field, and as a result, Gates wasn't able to take him off the court. After subbing in with 17:12 in the first half, Grill didn't come off the court, scoring 19 points and adding three steals. Grill wasn't just affective, but also extremely efficient, shooting 7-9 from the field and 5-7 from three-point range.

It wasn't just a one-man show, however, as Mizzou played well collectively. The Tigers did a great job taking care of the ball, committing a remarkable zero turnovers in the first half.

The second half offered much of the same for Mizzou, with all parties contributing to the dominant victory.

The black-and-gold Tigers had their way passing the ball, finishing the night with _ assists as a team. Warrick led the way with five assists of his own, constantly finding his open teammates.

The grad transfer Grill wound up finishing the night with 25 points, shooting 9-of-12 from the field and 7-of-9 from three. Not only was he impressive offensively, but he also was a major contributor defensively, finishing the game with five steals.

Pacific was led by forward Elias Ralph, who contributed 16 points, six rebounds, and three blocks. Outside of Ralph, offense was few and far between for Pacific, as the Tigers shot just 36% from the field and 20% from three-point land.

Ultimately, this performance from Mizzou sets them up nicely to continue building with just three more games before No. 1 Kansas travels to Columbia on Dec. 8th.

The Tigers will be back in action at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, when they're set to host Arkansas Pine-Bluff.