Strong offensive performance extends Tigers start to 8-0

The Tigers have had a hot start to the year, and continued that way on Friday night, as Cleveland State headed to Columbia to take on red hot Mizzou, the day after Thanksgiving.

Even with Jayden Stone out for the foreseeable future, and Trent Pierce yet to play this season, the offense has had a number of guys stepping up and playing good ball for them.

That was apparent when the Tigers began the game up 23-0 agaisnt the visiting Vikings.

A number of players were heavily involved in this all-around performance in the first half. Jacob Crews, Sebastian Mack and Mark Mitchell were the biggest parts of Mizzou's offense throughout the first half of play.

The second half was just as strong, if not stronger, than the first.

The complimentary ball was as present as ever, leading to a number of flashy buckets.

The team once again surpassed the 80-point mark, getting close to another game reaching 100-points.

They've scored 83 or more points in all eight of their games so far this year, and head coach Dennis Gates will be sure to keep that aggressive offensive attack going, as they head into the latter half of their non-conference schedule.

Crews was no-doubt the player of the game, as he's been for most of the contests this year.

He finished playing just about the most minutes on the team, scoring 20 points, and adding eight rebounds, a steal and a block. The fifth-year senior shot 7-15 from the floor.

Crews has been a Caleb Grill-like weapon for the Tigers so far this year, providing a consistent spark off the bench in every contest this season. His numbers have been ridiculous this season, jumping up in scoring, passing and efficiency, looking like the best version of him that the Tigers have seen, since he came to Columbia ahead of last season.

As a squad, the Tigers shot 48% from the field, but only 29% from deep, slightly lower than the Vikings 38%. This is expected to happen, but the hope is that they're able to figure out how to knock down some consistent looks from deep, as the season continues.

Two huge keys to victory for Mizzou was their ability to force 17 Cleveland State turnovers, and their big men out-rebounding the Tigers by 21 throughout the course of the game.

Gates and co closed the second half just as strong as they started it, piecing together a respectable 86-59 win, to improve to 8-0, with the last seven coming at home.

As alluded to earlier, the road gets tougher from here, with their next two games being agaisnt Notre Dame and Kansas, two highly-competitive squads.

Past that, they face No. 13 Illinois in December after a few more out of conference games, and then SEC Conference play begins, with the first two being Florida (No. 10), and Kentucky (No. 19).

Gates clearly has his work cut out for him, as the team finally goes on the road, facing the Fighting Irish on Tuesday, testing their undefeated 8-0 start versus a program that hasn't lost at home in four contests.