Caleb Grill’s career shooting night sparks Mizzou basketball to 2nd straight win

Caleb Grill started the night off hot — and just kept going.

The graduate guard never cooled down, igniting a fiery Mizzou men’s basketball offense with career-highs of 33 points and eight 3-pointers. His red-hot shooting helped the Tigers hold off Eastern Washington 84-77 on Monday night at Mizzou Arena.

Grill, who went 8-for-10 from beyond the arc, essentially sealed the Tigers’ victory with his eighth 3-pointer of the night with 1:15 remaining in the second half, which pushed MU’s advantage to seven points.

In the process, Grill also matched a Mizzou Arena record for 3-pointers — a record last seen when Torrence Watson made eight from beyond the arc against Chicago State on Dec. 30, 2019. He was one shy of the program record of nine that Rickey Paulding set in 2003.

Grill’s first-half offensive play kept the Tigers afloat against an efficient Eagles offense.

Mizzou fell into a 12-4 hole just 3:41 into the game, putting itself in position for a potential meltdown in the second contest of a 10-game homestand.

That changed quickly when Grill and forward Mark Mitchell combined to score the game’s next 11 points in just 2:33. Grill scored seven of those points, sinking a pair of free throws followed by a corner 3.

He then punctuated the run with a defensive play, deflecting a pass, taking two dribbles and flying to the basket for an emphatic dunk.

The 6-foot-3 guard continued his scoring surge as the first half progressed, making 3-pointers on back-to-back offensive possessions just over four minutes later.

Grill ended the opening half with 16 points on 5-for-6 shooting. He came out firing again in the second half, scoring 17 more points and connecting on another four 3-pointers. Whenever the Tigers needed an answer, Grill was the one to fire them up.

Even with Grill’s career day, Eastern Washington consistently found ways to fight back into it, cutting Mizzou’s lead all the way down to 70-68 with 6:20 remaining in the second half.

The Eagles shot 51.8% from the field, led by Andrew Cook (24 points on 7-for-13 shooting) and Mason Williams (20 points on 11-for-13 shooting). As a team, Eastern Washington had 38 points in the paint.

Down the stretch, however, Grill answered the call. He scored eight of the Tigers’ final 12 points, willing Mizzou to its second consecutive victory.

Energizing dunks

After coming out flat in the opening four minutes, Mizzou found a spark when Nic McClain of Eastern Washington got chippy with Anthony Robinson II.

The Eagles led 7-2, and after a foul on Tamar Bates, McClain put his arms into Robinson’s face.

McClain ended the night with 10 points, but that move was detrimental. Immediately, the crowd and the Tigers were energized, and Missouri began to fly around on defense and in transition.

Missouri had six steals, three blocks and forced 11 turnovers.

The most “energizing” stat, however, was dunks, and Missouri had plenty of them. The Tigers dunked the ball six times, and each time, the crowd grew louder.

Mitchell’s second dunk may have drawn the loudest roar of the lot.

The Tigers had eight straight points on four dunks midway through the first half, taking advantage of their size and athleticism.

Second-half woes

Missouri started a second half flat for the third consecutive game. The Tigers were outscored 37-27 in the opening 15 minutes.

Mizzou shot well in this period, going 9-for-18 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point land. But the Tigers had six turnovers, were outrebounded by four and missed five free throws.

Thankfully for the Tigers, they woke up once again down the stretch.

Grill nailed a top-of-the-arc 3-pointer. After two missed Mitchell free throws, Grill was fouled on his way for the offensive rebound. He went back to the line, draining two free throws for points 29 and 30, extending Missouri’s lead to seven.

In the final five minutes, the Tigers outscored the Eagles 12-7.

Mizzou’s Trent Burns inactive again

Mizzou center Trent Burns was ruled inactive for the third game in a row.

Burns, a freshman from Cypress, Texas, did not play because of an illness, the same designation that kept him out of the Tigers’ previous contest, against Howard.

The 7-5 center was seen in street clothes, casually going through drills in pregame warmups, but will look to make his college debut at a later date.