Grill goes off, Missouri Tigers nearly hit 100 again in basketball drubbing of Pacific

The University of Missouri men’s basketball team continued to rebound from a season-opening loss at Memphis, beating the Pacific Tigers 91-56 on Friday evening for its fourth straight victory at Mizzou Arena.

Senior guard Caleb Grill from Wichita was a catalyst for Missouri (4-1), scoring a game-high 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.

He was a source of energy for the Tigers throughout, also grabbing five steals.

Elias Ralph led Pacific (3-4) with 19 points in the non-conference hoops showdown at Columbia. Seth Jones added 15.

For Missouri, the victory comes on the heels of a 111-39 drubbing of Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 14.

In their first game since then, the Tigers of MU had a close one on their hands early. They were down 9-4 and then it was tied at 11 about midway through the opening half.

That’s when Missouri started swiping the ball repeatedly. MU was able to turn those takeaways into points on the other end of the hardwood, with Grill and Josh Gray capping consecutive possessions off turnovers with layups.

An 8-0 MU run prompted a Pacific timeout, but the breather didn’t help the visitors much.

Grill proceeded to sink four of his long-distance shots during the back end of the first half, including one with just 1 second remaining until intermission.

Missouri led 54-31 at the break.

Tamar Bates and Trent Pierce were the other Missouri players in the double figures Friday night, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Since falling in their season opener — their 19th straight defeat in a skid dating to last season — the Tigers have beaten Howard, Eastern Washington, Mississippi Valley State and now Pacific, all in Columbia.

Missouri returns to action quickly, playing host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday at 4 p.m. inside Mizzou Arena.