COLUMBIA, Mo. — Anthony Robinson II posted his first career double-double, Mark Mitchell put his scoring chops on display and Missouri handily beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff in nonconference action.
The Tigers downed the Golden Lions 112-63 on Sunday, another comfortable early season result that moves Mizzou to 5-1.
A slow offensive start and couple of key 3-pointers kept UAPB level with MU just over 6½ minutes into the game, which was tied 12-12. From that point to halftime, though, ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ outscored the Golden Lions 40-13 to have them doubled up by the break.
A 15-0 run over roughly four minutes of first-half action — paired and succeeded by 13 consecutive missed shots by UAPB — sealed the deal for the Tigers.
With plenty of garbage time to go around, the visitors scored more in the second than in the first, but Mizzou wasn’t keen on letting up as it crossed the 100-point mark for the second time this season.
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Combining Sunday’s victory with recent thumpings of Pacific and Mississippi Valley State, MU has now won three consecutive games by 35 or more points for the first time in program history.
Robinson, a second-year point guard, was part of the starting lineup again despite veteran ballhandler Tony Perkins returning from an absence to manage a nagging leg injury. Robinson did a little bit of everything and spent the latter stages of the game on the fringes of a triple-double watch after securing his first collegiate double-double with five minutes to play.
He finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds — a career high — and seven assists. One stat-stacking sequence in the first half saw Robinson block a UAPB 3-point attempt, grab the rebound, funnel the ball down the floor in transition and tip in an offensive rebound at the rim.
“Just going out there, playing hard on every play, not trying to focus on nothing, getting my teammates involved and having fun,†Robinson said.
He’s the first Missouri player to record a double-double this season.
“I tried to get him back in (for the triple-double),†Tigers coach Dennis Gates said, “but at that point, it was late in the game and he waved the white flag on it.â€
Mitchell scored 20 points, his sixth time crossing the 20-point threshold in three seasons of college play. He was efficient, making 8 of 11 shots, and perhaps could have passed his career high of 23 points had the out-of-hand game required his services for longer.
The Duke transfer scored in a variety of capacities — there was rim-running on the fast break, a curling cut to the rim for a lob out of Mizzou’s half-court offense, plus drives and post-ups that started from a handful of different spots on the floor.
“I just came out and did what I’m supposed to do. I don’t think it was anything crazy, spectacular or out of the blue,†Mitchell said. “I just did what I’m supposed to do, what this team expects me to do. Some games, that may be 20 points, it might be six points, but just being aggressive, being in attack mode and finishing around the rim.â€
Guard Caleb Grill’s jumper remained finely tuned as he continued a remarkable shooting streak with a 4-for-8 performance from 3-point range. He finished with 14 points, but the impact of his jumper clicking is a multi-game trend. After missing all seven of his 3-point attempts in the first two games of the season, Grill has shot 21 for 31 from beyond the arc in MU’s last four — a 67.7% clip on high volume.
He was the first player off the bench for Mizzou.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, 14 of the Tigers’ 15 scholarship players — plus two walk-ons — had appeared in the game. The only member of the roster not to check in was freshman center Trent Burns, who has yet to play this season as he recovers from a preseason illness that requires a gradual ramp-up.
As the second half trundled along, Gates got experimental. At one point, he went with about the smallest lineup he could: Robinson, Perkins, Grill, guard Marques Warrick and wing Marcus Allen. A 6-foot-7 freshman, Allen was the tallest player of that small-ball group.
The Tigers scored six points — all in transition — while allowing none during that snippet of experimentation.
Mizzou’s lead crossed the 50-point threshold with about eight minutes left in the game, when forward Jacob Crews poked the ball free and forward to himself, leading to a powerful dunk.
With 3:50 to play, Missouri hit 100 points through a Trent Pierce layup.
Guard Chop Paljor scored 22 points for UAPB.
MU next hosts Lindenwood on Wednesday. The Lions are 2-4 to start the year, including one game against Southeastern Conference opposition already in the books: Lindenwood lost 93-60 at Oklahoma on Nov. 4.
That buy game is all that stands between the Tigers and their next bit of meaningful competition, which will arrive in the form of California for the SEC-Atlantic Coast Conference challenge on Dec. 3.
