COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Caleb Grill matched a career best with eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points to lead Missouri to an 84-77 victory over Eastern Washington on Monday night.
Grill, who missed Missouri’s final 23 games last season with a wrist injury, shot 10 of 13 from the floor and 8 of 10 from long range. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, one shy of a career best.
Eastern Washington used a 19-8 run to pull to 70-68 with 5:15 remaining. Mason Williams made two 3s and scored eight points and Andrew Cook had six during the stretch. Grill answered with a 3-pointer and the Eagles didn’t get closer.
Mark Mitchell added 13 points on 10-of-13 shooting for Missouri (2-1), which had 10 players score while shooting 54% (26 of 48).
Cook scored 24 points and Williams had 20 for Eastern Washington (1-2). Tyler Powell added 11 points and Nic McClain added 10. The Eagles shot 63% (17 of 27) in the second half and finished 29-of-56 (52%) shooting overall. Williams made four of the Eagles’ nine 3-pointers.
Grill hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points in the first half to help the Tigers build a 45-33 advantage at the break. Cook led the Eagles with 12 first-half points.
It was the second of a 10-game home stand for Missouri, which entered having won all six of their previous games against the Big Sky Conference by an average margin of 25.7 points.
