Missouri utilizes clean basketball to topple Pacific 91-56

The Missouri Tigers and the Pacific Tigers had more things in common last year than just their monikers, as both teams finished winless in conference play. With those woes looming on their heads in this season, both teams have something to prove coming into this one and would benefit greatly from a victory at this point in the season. Missouri picked up that benefit tonight in a 91-56 victory. It was their fourth win in a row after their loss to Memphis to open the season.

Pacific came into the game with a reputation of keeping games interesting this season, with their previous bout against No. 19 Arkansas having as close as a two-point deficit with 12 minutes left. Their reputation being upheld seemed to be imminent as Pacific raced out to a 7-2 lead to start the game behind good play from Elias Ralph. The 6-foot-7 senior who played the majority of his career playing Canadian college basketball for the University of Victoria, just transferred to Pacific this year. Ralph finished the game with 19 points, leading his team.

After the hot start, head coach Dennis Gates’ group woke up as they dominated the half with multiple large scoring runs including a 14-2 run to end the half. Caleb Grill continued his good run of form shooting seven-of-nine in the first frame with five shots from beyond the arc for 19 points. Grill would finish the game with 25 points, his second-best mark of the season.

A quintessential pillar of Missouri’s ability to straighten their course after the early deficit was their clean basketball and forcing of dirty basketball on Pacific. The black-and-orange Tigers had seven turnovers while Gates’ group had none in the entire half. The black-and-gold Tigers picked up 12 points off those turnovers, marking a huge advantage in the game.

While Ralph was beating them, Missouri didn’t let anyone else on Pacific achieve the same feat. The rest of the Pacific team shot 41% in the first half, a contrast to Ralph’s 60%. A key to this game that I highlighted was dominating the offensive glass, and Missouri did so picking up seven offensive boards to Pacific’s three.

With all the joy that was the first half for Missouri, a key aspect was continuing to build a habit of having good second halves. The Tigers continued their trend of forcing turnovers as they forced three more before giving up their first of the game five minutes into the second half.

Grill’s value to the team in putting points off the bench was emphasized even more when at the final-12 minute mark, Grill had accumulated just six less points than the entire starting lineup.

Missouri guard Caleb Grill (31) drives to the rim against Pacific guard Petar Krivokapic (3) in the second half of a game against Pacific on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at Mizzou Arena. (CAL TOBIAS/ROCK M NATION.)

Defensively, absent from the first half thanks to the slow start, Missouri did a great job suffocating Pacific and preventing them from getting favorable looks. This aggressive style of defense caused Pacific to only have 13 points with five minutes left in the second half. Pacific went under a seven-minute scoring drought

As the Tigers were clamping down on Pacific on one end, they were still putting the pain in on offense. A 10-0 run towards the end of the game solidified the win, if it wasn’t already. The offensive performance for the second game in a row was a team effort aside from Grill as six players had at least seven points.

After outscoring Pacific 37-25 in the second half, Gates’ group picked up a comfortable win as they utilized efficient shooting, turnovers, and free throws to pick up the 35 point win.

Missouri guard Marques Warrick (1) and Missouri guard Tamar Bates (2) celebrate Bates’s dunk in the first half of a game against Pacific on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at Mizzou Arena. (CAL TOBIAS/ROCK M NATION.)

Overall, Missouri shot 49.2% from the field while Pacific 37.3%. The real difference maker was Missouri shooting 46.7% from three-point land Pacific’s 20.7%. Missouri outrebounded Pacific 38-32, and Pacific out-turnovered Missouri 14-6, with Missouri having the advantage 24-6 in points off of turnovers.

The Tigers next bout is against Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Sunday Nov. 24 at 4 PM CST. The game continues the Tigers’ non-conference home slate.