Missouri
Savannah State
Men's Basketball Beats Savannah State, 90-49
11/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2000
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Kareem Rush scored 24 points and grabbed a career high 15 rebounds to lead Missouri to a 90-49 win in its season opener against Savannah State.
Savannah State (0-1), a Division II school, never led, as Missouri (1-0) shot 53 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle 54-27.
Missouri used a 29-4 run at the end of the first half and start of the second to balloon its lead. Savannah State was never closer than the halftime score of 44-24 in the second half.
The Tigers improved on last season's offensive output for the third straight game, including two exhibitions, bettering last season's average of 74 points per game. Missouri is trying to rely more on transition offense this season, and the up-tempo pace has resulted in more scoring so far.
It has also resulted in more turnovers. Missouri turned the ball over 18 times against Savannah State and 26 times in its final preseason game. Last year Missouri averaged 13.3 turnovers per game.
Missouri also kept up its early season trend of crashing the boards. The Tigers grabbed 50.0 rebounds per game in the preseason, and more rebounds (54) against Savannah than in any game last season. Last year Missouri averaged 33.5 rebounds per game.
Maurice Belle led Savannah State with 13 points. Jack Grant made his head coaching debut for Savannah, which returns five starters from an 8-18 team last season.
Arthur Johnson added 13 points and nine rebounds for Missouri.
Missouri travels to Alaska on Sunday for the Great Alaska Shootout. The Tigers play their first-round game Nov. 22 against Rhode Island.
