ORLANDO, Fla. – Mizzou Men's Basketball (4-1, 0-0 SEC) came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders and never looked back, as the Tigers breezed past Long Beach State (2-3, 0-0 Big West), 95-58, in the first round of the AdvoCare Invitational at HP Field House. Mizzou advances to the semifinals of the tournament, and will face the winner of St. John's and Oregon State.
 
Mizzou was led by its bench in the victory, as five Tigers combined to score 48 points off the bench, led by junior guard Jordan Geist (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and freshman Jontay Porter (Columbia, Mo.) who scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. One game after posting his first career double-double, Porter set season-highs in points and blocks, as he turned away four shots in the first half.
 
Turning Point
 
Mizzou opened the game on a 13-2 run and never relinquished the lead after. Senior forward Jordan Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.) got the scoring started with a dunk, and Geist drained a straight-away three-pointer to give the Tigers the 11 point advantage with 13:37 to play in the first half.
 
The Tigers shared the ball throughout the half as eight Tigers found the points column in the first 20 minutes, led by Porter, who scored 10 points (4-of-7 FG, 1-of-2 3 PT, 1-of-1 FT) while grabbing four rebounds and blocking four shots. Freshman guard Blake Harris (Chapel Hill, N.C.) posted his season-high in the first frame, scoring seven points (2-of-5 FG, 3-of-3 FT) while snagging three rebounds and dishing out two assists.
 
The opening run, and the contributions off the bench from Porter and Harris helped Mizzou take a 43-21 lead into the half, its second 20-point halftime lead of the season.
 
Top Tigers
 
Porter provided another solid 23 minutes off the bench for the Tigers, setting season-highs in points, field goals made, three-pointers made and blocks. The Tiger freshman scored 15 points (6-of-9 FG, 2-of-3 3 PT, 6-of-8 FT) while snagging five rebounds and blocking four shots. Porter's four blocks are the most by a Tiger since Johnathan Williams III blocked four shots against UMKC to open the 2013-14 season on Nov. 8, 2014.

Harris earned his first career start and made the most of the opportunity, posting season-highs in points and assists with 11 and nine, respectively. Harris was the key distributor all game for Mizzou, as 10 Tigers scored in the game and five, including Harris, scored in double digits.
 
Geist gave the Tigers solid guard play off the bench, filling the stat sheet with 16 points (4-of-6 FG, 2-of-3 3 PT, 6-of-8 FT), seven rebounds and four assists. Geist's seven boards matched a career-high from when he grabbed seven rebounds against Tulane last season (Nov. 20), also inside HP Field House in Orlando.
 
Up Next
 
With the win, Mizzou advances to the semifinals of the AdvoCare Invitational tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT and will air on ESPNews. The Tigers will take on the winner of St. John's and Oregon State.