Columbia, Mo. – The Missouri men's basketball team opened its 2023-24 season in style with a 101-79 victory over Arkansas Pine-Bluff Monday night in front of 11,486 fans at Mizzou Arena.

Five Tigers scored in double figures to lead MU to victory, the first time the Tigers have accomplished this feat since November 15, 2022 against SIUE.

Leading the way for the Tigers was graduate guard Sean East II as he tied his high in Missouri colors with 21 points. East started hot as he reached double-digits in points before the fifth minute of the contest.

In their debuts as Tigers graduate guard Caleb Grill and junior guard Tamar Bates impressed as the pairing both reached double-digits in scoring. Grill scored 15 points with seven rebounds, while Bates added 18 points shooting 7-of-9 from the field.

Returning starters Nick Honor and Noah Carter contributed with their efforts as Honor registered 18 points and Carter added 15 points and five rebounds.

The Tigers never trailed in the contest as they opened up an early lead and never looked back. In the first four minutes of the season, Missouri shot out of the gates on both sides of the floor, making 5-of-7 from the field and forcing four turnovers as it took a 14-3 lead.

Bates then put an exclamation point on the first half as he helped Mizzou take a 17-point lead into the break. Leading by nine points, Bates scored 10-straight points for the Tigers to finish the period for a 57-40 lead at intermission.

With momentum built up from the end of the first half, Missouri continued to roll into the opening minutes of the second half. The Tigers began the half hitting 4-of-4 shots, increasing their to lead to 64-44. 

The Tigers' advantage reached as many as 32 before finishing off the 101-79 victory – scoring in double figures in a season opener for just the fourth time in school history.

Missouri shot 56.3 percent from the field in the winning effort with a 12-of-30 clip (40.0 percent) from 3-point range. The Tigers held the Golden Lions to 40.4 percent from the field with an 8-of-29 mark from behind the arc.

UP NEXT
The Tigers look to go back-to-back to start their 2023-24 campaign as they host Memphis on Friday night. First tip at Mizzou Arena is set for 8 p.m. on SEC Network.