Caleb Grill was fired up for Mizzou on Monday night as he led the Tigers to an 84-77 win over Eastern Washington.

The Iowa State transfer had a performance reminiscent of his days with the Cyclones, with 33 points to lead all scorers. It was a new career high for Grill, eclipsing his old mark of 31, which he set against then AP No. 1 North Carolina in the 2022 Phil Knight Invitational with the Cyclones. Grill also tacked on nine rebounds. Following the game, Grill said, “I am more happy about the win tonight and then the ability to get nine rebounds. I think those are the plays that don’t really get looked at. People look at the points, but I felt like making a rebound and trying to make my impact.”

 EWU opened the game on a 12-4 scoring run, but one 11-0 run later, and the Tigers grabbed the lead and never looked back. Questions remain about the middle stanza of the second half for the Tigers. From the twelfth minute to the fifth minute, Missouri was outscored 22-14. In the previous game against Howard, the Tigers were outscored 21-11 from the thirteenth minute to the third in the second half. In the season opener at Memphis, Mizzou was outscored 55-31 across the entire second half, with most of the points coming in the middle ten minutes. In all three games this season, the Tigers have let up long scoring runs, allowing teams to get back into games. Dennis Gates said he plans to work in the break following the next game. Mizzou once again dominated the game’s last five minutes, outscoring EWU 14-7, which was sorely needed after the Eagles cut the lead to two and were an air-balled three away from going down. The Tigers stopped the bleeding at the right time and held on to gain their second close win in a row. The Eagles cut it within two late and made Mizzou uncomfortable, but ultimately, they never got close enough. 

Mark Mitchell also emerged as one of the Tigers’ more reliable scorers, following another night in double figures, finishing with 13 points. Tamar Bates and Anthony Robinson also had solid nights, with Bates having 9 points and Robinson tacking on 8 of his own. Several transfer players also had slight but noticeable impacts for the Tigers. UT-Martin transfer Jacob Crews hit a massive three-point shot late in the game to boost the Tigers to the win, and Iowa transfer Tony Perkins made several free throws down the stretch, pushing Mizzou over the line and adding 8 points. 

Highly touted freshmen Annor Boateng and Payton Marshall both saw some runs early in the game but minimal action afterward. Dennis Gates used both sparingly in the Tigers’ first three games, only playing both for around three to four minutes each. 

For Eastern Washington, Andrew Cook and Mason Williams carried the game. Cook had 24 points, and Williams was close behind with 20. 

Mizzou continues their season on Thursday night, where they will host Mississippi Valley State.