On Sunday, the Missouri Tigers remained one of the few unbeaten teams in college basketball as they defeated the Redhawks from Southeast Missouri State 96-89.

The Tigers wasted no time as they jumped on the Redhawks from the start, led by Kobe Brown and Sean East II. Mizzou saw their first half lead go up to as many as 13 but quickly vanished following a Redhawks 17-3 run. Mizzou then responded with an 11-0 run to close out the half and never looked back as they went into the second half leading 50-40.

Kobe Brown had 16 points going into the half along with East’s 10 to carry the team’s offense in the first half. The Redhawks’ Phillip Russell led his team with 22 points in the first half to keep them in it. The second half was no different for either team’s offense.

Southeast Missouri State finished with a season high of 89 points. The Redhawks’ Russell finished with 26 points, but it was not enough to carry them to a victory over the Tigers high-powered offense. Brown of Missouri in response to where this team has grown stated: “everywhere really, like in practice I’ve seen people come together all the time… bad turnovers, bad things happening, we now connect more.” Kobe Brown finished the contest with a season-high of 25 points as Mizzou stayed perfect on the season.

Following the win, Missouri’s Head coach Dennis Gates stated “I’m extremely proud of my team, my staff, they did a great job” when giving credit to the program. The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks fall to 5-4 on the season as they look to bounce back against Purdue Fort Wayne. The Missouri Tigers improve to 9-0 with a tall task next Saturday as they host the Kansas Jayhawks at the Mizzou Arena.