COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri men's basketball team finished its exhibition season with a 77-54 win against Division II Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
Montaque Gill-Caesar led the Tigers with 19 points, while Johnathan Williams III recorded a double-double in his return from a slight meniscus tear.
The Tritons led by as many as 11 in the first half, but Missouri regained the lead at 31-30. Though the game would be tied after that, the Tigers never trailed again and entered halftime ahead 39-34.
The Tigers pulled away in the second half, outscoring UMSL 38-20. Williams and transfer Keith Shamburger each scored 13 points, and Shamburger added a team-high six assists. Williams led the Tigers with 12 rebounds.
UMSL is coached by Bob Sundvold, with whom Missouri coach Kim Anderson worked as an assistant at Missouri. Anderson was in Sundvold's position last year when he was coached Central Missouri and the Mules played an exhibition at Missouri.
"I sat on that other bench a year ago and the same thing happened," Anderson said. "There are good basketball teams across the land and they came in here and played well. I was really proud the way we responded after we got behind - a little bit of a sense of urgency, which we needed."