Ross, Missouri go to 7-0 with 83-70 win against Nevada

Missouri's Jabari Brown drives to the basket against Nevada during the first half Friday at the Las Vegas Invitational.
Missouri's Jabari Brown drives to the basket against Nevada during the first half Friday at the Las Vegas Invitational.

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Earnest Ross scored 28 points, Jabari Brown added 24 and Missouri remained unbeaten with an 83-70 win against Nevada in the final round of the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday night.

Jordan Clarkson had 21 points for the Tigers (7-0), who converted 31-of-33 free-throw attempts.

Ross made 12-of-13 free throws and grabbed nine rebounds. Brown made four 3-pointers for Missouri, which finished 4-0 in the round-robin tournament.

Missouri will at least be tournament co-champion with No. 19 UCLA, which was 3-0 going into Friday's late game against Northwestern. The Tigers defeated Northwestern in third round Thursday.

Deonte Burton led Nevada (3-5) with 20 points and three blocks. He was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. Marqueze Coleman had 15 points for the Wolf Pack, which ended the tourney 1-3.

Nevada cut the Tigers' lead to five with six minutes left in the game, but Missouri went on a 16-8 run to pull away.

The tournament's championship format was changed to round-robin this year to accommodate Missouri's and UCLA's wishes the teams not play twice this season. They meet Dec. 7 at Missouri.

The Tigers came out aggressive early against the Wolf Pack, jumping to an 11-2 start and leading by many as 21 late in the first half. Brown and Ross each had 16 points in the half. Missouri shot 52 percent from the field and made 13-of-14 free throws to lead 44-26 at the break.

Missouri coach Frank Haith returned from his five-game suspension to win two games in Las Vegas. His suspension resulted from his coaching stint at Miami for not monitoring former assistant coaches' actions with a booster.

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