Missouri captured the CBE Classic championship with an emphatic 92-53 win over California Tuesday night in Kansas City.
For those expecting the Missouri to struggle after the departure of Mike Anderson to Arkansas and the preseason injury to Laurence Bowers had better take notice. New coach Frank Haith has the Tigers playing at an extremely high level with their defense producing turnovers and easy opportunities at the offensive end.
Kim English led six different Tigers' scorers in double figures Tuesday night with 19 points. Marcus Denmon finished with 18 points while Matt Pressey finished with 13. Michael Dixon came off the bench to score 11 points while Ricardo Ratliffe and Steve Moore finished with 10 points each.
The Tigers were every bit as dominant as the final score indicates shooting a blistering 58 percent from the floor while forcing California into 19 turnovers. Missouri built a 19 point lead at the half and poured it on in the second, outscoring the Bears by twenty after the intermission.
Jorge Gutierrez scored 11 points before fouling out for the Bears. Justin Cobbs was the only other California player to reach double figures with 10 points.
For more on this game, Missouri fans should check out Rock M Nation while California fans should take a look at California Golden Blogs.