COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Jabari Brown scored 21 points and Missouri set season bests with 62 percent shooting and 19 assists to whip Mississippi State 85-66 on Saturday.
Jordan Clarkson had 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds and reserve Keanu Post added career bests of 14 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers (20-9, 8-8 SEC), who shook off a pair of losses at Georgia and Alabama. The school is 14-2 at home and reached 20 victories for the sixth straight season, dominating against an opponent that entered with an RPI of 223.
A trio of Missouri big men – Post, Torren Jones and Ryan Rosburg – combined to make all 13 shots. Missouri shot just 32 percent its last time out, losing by 15 at Georgia.
Fred Thomas matched his season best with 18 points for Mississippi State (13-16, 3-13), which has lost 11 in a row – eight of them by double digits. The Bulldogs had a season-best 10 3-pointers, four by Thomas and three by Jacoby Davis.
Brown had five points and Missouri had a pair of 3-pointers in a 15-0 run that put the game away at 68-41 with 11:12 to go. Mississippi State went almost 6 minutes without scoring before Davis’ 3-pointer near the mid-point of the second half.
Clarkson went end-to-end twice, getting a layup and dunk, during an 11-2 run that gave Missouri its largest lead of the first half at 39-26 with 3:59 to go. Post’s tip-in at the buzzer, allowed after video review, put the Tigers up 45-32 at the break.
Mississippi State played without leading scorer Craig Sword, who attended his grandmother’s funeral in Alabama. Sword averages 13 points.
Gavin Ware added 13 points for the losers.
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