Mark Mitchell scored a career-high 31 points, Caleb Grill had 25 points and matched his career high with 10 rebounds and No. 15 Missouri handed No. 4 Alabama its second straight loss, 110-98 on Wednesday night.
Missouri coach Dennis Gates headed off a court-storming celebration by taking the public address microphone and imploring the crowd to stay back. “Please, do not rush the court! Please, do not rush the court!” Gates said to the fans.
That was in sharp contrast to the Kansas game where Gates called a late timeout to give the Jayhawks’ bench personnel a chance to safely leave the court, and was openly critical of Missouri for making an announcement for fans not to rush the court.
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Missouri was fined $250,000 after the Kansas game, and faces a $500,000 fine for a second offense. In Southeastern Conference play, the fine is paid to the opposing school. Last month, the SEC fined the Vanderbilt program $500K after its fans stormed the court for a second time this season, and that amount went to Kentucky.
On Wednesday, Anthony Robinson II added 14 points, and Tamar Bates had 13 to help Missouri (20-6, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) win its third straight and improve to 5-3 against ranked teams.
Mark Sears scored a season-best 35 points for Alabama (21-5, 10-3), coming off a home loss to top-ranked Auburn in a 1-2 matchup. Mouhamed Dioubate added 13 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
Missouri opened on a 12-0 run, forcing Alabama coach Nate Oats to call a timeout just 2:28 into the contest, and outscored the Crimson Tide 59-46 in the first half.
Oats was assessed a technical foul with 5:28 remaining in the first half for slamming his clipboard to the floor after Sears was called for a flagrant foul for grabbing Grill from behind as he had a clear path to the basket.
Takeaways
Alabama: First half turnovers proved costly for the Crimson Tide as Alabama committed 10 turnovers resulting in 15 first half points for Missouri. Alabama had been 15-0 when scoring more than 85 points this season.
Missouri: The Tigers were able to keep up with Alabama’s explosive offense, shooting 60% from the field despite allowing the Crimson Tide to shoot 54%.
Key moment
Sears hit a 3-pointer to cut Alabama’s deficit to six at 79-73 with 9:51 remaining. Missouri responded with a 9-0 run over the next 1:50 to pull away.
Key stat
Missouri scored at least 100 points against a conference foe for the first time since beating Colorado 107-62 on Jan. 14, 2009, in the Big 12.
Up next
Both teams play Saturday. Alabama hosts No. 2 Florida, and Missouri is at Arkansas.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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