COLUMBIA, Mo. (Interstat) — Missouri opened its men’s NCAA Division I basketball season with a dominant 111-50 victory over Cleveland State on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers moved to 1-0, while the visiting Vikings fell to 0-1. Attendance was 10,089. Missouri never trailed and led by a wide margin for most of the game. The Tigers controlled the paint, moved the ball well and got contributions from throughout their lineup. Cleveland State had no answer for Missouri’s size and depth.

The decisive stretch came at the start. Bryson Tiller opened the scoring with a dunk, Mark Mitchell made two free throws, Jason Crowe hit a 3-pointer, Toni Bryant connected on two 3-pointers and Trent Pierce added a layup as Missouri raced to a 15-0 lead with 16:12 left in the first half. Cleveland State finally got on the board on Brandon White’s tip-in with 15:42 remaining, but Bryant answered with another 3-pointer to make it 18-2. Missouri kept its foot on the gas. Jamier Jones made a layup, Kennard Davis hit a jumper, Tiller added a jumper and Pierce finished an alley-oop as the Tigers stretched the lead. Tiller’s jumper with 9:49 left in the first half gave Missouri a 32-9 advantage, and the margin continued to grow. Davis made a 3-pointer, Pierce made a layup, Bryant scored inside and Crowe hit from beyond the arc. Jamier Jones converted a three-point play in the final minute of the half, and Missouri carried a commanding lead into the break.

Cleveland State opened the second half with a spark from Rayvon Griffith, who made a layup and added a free throw. But Missouri answered quickly. Mark Mitchell dunked, Trent Pierce dunked and Bryson Tiller hit a jumper. Kennard Davis and Jason Crowe then made consecutive 3-pointers to push the lead to 68-23 with 16:25 remaining. The Tigers did not let up. Davis made two more 3-pointers, Crowe scored on a layup and Mark Mitchell added a tip-in and a 3-pointer. Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 9:38 remaining made it 84-34. Cleveland State got a lift from Deandre Jones, who scored inside and finished with 13 points, but the Vikings could not slow Missouri’s offense. The Tigers kept rotating players in and maintained their pressure on both ends.

Toni Bryant was Missouri’s top star, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, one assist and three blocks. The 6-foot-10 forward from Tampa, Florida, set the tone early with his outside shooting and protected the rim throughout. Jason Crowe led the Tigers in scoring with 23 points to go with three rebounds, two assists and a block. Kennard Davis added 19 points and four rebounds. Mark Mitchell posted a double-double with 11 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and a block. Bryson Tiller finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a block. Jamier Jones scored 13 points with five rebounds and a block. Trent Pierce chipped in 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Trent Burns had six points, four rebounds, one assist and a block.

Deandre Jones led Cleveland State with 13 points and eight rebounds to go with a block. Gavin Headings added four points, two rebounds and three assists. Rayvon Griffith, Brandon White, Curtis Stinson, Jordan Lowery and Micah Bays also contributed baskets for the Vikings. Cleveland State had some success attacking the basket in the second half, but Missouri’s lead was too large. The Tigers blocked shots, forced turnovers and turned several of those chances into easy points at the other end. Missouri’s bench also contributed, and the Tigers maintained their intensity even after the outcome was decided. Cleveland State kept competing late, getting free throws from Griffith and a final basket from Deandre Jones, but the Vikings could not make a serious dent in the deficit.

Missouri’s balanced attack produced several double-figure scorers and kept Cleveland State from focusing on any one player. The Tigers scored from beyond the arc, in the paint and in transition. Their early 15-0 run set the tone, and their response at the start of the second half ended any faint hope of a Cleveland State comeback. The Vikings competed through the final minutes and got contributions from their frontcourt and guards, but Missouri’s advantage was never in doubt. The win gave Missouri a strong start to the season and a resounding home result.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Missouri 93, Cleveland State 82. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Missouri with a 94.1 percent probability to win. Missouri had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 26.5. The total score of 161 went under the over/under line of 160.5.