Tony Champion scored a career-high 16 points against the Tigers.

The win improved the Tigers to 3-0. The Hornets fell to 1-3.

Sacramento State jumped to a quick start, scoring the game’s first five points. Derek Lambeth began the game with a three-pointer before Tony Champion scored two of his 14 first-half points. After a Mizzou basket, the Hornets pushed their lead to 7-2 but saw the Tigers tie the game, 7-7. From that point, Sacramento State went on a 5-0 run to take a 12-7 advantage behind a three-pointer from Jimmy White and another hoop from Champion.

The team’s strong beginning was aided by a 7-for-9 shooting effort over the first five minutes. During that same time period, Missouri was just 4-of-11.

The Hornets eventually led 16-11 with 14:31 to play but Missouri answered with a 13-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 24-16 lead. The Tigers pushed their advantage to 10 points, 32-22, before Champion converted a layup and DaShawn Freeman knocked down a three to make it a five-point game. Missouri, however, ended the half on an 11-6 run to take a 50-40 lead at intermission.

The Tigers took control of the game in the opening four minutes of the second half. After Lambeth made a jumper to start the period, Mizzou scored 12-unansweredpoints to lead 62-42. During the run, center Arthur Johnson scored seven points and junior guard Josh Kroenke buried a three-pointer.

White temporarily stopped the streak with a basket but the Tigers answered with a three by Ricky Clemons and a three-point play by Johnson to go ahead by 24. The Hornets trimmed their deficit with a three-pointer by freshman Chris Lange and a free throw from Lambeth but then watched as Mizzou responded with a dunk by Paulding, a three from McKinney and a jumper from Najeeb Echols to take a 79-50 lead with 9:41 left in the game.

In the second half, Missouri outscored the Hornets, 48-20. The Tigers shot 57.6 percent from the floor making 19-of-33 attempts. The team also had success from long range, converting 4-of-10 three-pointers.

Johnson led all players with his 24 points and 10 rebounds. The junior, who was 10-for-16 from the field and 4-of-9 from the line, scored 12 points in each half. Paulding was 4-for-11 on field goals but made seven of his eight free-throw attempts. The junior also added seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.

The Sacramento State offense was guided by Champion who scored a career-high 16 points. The junior eclipsed his previous high of 10 in the first period and ended the game 7-of-12 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line. Champion also tied for the team lead with five rebounds.

White added nine points and Guyton and Lambeth each scored eight to assist the Hornets. Junior Emir Medunjanin tied for the team lead with five rebounds and Freeman handed out a game-high eight assists.

Aside from Johnson and Paulding, Mizzou also received 17 points from junior college transfer Ricky Clemons and 11 from Jimmy McKinney.

As a team, Sacramento State was 24-of-60 from the field and 7-of-21 from behind the arc. Missouri ended the night 34-for-66 overall and 8-of-20 from three-point range.

The Hornets will return to the court on Wednesday, Dec. 4, against San Francisco, The game will start at 7:05 p.m. in Hornet Gym.

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