Caleb Grill, Missouri owes you.

Missouri basketball eked out a 84-77 win over Eastern Washington on Monday night at Mizzou Arena behind Grill’s career-high 33-point performance that included an 8-of-10 mark from 3. The Iowa State transfer had only eclipsed 30 points once in his career, coming for the Cyclones back on Nov. 25, 2022, against North Carolina.

The Tigers needed every bit of Grill lights-out night.

The half-court offense struggled for much of the second half as Eastern Washington picked up 12 turnovers. After taking a 45-33 lead into the half, Missouri had frequent defensive cold spells and struggled when the Eagles chose to drive into the paint. The visitors pulled within two points with five minutes left in the game.

Grill stepped up in the one-score game, knocking down his seventh 3 of the evening to give Mizzou some breathing room with a five-point lead and went 2-of-2 at the line to extend the advantage to seven.

It was hardly an odd sight. He’s been lights out from behind the arc all evening long.

Eastern Washington ran out to a 12-4 lead in the game’s opening minutes with a 5-of-5 start from the field, but the Tigers quickly erased the deficit after the introduction of Grill off the bench.

The senior, who sat out most of last season due to a wrist injury, had 13 points with a 3-of-4 mark from 3 eight minutes after checking into the game. In that timespan, Mizzou immediately went on a 17-3 run and had opened up an eight-point lead by the time he checked back out.

Grill had 16 first-half points with a 4-of-5 mark from the field, and Mizzou took a 12-point lead into the break.

Mark Mitchell added 13 points and Tamar Bates had nine points for the Tigers.

Missouri basketball vs Eastern Washington score updates

This section will be updated when the game begins.

Caleb Grill keeps Mizzou ahead

With 2:08 remaining, Missouri has a 77-72 lead. EWU had cut the lead to two points, but then Caleb Grill dropped his seventh 3 of the evening and went 2-of-2 at the free throw line. He's up to 30 points and eight rebounds and single-handedly keeping Mizzou ahead tonight.

EWU can't miss, cuts Mizzou lead to three points

Eastern Washington has cut the Missouri lead to three points — 70-67 — with 6:48 to go. The Eagles have made all of their past eight shots from the field. Mizzou currently has no answer for the visitors when they chose to drive into the paint, and the Eagles are splicing that up nicely with the odd attempt and make from 3-point land.

This is an all-too-familiar scene for Missouri.

28-second, 6-0 run for Mizzou

After an EWU and-1, Caleb Grill finishes through contact and converts the and-1; Jacob Crews makes the first 3 of his Missouri career; Eastern Washington calls a timeout. That's a 6-0 run for Mizzou in the space of 28 seconds, and now the lead is 13 points with 11 minutes to play.

12 minutes left and Eagles not fading

Missouri is still 10 points ahead but struggling to fully put the Eagles away with no makes from the field in the past 2:34. Missouri has entered the bonus already, which is a good sign for a team that's already 14-of-16 from the stripe. 58-48, 11:43 left.

Grill stays hot, Tigers' lead holds to start 2nd half

Grill just can't miss tonight. He just dropped another 3 — he's 5-of-6, now — from the top of the key while on the move. They're all falling from the Wichita native. EWU is hanging around, with a fast-break dunk and some decent looks in the paint as the Tigers have turned the ball over four times, but Mizzou's lead has more or less held through the opening minutes of the second half.

Half: Mizzou 45, EWU 33

Caleb Grill has been lights out in the first half, scoring 16 points with a 4-of-5 clip from 3. That's more in line with expectations from the senior.

After Friday's rough night that saw them go 3-of-23 from behind the arc, the Tigers are 5-of-10 from deep. But, more interestingly, only Grill, Bates Perkins and Warrick have attempted shots from 3. Gates told the Tribune he wants his team to keep taking open looks, but that seems like fewer players lofting shots from 3 than the typical Missouri outing.

U4 timeout: Missouri 37, EWU 23

Tony Perkins just fed a stunning past into Marcus Allen's step, and the freshman went for a highlight reel dunk but caught too much rim. That would have taken the roof off the student section.

Still, 37-23 lead with 3:46 left in the half. If you're counting, that means Mizzou has outscored Eastern Washington 3:1 since falling to a 12-4 deficit early in the game.

Missouri moving toward cruise-control territory

It's been a near-perfect last 10 minutes for the Tigers, as they've opened up a 35-20 lead, commanded both ends of the court with some aggressive defense and lightning-fast offense and managed to get into the double-bonus as EWU cannot stop fouling. Freshman Marcus Allen and point guard Tony Perkins threw down dunks as this was being typed. No stopping Mizzou at the moment.

Caleb Grill on a heater

He's always been a streaky shooter, but Caleb Grill is on a heater so far here. The senior is 3-of-4 from deep and has 13 points as Mizzou has run out to a 27-17 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

Mizzou goes on a 9-0 run, gets lead back

The early 12-4 Eastern Washington lead has been overturned thanks to a corner 3 and a breakaway dunk from Caleb Grill. That ought to make everyone a little happier about the Iowa State transfer, who has had an inconsistent start to the season. Grill is up to seven points now after starting the game on the bench. Tigers lead 13-12 with 13:28 remaining in the first half.

Eastern Washington runs out to early lead

The visitors have the lead in the opening few minutes here, going 5-of-5 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3, and opening up a 12-4 advantage. Missouri's defense has been slow getting out to players behind the arc, and the Eagles look competent driving into the paint.

Missouri going with same starting lineup

Tipoff is just a handful of minutes away at Mizzou Arena, and the Tigers are going with the same starting lineup from their win over Howard.

Tamar Bates, Tony Perkins, true freshman Annor Boateng, Mark Mitchell and Josh Gray will begin today's game on Norm Stewart Court.

Pregame updates from Missouri basketball vs. Eastern Washington

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports has reported that 7-foot-5 Missouri freshman Trent Burns will miss tonight's game with illness. Burns was on the court with his teammates pregame and appeared to be a little more active in warmups than before MU's games at Memphis and versus Howard, but the report suggests he will be inactive for the third straight game to begin his Tigers career.

Other than that, everyone else on the MU roster is present and accounted for. The Tigers are looking for a second straight win, which would be their first winning streak since the first game of last December. That's a long time.

What time does Missouri vs Eastern Washington begin? 

• Date: Monday, Nov. 11

• Time: 6 p.m. CDT

• Location: Mizzou Arena in Columbia

What channel is Missouri vs Eastern Washington on?

• TV channel: NA

• Streaming: SEC Network+ via ESPN+ 

• Radio: Sirius XM 380 / SXM App: 970

Missouri’s game against Eastern Washington will stream live on SEC Network+, which is accessible via ESPN+. KOMU’s Ben Arnet will be the play-by-play announcer for the game, and former Missouri guard Jarrett Sutton will be the on-air analyst.

The game will not air on a cable network, but if your cable subscription has SEC Network included you can access SEC Network+ for free.

Watch Missouri basketball vs. Eastern Washington on ESPN+

Missouri vs Eastern Washington prediction 

Missouri 81, Eastern Washington 60

We’re predicting Missouri comfortable earns its first winning streak since it won five straight over the course of last November and early December. The Tigers let Howard hang around on Friday with a dreadful night from 3, but still ran out 15-point winners. Eastern Washington is ranked No. 253 on the basketball analytics site KenPom, which is 29 spots lower than Howard.

Missouri injury and availability updates

Missouri’s 7-foot-5 freshman Trent Burns has missed the Tigers’ first two games of the season with illness. There is currently no word if he will be available to face Eastern Washington or not.

Missouri basketball full 2024-25 season schedule

Home games are listed in bold.

Neutral-site game listed with an asterisk (*).

All times listed in CDT.

Missouri basketball team news

More: Here’s how to watch Missouri basketball vs Eastern Washington on Monday evening

More: Is the 3 an issue? Takeaways from Missouri basketball's slump-busting win over Howard

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This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball score: Caleb Grill saves Mizzou in win over EWU