Mizzou rides fast start to rivalry win over Arkansas

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Men's Basketball has extended its best start to SEC play in program history.

The Tigers improved their record to 4-1 in conference games this season with an 83-65 win over Arkansas. With Saturday's win, MU remained undefeated inside Mizzou Arena (14-0) and recorded its fourth straight victory.

You can watch extended highlights from Saturday's win in the video player below.

Head Coach Dennis Gates' group sprinted away with the lead in the first six minutes. Tamar Bates ignited an 18-0 scoring run with a three-pointer on the team's second possession to give MU its first lead. Mizzou rode that spark to an 18-2 advantage and maintained the lead for more than 38 minutes worth of game time.

You can watch the full press conference with Coach Gates, as well as guard Tamar Bates and forward Mark Mitchell, in the video player below.

MU held a double-digit lead for the majority of the game, acquiring a 52-35 advantage at the break. That 17-point lead continued to swell to as many as 20 points in the second half, propelled by five different players who scored in double figures.

Mark Mitchell and Caleb Grill both recorded a game-high 17 points while Tamar Bates (15), Tony Perkins (11) and Trent Pierce (10) ended the contest in double-digit scoring. Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill also surpassed 1,000 career points in the game.

As a team, the Tigers shot 46% from the floor and 47.8% from three-point range, connecting on 11 of its 23 three-point attempts in the contest. MU also out-rebounded Arkansas 39-38 and recorded a 20-9 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Up next - Mizzou returns to the road to face a former Big-12 Conference foe at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The Tigers are scheduled to battle the Longhorns on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.