Box Score BIA, Mo. – Unbeaten Missouri didn't blast No. 18 Cal by 39 and post a 29-point thrashing of Notre Dame by accident, and the 13^th-ranked Tigers looked every bit the part of a national contender Friday night in whipping visiting Northwestern State 90-55 in college basketball.

Guard Marcus Denmon scored 31 points, draining 7 of his first 8 3-pointers, and the Tigers (7-0) shot 62 percent while opening a gaping 57-31 halftime lead against the Demons (4-4).  Missouri got 22 points on 10 of 11 shooting aim from forward Ricardo Ratliffe and 19 points on 7 for 11 shooting by guard Michael Dixon.

The outcome stopped a two-game winning streak by NSU, which picked up 14 points from James Hulbin, 10 each from Louis Ellis and Demetrice Jacobs, and 8 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots by William Mosley.

“Sometimes you play somebody who is just flat better than you,” said 13^th-year head coach Mike McConathy. “But Missouri impressed me not just with their talent, not just with their maturity, not just with their togetherness, but with their hustle. We have to win the hustle battle in games like this and they whipped us there, too.

“They do a beautiful job of moving the basketball and getting it in a good place. They defend aggressively. They're an experienced team that has a chance to have a very special season,” he said. “We can be pretty good in our own right, but we cannot get there without a better work ethic than we showed tonight. We got outhustled, and outworked, and that's unacceptable.

“Hopefully we learned a hard lesson tonight. We didn't sustain the focus that you must have in these matchups, or the toughness,” he said. “The question our guys have to ask on the way home is will they respond in the right way. We have a game at Louisiana Tech Tuesday night and we need to show we're better than we were tonight.”

A run of 18 unanswered points in less than four minutes, with eight coming from Dixon, lifted Missouri ahead 29-6 at the 12:35 mark.  NSU moved back within 16 but the Tigers, who rank in the top 10 nationally in shooting aim, assists, and assists-to-turnovers, had a 15-3 burst late in the first half to remove any question about the outcome.

The Demons' Tuesday night visit to Louisiana Tech is their only game next week. After a break for final exams, they visit Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 15 and come home on Dec. 17 to play Missouri Valley.