Gilbert, Rush have their way as Tigers ground Air Force

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Clarence Gilbert scored 20 points and Kareem Rush had 19 as No. 8 Missouri beat Air Force 86-58 Wednesday night in the second round of the Guardians Classic.

Gilbert, the lone senior on the team, shot 8-for-13 and added four steals. Rush, a preseason All-American, was 6-for-12 and made three 3-pointers.

Rush, who led the Big 12 with a 21-point average last season, had 28 points and six rebounds in an 89-63 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday. Gilbert had 19 points and made five 3-pointers in that game.

Arthur Johnson added 19 points and five rebounds for Missouri (2-0), which shot 59 percent to advance to the tournament semifinals Tuesday in Kansas City.

The Tigers led 36-23 at halftime, then put the game away with a 16-2 run to start the second half. Rush jump-started the run with seven points in the first 2:12 and Wesley Stokes had a pair of layups.

Joel Gerlach had 28 points and 9-for-10 shooting for Air Force (1-1), playing Missouri for the first time since 1964.

Gerlach was 5-for-6 from 3-point range for the Falcons, who beat Yale in the opening round.

Lamoni Yazzi, who led Air Force with 21 points in the first-round victory over Yale, missed his first five shots and was scoreless until he made a layup with 1:58 to play. Yazzi added a 3-pointer in the final minute.

Air Force shot 53 percent but got off only 38 shots -- 18 fewer shots than Missouri -- due to its more deliberate style.

Gilbert and Rush each had 11 points and Johnson had 10 in the first half. The Tigers are known as a long-range shooting team, but they were 2-for-8 from 3-point range and the majority of the points came on the drive.