Missouri stays unbeaten with 78-64 victory over IUPUI

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Tim Fuller says he'll finally be able to sleep again.

After a 78-64 win over IUPUI on Monday, the Missouri assistant will be handing the reins back to Frank Haith, who finished serving an NCAA-mandated suspension. The Tigers finished 5-0 with Fuller, who had no previous head coaching experience.

"It was kind of a babysitting position for me, just to manage everything," Fuller said. "Now that he comes back and everything's intact, he'll be able to put his stamp on it and help us move forward to the place we need to go."

Jabari Brown scored a career-high 24 points and Jordan Clarkson added 22 for Missouri (5-0), which scored 13 of the game's first 17 points and never trailed. The Tigers won their 22nd consecutive contest at home and their 77th in a row against nonconference opponents at Mizzou Arena.

Senior guard Ja'Rob McCallum scored 14 points and junior guard Ian Chiles added 12 for IUPUI (1-5), which shot 50 percent from the field in the first half but only 39.4 percent in the second.

Missouri’s Johnathan Williams III shoots over IUPUI’s Ja’Rob McCallum during the first half Monday in Columbia, Mo. The Tigers won 78-64 to improve to 5-0. (L.G. Patterson ~ Associated Press)

Brown, Missouri's lone returning starter from a 23-11 season, finished 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 8 from behind the arc. He and Clarkson have both scored at least 13 points in all five of Missouri's games.

The junior guards paced the team in shooting 50.9 percent from the field and taking a 47-34 halftime lead, but the Tigers couldn't shake IUPUI until late.

A jump shot from Chiles with 6 minutes, 39 seconds remaining narrowed the Jaguars deficit to 70-61, but five consecutive points from Clarkson gave his team a 14-point lead with 4:13 left.

"We came here to be scorers and make plays for others," Clarkson said.

IUPUI's Chiles averaged 19.2 points per game entering the night to lead the Summit League, but his 12 points were his second-lowest output of the season. McCallum and freshman forward Justus Stanback combined for 25 points off the Jaguars' bench, which outscored its counterpart 25-9 for the game after failing to register a point in both of IUPUI's last two games.

Missouri's Jordan Clarkson, left, passes the ball behind IUPUI's Mitch Patton during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Nov. 25, 2013, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

"It's been kind of a struggle," IUPUI coach Todd Howard said. "Our bench has either been put in a situation with a deficit where it's tough to get them in the game or maybe they came in a little gun-shy and it's hard to keep them in."

Picked to finish last in the eight-team Summit League after a 6-26 campaign a year ago, IUPUI lost 63-61 to Northwestern on a last-second shot Friday. It fell to 0-6 against teams from the Southeastern Conference with the loss to Missouri.

"I think it's kind of burning with guys right now," McCallum said. "We see what we've got to do so next time we can execute. This is a learning experience. Mizzou is just a really good team."

Freshman forward Johnathan Williams III produced Missouri's first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds one game after grabbing 17 boards. He leads the team with 9.2 rebounds per game.

"From the day he stepped on campus, he's continued to get better," Fuller said. "What he does in the game is just a mirror image of what he does in practice. We expect it out of him."

Missouri shot 8 of 19 from 3-point range after only making 2 of 14 attempts against Gardner-Webb on Saturday. The Tigers only committed 10 turnovers compared to a season-high 21 two days ago.

A season-low 6,065 fans attended the game as Missouri's campus is on Thanksgiving break, but for the second consecutive contest, officials ejected the popular student group "The Antlers" for cheers deemed to be inappropriate. The moment occurred in the second half Monday, prompting the loudest -- and most negative -- response of the night from fans.

The game marked the second contest for both teams in the Las Vegas Invitational, but it had no impact on the outcome of the tournament. The schools will travel to Nevada for games on Thanksgiving.