JOPLIn, Mo. - Most exhibition college basketball games are meaningless. But not all.
Marcus Denmon scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Missouri Tigers to a 114-68 victory Sunday night against the Missouri Southern Lions in the "One State, One Classic." None of the 3,477 fans at the sold-out Leggett and Platt Center cared about the score.
The game raised $100,000 for Joplin's tornado recovery fund. The NCAA granted permission for Mizzou to play the exhibition game away from home. New Missouri Head Coach Frank Haith came up with the idea after a visit to the city days after the May 22 EF-5 twister. The storm damaged a 13-mile swath of the heart of Joplin, killing 162 and injuring hundreds more.
Missouri State will play the Division II No. 4 ranked Lions Saturday, November 5 for a similar fundraiser for the city's recovery.
