Columbia, Mo. ? It wasn’t the blowout Missouri was hoping for in its season opener. Then again, at least the Tigers know where they need to improve.

Ricky Clemons scored 25 points and Rickey Paulding added 19 as No. 20 Missouri defeated American, 72-57, Friday night in the opener for both teams.

Steven Miles scored with 1:30 left to pull American to 63-56, but Clemons made two free throws to boost the lead back to nine. American failed to score, and Paulding made two more free throws to seal it.

“I was disappointed with our urgency at giving points, sloppy exchanges, things like that,” Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. “We’re not as connected as a group as we need to be. When we get more connected, we’ll see the ball go into the post with more efficiency, we’ll see guys penetrate and hit each other. It just takes some work.”

Clemons, a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, also had four assists and five rebounds in his debut as Missouri’s point guard. Paulding, a junior, made eight of 16 shots but didn’t score in the second half until 1:09 remained. After scoring 17 points in the first half, Paulding took just three shots in the second.

“Part of it is Rickey growing as a player,” Snyder said. “I think it says a lot about his character that he isn’t going to press.”

Instead, Snyder wanted to get the ball to his post players, Arthur Johnson and Travon Bryant. Johnson had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Bryant added 11 points.

“I don’t think it was really conscious on my part, but I think me being the leader of the team I had to be conscious of getting the ball to those guys,” Paulding said. “I think, in turn, guys got a little less aggressive, and that resulted in us taking poor shots.”

Miles led American with 12 points and Jernavis Draughn added 10.

No. 4 Alabama 82, Alabama State 56

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Mo Williams scored 20 points and Terrance Meade added 17 as Alabama won its 20th straight home game. The Crimson Tide (2-0), with its highest ranking in 25 years, led by 36 points late but played mostly reserves in the second half against the Hornets (0-3). Erwin Dudley had 12 points and eight rebounds as 10 players scored for the Tide.

No. 7 Oklahoma 87, UC Irvine 65

Norman, Okla. – Ebi Ere scored 14 points, and Oklahoma broke the game open with a 17-1 second-half run to win the opening round of the Sooner Invitational. Hollis Price and Quannas White each scored 13 for the Sooners (1-1), who will play Princeton in the title game today. Princeton beat Western Michigan 62-59. Adam Parada had 19 points for Cal-Irvine (0-1).

No. 9 Michigan State 66, Asheville 52

East Lansing, Mich. – Chris Hill scored 18 points and Aloysius Anagonye added 11 to lead Michigan State in the opener for both schools. Freshman Paul Davis and Adam Ballenger also had nine points apiece for the Spartans, who have won 26 straight season openers. MSU’s last opening loss was in 1976, when it fell to Central Michigan 81-76.

No. 16 Marquette 64, Coppin St. 46

Milwaukee – Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and Robert Jackson added 13 as Marquette won the first round of the Pepsi Blue and Gold Classic. Marquette (2-0) will play Texas-San Antonio in today’s championship, while Coppin State (0-1) will play Idaho State in the consolation game. Texas-San Antonio beat Idaho State 76-71 in overtime.

No. 21 Gonzaga 69, Hofstra 61

Spokane, Wash. – Cory Violette scored 17 points as Gonzaga opened the post-Dan Dickau era with a ragged win over Hofstra. Both teams had trouble shooting the ball in their season openers, but Hofstra stayed close in the first-ever meeting between the teams. Ronny Turiaf added 17 points for Gonzaga, which has won 27 consecutive home games and is 46-1 at home over the past four years. Kenny Adeleke led Hofstra with 18 points.

Other Big 12 men

Oklahoma State 68, Yale 59

Stillwater, Okla. – Melvin Sanders scored 18 points to help lead Oklahoma State past Yale. Andre Williams had a double-double with 10 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks as the Cowboys (1-0) got double-digit scoring from five players. Ahead by two with just under 14 minutes to play, OSU went on a 17-4 run to open up a 59-44 lead. Yale (0-1) didn’t have much success at the offensive end, shooting 38.2 percent.

Colorado 97, Cal Poly 69

Boulder, Colo. – Blair Wilson scored 22 points, including 5-of-7 from three-point range, to pace six players in double figures as Colorado opened with a rout. David Harrison added 18 points and six rebounds and Michel Morandais scored 15 for Colorado, which shot an identical 56 percent (19 of 34) in each half.

Texas Tech 85, N.C.-Wilmington 76

Lubbock, Texas – Andre Emmett led Texas Tech with 23 points against N.C.-Wilmington. Tech (1-0) never trailed after a 19-6 run in the end of the first half, which ended with Tech leading 45-33 on a 42-foot buzzer shot by Will Chavis. He finished with 16 points, and Kasib Powell added 19.

Late Thursday game

Nebraska 68, Centenary 45

Fairbanks, Alaska – Corey Simms had 10 points and six rebounds as Nebraska beat Centenary in the first round of the BP Top of the World Classic. Nate Johnson, Jake Muhleisen and Brennon Clemmons each added nine points for Nebraska in the season opener for both teams.