Columbia, Mo. - The 12^th-ranked Cougar men's basketball team took care of business with an 82-43 victory over Benedictine University-Springfield in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night. Columbia, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, improves to 26-5 on the year with the win. The Cougars are now 17-2 in games in which they are the higher seed dating back to 2004.

With the score tied at 14 at the midway point, the Cougars used an 8-0 run to finally gain some separation capped off by a Malik Ray layup at the 5:51 mark. The Bulldogs responded with the next three points, but John Meyer was able to convert the three point play to extend the Cougar lead back out to eight. Columbia finished the half on an 11-3 run to take the 36-22 advantage into the halftime break as Jobe Dillard drained a three at the buzzer. The Cougars shot 47 percent in the first half led by Zach Rockers with eight points.

Columbia started with a 5-0 run to go up 41-22 as Tanner Sutton hit a three-pointer at the 18:50 minute mark. The Bulldogs responded with a three of their own, but Sutton ran the ball back down and hit his fourth three of the night as the Cougars led 44-25. The teams traded points from there, however, another Benedictine-Springfield three and bucket cut the Bulldog deficit to 21. Sutton continued his hot shooting and hit another three-pointer to spark a 9-2 run by the Cougars to go ahead 55-32 at the midway point. Columbia maintained the 20 point lead over the next few minutes and stretched their lead to 31 as Jackson Dubinksi hit back-to-back three pointers with 7:20 remaining in regulation. The Cougars maintained a sizable lead over the remainder of the game to advance to the semifinal round of the AMC tournament.

The Cougars ended the night shooting 50 percent from the field and 60 percent from three-point range as 12 Cougars cracked the scoring column. Sutton led all players with 20 points on six of nine shooting from behind the arc and Ray pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Columbia owned a 40-25 advantage on the glass and dished out 17 assists on the night, led by Chantel Stanciel with six.

Members of the AMC All-Academic Team were recognized prior to the start of Thursday's game. Representatives from Columbia included Dubinski, Rockers, Sutton, Nic Reynolds, and Jeremy Nolen.

The Cougars will be off tomorrow before returning to action on Saturday, March 7^th for a matchup with No. 3 seed Lindenwood-Belleville in the tournament semifinals at 4:00 p.m. at the Arena of Southwell Complex. Columbia swept the regular season series with the Lynx, including a 76-64 home win back on February 5^th. The winner of Saturday's contest will advance to Tuesday's AMC Tournament Championship game and meet the winner of No. 1 seed Freed-Hardeman and No. 4 seed Williams Baptist.