Missouri-St. Louis took its first lead midway through the first half and never looked back on the way to a 79-49 victory over Rockhurst Thursday night in St. Louis.

The Tritons closed the first half on a 26-10 run to take a 35-24 halftime lead. UMSL opened the second half on an 18-8 run to take a 21-point lead with 12:30 left in the game.

"We really struggled offensively," said Rockhurst coach Drew Diener. "That was a low point from an offensive standpoint. It's confusing. We had three great days of practice and had good confidence going in."

Curtis Lewis and Quinton Curry each scored 12 points to pace the Hawks. Lewis and Gabe Brown shared the team high in rebounding with five boards. Connor Evans added nine points and three rebounds.

Rockhurst shot 32.1 percent from the field (18 of 56) and 24.0 percent from the 3-point line (six of 25). UMSL made 28 of 51 field goals (54.9 percent) and seven of 16 3-pointers (43.8 percent).

The Hawks (9-10, 3-7 GLVC) play at Missouri S&T on Saturday.