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COLUMBIA, Mo. - Tyler Stone scored 18 points to lead Southeast Missouri (0-1) in a 83-68 loss to No. 25 Missouri (1-0) Friday night in the 2011-12 season-opener for both teams.

Stone led three players in double figures for the Redhawks, who were neck-and-neck with the Tigers in the first half.

Southeast opened the game with a quick 7-0 lead and shot 52 percent. The Redhawks later held a six-point lead (32-26) when Marland Smith dropped in a layup with 4:36 left to play in the first half.

"A loss is a loss, but there are things we can take and build from this," said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. "We played an outstanding basketball team tonight, but I was really proud of our guys. I thought the first five minutes of the second half hurt us. We had some real good moments though."

Missouri finished the first half on a 12-4 run to take a 38-36 lead at the break. The Tigers scored half their points on free throws during that stretch and Phil Pressey scored the go-ahead bucket on a layup with one second on the clock.

The Tigers, who led the rest of the game, outscored the Redhawks, 45-32 in the second half.

Michael Dixon's free throws gave Missouri its biggest lead at 72-55 with 6:49 remaining before the Tigers polished off their first win under head coach Frank Haith.

Ricardo Ratliffe and Marcus Denmon had 20 points apiece to lead Missouri. Kim English added 19 points and hit four three-pointers in the second half, finishing 5-of-9 from long range.

The Tigers extended their home winning streak against non-conference opponents to 59 games dating back to the 2005-06 season-opener.

Stone shot 7-of-14 from the field, made one three-poiner, knocked down 3-of-4  free throws and added six rebounds in 37 minutes during his return to Missouri. Stone transferred to Southeast after scoring 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds in 12 games for a Tiger team that went 23-11 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009-10.

"I knew we had to come out and play with high energy," said Stone. "We came out and played extremely well in the first half. We have to pick it up in the second half."

Marcus Brister followed with a career-high 15 points in his first start since Dec. 11, 2010. Brister made six of his nine field goals, pulled down five rebounds and dished out six assists.

True freshman Nino Johnson chipped in 11 points and led the Redhawks with seven rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench in his first career college game. All but four of his points came in the second half.

In addition, Missouri missed only four times at the free throw line making 23-of-27 tries for 85.2 percent.

Southeast fell to 0-8 all-time against ranked teams.

Southeast returns to Cape Girardeau to host Harris-Stowe in its home-opener on Nov. 14. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks will play on their brand-new court for the first time Monday.