For the first time in Missouri men’s basketball history, the Tigers will play in the SEC Tournament Semifinals. A 79-71 win over the Tennessee Volunteers Friday afternoon is the first ever quarterfinal win since Missouri moved to the SEC in 2011.
It was the two-headed monster of D’Moi Hodge and Kobe Brown that propelled them to this victory. Hodge led the Tigers with 26 points while Brown followed closely with 24. Brown ended one rebound shy of a double-double.
Tennessee’s offense was much more evenly distributed, as it had five different players score in double figures. Santiago Vescovi led the Volunteers with 17 points, and was supported by 16 from Tyreke Key and 14 from Jahmai Mashack.
This game was incredibly tight and went back and forth the entire second half. In total, the game was tied 15 different times, and there were 13 lead changes. Missouri only led for a total of 9:52 and trailed for 21:07. The eight points they ultimately won by was their largest lead of the game.
While he didn’t jump off the page of the stat sheet, arguably the biggest play of the day was made by Nick Honor. His deep 3-point swish in a tie game with 1:45 to play gave Missouri a lead it wouldn’t give up again.
Missouri has now swept the season series with Tennessee, with neither win coming in Columbia. Potentially most impressively, the Volunteers rank third in the entire country in points allowed. They hold opponents to an average of 57.5 points per game. In its two matchups this season, Missouri scored 86 and 79 points respectively.
After the game, Kobe Brown mentioned how meaningful this semifinal berth is to the team.
“It’s huge. It’s huge. We talk about it all the time. It’s big for us. We just come in and do what we do. Just a bunch of guys who like to play together,” Brown said.
Dennis Gates spoke on the leadership and character Brown brings to the team.
“I truly believe whatever the highest award a student-athlete can receive from the NCAA, I would nominate Kobe Brown for it,” Gates said.
He went on to say that he’s confident Brown could run for Mayor of Columbia.
With this win the Tigers advance to Saturday’s semifinals, where they will meet top-seeded Alabama at noon. The Tigers and Crimson Tide met only once this season. Missouri lost 85-64 on January 21. It was the only game of the season to this point where Kobe Brown did not play.
The win over the Volunteers puts another Quad 1 win under the Tigers’ belt, and a win tomorrow over projected 1-seed Alabama would most certainly improve their seeding come Selection Sunday.