Before Wednesday, it had been 2,192 games since Mizzou had lost a basketball game in Knoxville, Tennessee. The No. 15 Tigers headed into Food City Center with hopes of once again knocking off the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers on the road.
Coming off of its largest road win over a ranked opponent in school history, Missouri was striving for its third win of the season against a top-five team. Instead, Tennessee was able to escape with an 85-81 win, propelled by a 57-point second half.
The Tigers started the first half extremely flat footed, allowing the Volunteers to grab an early 5-0 lead on a Zakai Zeigler triple and Jordan Gainey layup.
That would be the last time Tennessee had momentum in the first half. The Tigers’ undersized guard Tony Perkins scored a very quick 11 points in just 10 minutes, giving the Missouri offense a necessary jolt. Jacob Crews and Caleb Grill, a duo that Tiger fans are very familiar with, later hit a triple apiece, draping a blanket of silence over the Tennessee crowd. Marques Warrick then hit two consecutive jumpers and a three-pointer en route to a personal 7-0 run, giving the Tigers a comfortable nine point lead.
Missouri’s first half success may have been partially accredited to coach Dennis Gates versatile rotations. Missouri’s bench, which ranks fourth in the nation at just under 37 points per game, received much recognition towards the beginning of the season. However, after the start of conference play, Gates has seemed to shorten his rotation, giving less playing time to players such as Marcus Allen, Aidan Shaw or Marques Warrick, some of whom received significant minutes before. Gates reverted back to a lengthier rotation tonight, which surprised many Missouri fans. True freshmen Peyton Marshall and T.O. Barrett both received playing time in the first half for the first time this season. Gates’s new lineups seemed to throw off the Volunteers’ defense in the first half, allowing Missouri to open up their scoring, butr the Tennessee defense soon figured out the Tigers’ offensive scheme.
In addition to Gates’ rotations, the Tigers’ stellar first half was due to their recurring defensive prowess. Missouri was able to force nine first half turnovers from Tennessee, allowing the Tigers’ offense to convert on the other end. Missouri also recorded five first half steals compared to Tennessee’s two.
The Missouri offense opened the second half picking up where it left off, with star senior guard Tamar Bates hitting an immediate three and Tony Perkins continuing his stellar outing with a pair of free throws to give the Tigers a double-digit lead. Unfortunately for Missouri, its lead took a sharp decline after this sequence, as the Tigers 42-32 lead turned into a 46-44 Tennessee lead after numerous Volunteer three pointers.
Those triples were the story of the night for Tennessee. The Volunteers, who came in shooting 34% from beyond the arc this season, shot 66.7% from distance, making 10 of their 15 attempts. The Tigers, who were ranked top 50 in the country for three-point percentage, shot 40%, going 12-30.
Despite the unfortunate result for Missouri, Tiger fans have a lot to be excited about. Heading into a notoriously tough environment on the road against the No. 4 team in the country is a challenge within itself. In a game where Missouri once led by 10, on an extraordinary shooting night for the Volunteers, the Tigers ended up within four points.
Tennessee will look to continue its winning streak against Oklahoma on Feb. 8. The Volunteers have their sights set on a top seed in March, with hopes of making it to the Final Four in San Antonio and compete for a national championship.
As for Missouri, the Tigers will host a marquee matchup in Columbia on Feb. 8 against the No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies. Missouri will hope to get back to its winning ways and continue to climb the rankings as the Tigers round out the end of what is an extremely difficult portion of their SEC schedule.