KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Facing an 11-point deficit early in the second half, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team dominated the final 19 minutes to defeat No. 15/16 Missouri, 85-81, Wednesday night in front of 20,002 fans at Food City Center.
Fourth-ranked Tennessee (19-4, 6-4 SEC) shot 10-of-15 from 3-point range in the triumph, its fourth of the year and second in a row over an AP top-15 foe. Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., and senior guard Zakai Zeigler, both of whom missed the last game, co-led the victors with 21 points apiece
The Volunteers tallied the first five points of the night, holding Missouri (17-5, 6-3 SEC) scoreless for the opening 5:13 by forcing five missed field goals and a turnover. The Tigers, however, then posted a 13-2 run in just 3:24 to take a 13-7 advantage at the 11:22 mark. Graduate guard Tony Perkins scored 11 of the points, as he hit his first four shots of the night, including a trio from long range. Missouri went on to grab 16-9 lead with 10:35 on the clock after making five straight field goals.
Tennessee closed within two, 23-21, with 5:31 to go in the half after back-to-back dunks, but the Tigers responded with a 7-0 surge in 1:35 to go up by nine, 30-21, with 3:37 remaining. The home team twice cut the deficit to four, but Missouri pushed it back to six, 34-28, at the break.
The Volunteers shot 4-of-5 (80.0 percent) from 3-point range through 20 minutes, but missed all four of their free throws, as well as committed eight turnovers while forcing only two. Missouri, meanwhile, shot 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from deep and hit both its attempts at the stripe.
The first minute of the second session featured two turnovers by Tennessee and five points for Missouri, which took a game-best 11-point edge, 39-28, with 19:03 to go. The Volunteers, though, countered with 18 of the next 23 points, including notching a 14-2 burst in just 1:55, to go in front, 46-43, with 15:27 to go. The span ended with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by three different Volunteers, pushing the team’s ledger to 7-of-8 at that time.
Missouri regained the lead, but Tennessee again hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to claim a 59-53 cushion at the 11:42 mark and extend its long-range clip to 10-of-13. All three shots came during a stretch of five consecutive makes from the floor.
The Tigers closed within three, but Tennessee answered with eight of the next nine points to go up by double digits, 68-58, with 7:05 to play. The onslaught continued from there, as the Volunteers went up by as many as 14 points, 75-61, with 4:30 to go during a stretch of 6:08 in which it did not allow a field goal.
Missouri held Tennessee scoreless for the next 2:50 and logged the next nine points, over just 2:37, to slice the deficit down to five, 75-70, with 1:40 left. The Volunteers made a trio of free throws to make it an eight-point game with 1:17 to go, but senior guard Tamar Bates drilled a 3-pointer at the other end 16 seconds later to again trim the margin to five, 78-73.
Over the next 36 seconds, the two sides combined for eight points, all at the stripe, with Tennessee logging five of them to make it 83-76 with 25.9 left. Missouri graduate guard/forward hit a 3-pointer to make it a four-point affair with 21.7 ticks left, but the Tigers did not score again until just one second remained and the Volunteers held on for the four-point comeback decision.
In addition to his 21 points, Miličić pulled down a co-game-leading 10 rebounds, dished out a career-high-tying five assists, blocked a season- and game-best four shots, tallied a team-leading two steals and posted shooting lines of 8-of-10 overall, 2-of-3 from deep and 3-of-4 at the line. He became, per Stats Perform, the first player this century in Division I basketball (men’s or women’s), the NBA or WNBA to record 20, 10, five, four and two on a 75/50/75 line in a contest.
Zeigler’s season-best 21 points included perfect shooting from long range, as he went 4-of-4, and at the stripe, where he was 7-of-7. It was his first time achieving the former line and second registering the latter. The Long Island, N.Y., native also led all players with eight assists to move into the top 10 on the SEC’s all-time leaderboard (636) and on Tennessee’s single-season list (164).
Junior forward Felix Okpara concluded the night with 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks, plus went 4-of-5 at the line to tie a career best in makes. Senior guard Jordan Gainey had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists, while fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier tallied 10 points and six rebounds, the latter mark one shy of his season high.
Bates paced all scorers with 22 points, all of which came during a second half in which he went 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 beyond the arc and 6-of-8 at the line. Perkins finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting—Tennessee held him to just five in the final 31 minutes—to go along with five rebounds and a team-high five assists. Graduate guard Caleb Grill chipped in 11 points for the Tigers, while graduate center Josh Gray matched Miličić with 10 rebounds.
Tennessee’s 85 points marked its fourth-most of the season and its top tally in SEC play this year. Its 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) mark from long range marked the fourth time in the last 20 seasons (2005-25) making double-digit 3-pointers and connecting on at least two-thirds of its attempts, including its second time on just 15 attempts.
After a 1-of-6 start from the free-throw line, the Volunteers made 17 of their next 18 attempts, en route to capping the contest with a 21-of-30 (70.0 percent) line. At the other end, Missouri shot 19-of-29 (65.5 percent) at the stripe.
The Volunteers, who shot 50.0 percent (27-of-54) overall, had zero shots blocked in the win, plus swatted eight on the defensive side of the floor.
Its three-game homestand complete, Tennessee now plays the first of two straight road tilts Saturday at noon ET against Oklahoma, live on ESPN from the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
