Mizzou basketball returns to its roots in physical SEC road victory over Tennessee
Missouri men’s basketball knows all too well how it feels to host a ranked team in a crucial Southeastern Conference matchup. They also know what it’s like when a fast start sets the tone for the rest of the game.
As the No. 19-ranked Tigers faced No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday, there were all sorts of opportunities to make a statement. Mizzou was beat up on Dec. 30, the first time the teams met, leaving MU coach Cuonzo Martin still wondering what happened.
What was so critically missing from the Martin-coached team was evident: Toughness. Martin noted how the Vols could do whatever they wanted to do — as if they were in practice and not in a top-15 matchup at the time.
The Tigers (10-2, 4-2 SEC) swung first Saturday. Then they never let Tennessee back into the game. The end result was a 73-64 Mizzou victory at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. MU controlled the game wire to wire and proved it can hang with the top teams in the conference.
“Like I said to our guys, a top-10 team won the game today,” Martin said. “I truly feel that. I’ve watched these rankings and I don’t get consumed with it, then all of a sudden you see a team that jumped. I’ll see how we jump.”
Mizzou looked more like itself right from tipoff. The Tigers were down 23-4 against the Vols in the first matchup just minutes into the game. This go-around, MU flipped the script, building a 13-point first half lead, and it was the Vols who looked lost.
That effort started on defense, as the Tigers and Martin are wont to do. The Vols were sloppy with the ball as Tennessee turnovers led to Missouri points off turnovers. By the time the Vols settled in, the Tigers were cruising with momentum.
Tennessee did make a comeback — especially off three-pointers. But the MU guard duo of Xavier Pinson and Dru Smith never let them take the lead.
When the Vols put together an 8-0 run and cut it to a four-point game, there was Pinson with a crucial three-pointer. Pinson (27 points) and Smith (18) combined for 45 points Saturday as the Vols had little answers. Pinson became the first player to score more than 20 points in a game against the vaunted Tennessee defense.
“We didn’t want to come out slow or stagnant or anything,” Smith said. “They jumped out on us quick at home. We wanted to pick up that defensive pressure this time. Not let the ball swing easily. We were able to get a couple live ball turnovers.”
The points are what draw the headlines, but Mizzou saw contributions elsewhere. MU forward Jeremiah Tilmon didn’t score at least 10 points for the first time in five games, but he was disruptive on the defensive end.
Tennessee’s leading scorer coming into the game, All-SEC forward John Fulkerson, was held to just seven points and six rebounds, not making much of an impact until midway through the second half. Tilmon was a significant part of slowing down Fulkerson, who also had five turnovers.
Tilmon finished with nine points and five rebounds (though a couple missed dunks didn’t help). But that toughness MU needed was exhibited elsewhere. Martin also spelled it out simply for Tilmon. Fulkerson, for all his talents, checks in at around 215-220 pounds. Tilmon, all 6-foot-10 of himself, is at 260 pounds.
“Just think about that for a minute,” Martin said of the weight difference. “You have to dominate the game. Whether you’re scoring the ball, you have to put so much pressure on him physically, that eventually he gives in and other stuff happens. It’s just that simple.”
It was ultimately those intangibles — toughness, defense, rebounding — that allowed the Tigers to put up such a physical response.
Finally, too, did the three-pointers fall. While the Vols were red-hot at 40.2% three-point shooting, the Tigers matched them with a season-high 42.1% from behind the arc. It was a crucial performance after a season-long slump of cold shooting.
“When the shot is falling, guys of course gotta guard a little together,” Pinson said. “A player with my speed, if somebody’s guarding you that tight, I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but you have a wide open lane. You gotta take advantage of those.”
Mizzou sits alone in second place in the SEC after downing the free-falling Vols (10-3, 4-3). The Tigers face No. 18 Alabama, the lone undefeated team in the conference at 8-0, on Feb. 6 in what could decide the fate of the conference.
But the Tigers will relish their victory against a top-10 Tennessee team. After what happened in the first matchup against the Vols, there was the need for the Tigers to prove they can hang. They did that and then some on Saturday.
“I know how we played; I didn’t have to look up,” Martin said. “We set a tone. We were physical. We were aggressive. We played the way we play. That’s the result of it.”