Mizzou basketball completes furious comeback and Tigers topple TCU in overtime win
Missouri men’s basketball put together a furious rally, coming back from a 12-point deficit against TCU. Mizzou guard Xavier Pinson hit a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in regulation to tie the score.
After a back-and-forth overtime in which the teams traded leads, the Tigers prevailed in a thrilling 102-98 win Saturday at Mizzou Arena in a Big 12/SEC Challenge game.
TCU looked like it had all the momentum to beat the No. 12-ranked Tigers. The Frogs held their largest lead of the game at 12 points with 4:30 left.
Then the Tigers (11-3, 4-3 SEC) got red-hot, downing four three-pointers to evaporate the deficit with a 19-7 run to end the second half. Pinson’s three with just seconds left sent the game into overtime.
“Good win,” MU coach Cuonzo Martin said. “I think one that you would consider an exciting game if you were just watching it as a fan. Scoring the ball, they did a great job. Good job attacking the rim.”
It was the Pinson and Tilmon show all day, the duo each posting career-best performances.
Tilmon scored a career-high 33 points, including hitting his first eight shots. Whenever the Tigers needed buckets, they turned to Tilmon, who often faced only one defender in the post. Tilmon also finished with 11 rebounds.
But it was Pinson’s hot shooting that allowed Mizzou back into the game. His four-point play cut the TCU lead to four points late in the second half. Pinson finished with a career-best 36 points, hitting eight three-pointers. His final three of the game put the Tigers up for good.
The Tigers needed all they could get in an improbable comeback because of a porous defense. TCU had droves of open looks and responded by knocking down those shots. The Frogs went cold late, though they shot 54.9% overall.
After not allowing 80 points in their first 12 games, the Tigers have allowed their opponents to eclipse that mark in back-to-back games. Auburn scored 88 points in MU’s loss Tuesday.
“I don’t think we did a great job defending,” Martin said. “We didn’t do a great job defending one-on-one. They did some different actions. No excuses at all.”
But the Tigers still found a way to win Saturday.
It wasn’t just Tilmon and Pinson leading the way. Javon Pickett scored 11 points. Most noticeably, forward Kobe Brown had a career-high 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive boards. Those second-chance opportunities were huge and allowed the Tigers to claw back into the game.
Freshman guard Mike Miles had 28 points to lead the Frogs.
The Tigers are back in SEC play next, hosting Kentucky at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Mizzou Arena. That game is in doubt, though, because of COVID-19. The Wildcats’ game against Texas was canceled because UK had to go on a 48-hour pause after coronavirus complications.
This story was originally published January 30, 2021 at 3:34 PM.