Missouri Tigers win 13th straight home game ... and another SEC basketball contest

The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team won its 13th straight home game on Saturday afternoon, beating the Vanderbilt Commodores 75-66 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The Tigers led throughout. Vandy clawed within a point late in the game, cutting the score to 61-60 with about 5 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.

But the hosts went on another run that included an and-one dunk by Kansas City native Tamar Bates, and the visitors would get no closer.

Missouri junior guard and Bishop Miege High product Mark Mitchell led all scorers with 19 points and sophomore guard Anthony Robinson II added 15.

Senior big man Josh Gray pulled down 11 rebounds for MU.

It was a raucous crowd for the mid-day game in Columbia. Mizzou Arena was rocking from start to finish.

“Shoutout to the fans, man,” Mitchell said on the SEC Network postgame show. “We’ve had some bad weather and they were here to support us.”

Missouri improved to 13-3 (2-1 Southeastern Conference) while Vanderbilt fell to 13-3 (1-2 SEC).

Junior guard Jason Edwards led the Commodores with 20 points and junior guard MJ Collins Jr. chipped in 13.

Senior guard Caleb Grill was a notable factor down the stretch for the Tigers, grabbing a steal, pulling down a defensive rebound and scoring on a designed play with under 2 minutes remaining.

Grill, the native of Wichita, Kansas, finished with 13 points and a half-dozen rebounds.

Vandy tried to get back in the game in the waning minute and a half, but the Tigers were able to maintain separation and collect their second straight SEC victory.

Missouri had beaten LSU at Mizzou Arena in its previous outing, also at Mizzou Arena, to snap a 21-game conference losing streak.

MU went 10 of 24 from long range Saturday. Multiple players hit two 3s against the Commodores, including Bates, Robinson, Grill and reserve sophomore guard Trent Pierce

The Tigers shot 49% from the field overall to the Commodores’ 40.4%. The also had the rebounding edge over Vandy, corralling 33 to the Commodores’ 29.

Mizzou returns to action Tuesday at No. 8 Florida. Game time for the Tigers’ SEC showdown against the Gators is 8 p.m. Central.

This story was originally published January 11, 2025 at 4:46 PM.