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Tennessee rescued itself from a 6-point halftime deficit on Wednesday night against visiting Missouri, blowing past the Tigers for an 85-81 victory in the SEC’s latest showdown between ranked teams.
The fourth-ranked Volunteers built on last Saturday’s big victory over Florida, getting 21 points each from Igor Milicic Jr. and Zakai Zeigler to power past the No. 15 Tigers. Milicic and Zeigler both made triumphant returns to the Vols’ lineup after missing the win over the Gators, Zeigler because of a knee injury and Milicic because of an illness.
Both were feeling just fine on Wednesday night in Knoxville, as Zeigler added 8 assists and Milicic pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the way for Tennessee, which improved to 19-4 overall and 6-4 in the SEC. Meanwhile, Missouri (17-5, 6-3) had its momentum halted after coming into Knoxville having won 6 of its past 7 games in the brutally tough SEC.
The Tigers couldn’t get enough stops when it counted, allowing the Volunteers to blaze away at exactly 50% from the field while shooting 10 of 15 from 3-point territory. That brilliant shot making helped cancel out Tennessee’s 9 missed free throws.
The Vols also owned the boards, outrebounding Missouri, 38-30, while leading 21-11 in the assists department. Missouri scored 47 points in the second half after taking a 34-28 halftime lead, which should have been enough to carry it to victory. But the Tigers allowed a whopping 57 points in that second half and couldn’t keep up.
Tamar Bates led Missouri with 22 points, while Tony Perkins added 16 for the Tigers, who lost despite committing just 3 turnovers.
Tennessee will try to keep its momentum going at Oklahoma on Saturday, while Missouri hosts No. 10 Texas A&M on Saturday.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
