COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team raced out to a 10-point lead Tuesday at Missouri, but ended the night on the short side of a 73-69 decision.
Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie led No. 22 Tennessee (20-8, 10-5 SEC) with 19 points at Mizzou Arena, as its four-game winning streak came to an end.
The Volunteers used an early 10-0 run, during which they went 4-of-4 from the field in just 1:51, to claim a 12-2 advantage after only 3:35 of action. That came during a span in which they held Missouri (19-9, 10-6 SEC) without a point for 3:56.
A 5:24 scoreless drought by Tennessee midway through the half allowed the home team to climb back, as it tallied eight straight points in 2:51 of that stretch to make it 21-20 with exactly six minutes left in the session. The Volunteers, though, continued to play strong defense and held the Tigers without made field goal for 4:40—they missed eight shots in a row—and without a point for the first 4:04 of that.
Missouri snapped the drought with back-to-back baskets to claim its first lead, 26-24, with 1:01 left in the first half, but Gillespie scored the last five points of the frame to give Tennessee a 29-26 edge at the break. The Volunteers went 5-of-14 from beyond the arc, while the Tigers missed all nine of their long-range attempts.
The Tigers went ahead by two, 36-34, on a three-point play with 15:58 to go. Tennessee, however, answered with a 9-2 burst in 2:03—the first six points came from senior forward Felix Okpara and the latter three were by freshman forward DeWayne Brown II—to earn a 43-38 advantage with 13:29 left.
Missouri countered with 12 of the next 14 points, including seven straight in 1:17, to take its first multiple-possession lead, 50-45, with precisely 10 minutes to play. The Tigers, aided by three straight made 3-pointers after a 1-of-12 start, extended their margin to eight, 56-48, with 7:52 left.
Tennessee scored seven of the next nine points, over just 65 seconds, to get the deficit down to three with 6:12 remaining. The home team pushed the cushion back to seven with 3:34 to go, but Gillespie scored the next five points, including drilling a deep 3-pointer, to make it 67-65 just 75 seconds later.
The Volunteers got a stop and had chance to tie or take the lead, but could not convert. Missouri scored at the other end to double its edge with 57 ticks left. A second-chance basket by freshman forward Nate Ament then made it 69-67 with 25.4 seconds to go, but the Tigers hit four of their five free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.
Gillespie added a game-high six assists to his team-best point total, plus notched a pair of steals to co-lead Tennessee. Ament had 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a career-high-tying two blocks, the latter of which paced all players.
Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell scored a career-high-tying 13 points and went 5-of-11 from the floor to set a new top mark in makes. Junior forward Jaylen Carey pulled down 10 rebounds, including a co-season-best six on the offensive end, to lead the game.
Sophomore guard T.O. Barrett scored a career-best 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting for Missouri, with all his shots coming inside the arc. Senior guard/forward Mark Mitchell scored 23 points for the Tigers, finishing 8-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 at the line. No other player on the team eclipsed eight points.
Both sides shot under 30.0 percent from beyond the arc, but Missouri went 22-of-38 (57.9 percent) on 2-pointers and 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) at the stripe, outpacing the Volunteers in both areas.
Tennessee did have a 20-8 margin in second-chance points, but it allowed a 23-7 tally in points off turnovers, committing 15 and forcing just eight.
The Volunteers now head home for a top-25 matchup against No. 17/18 Alabama, with action slated for Saturday at 6 p.m. at Food City Center, live on ESPN. Coverage on 103.1FM WIKQ begins at 5:30pm.
