After thumping the Florida Gators 64-44 last Saturday without Zakai Zeigler or Igor Milicic Jr., Tennessee Basketball is back in action Wednesday night for its fifth straight game against a top 25 opponent. The Vols will take on the Missouri Tigers in what will be another brutal SEC game.
Rick Barnes’ team, ranked No. 4 in both polls, comes into this game with an 18-4 overall record and 5-4 SEC record. Before dominating Florida last Saturday, they were on a two-game losing streak, falling to the Auburn Tigers on the road and Kentucky Wildcats at home.
Mizzou, led by third-year head coach Dennis Gates, comes into this game ranked No. 15 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll. They scored two top 25 wins last week, over the Ole Miss Rebels and at the Mississippi State Bulldogs, to get to 17-4 and 6-2 in league play. Here is all the information you need for Wednesay’s matchup.
Missouri Tigers at Tennessee Volunteers
When: Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center; Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network
Live stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Vol Network (Click here for affiliates); Tiger Radio Network (Click here for affiliates)
Listen online: UTSports; Missouri live streams via The Varsity
After going 25-10 and reaching the NCAA Tournament in Gates’ first year, Mizzou fell to 8-24 last season. However, they have rebounded by utilizing a 10-man rotation with five transfers, and nobody is playing more than 26.5 minutes per game.
Ironically, two returning guards, Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill, lead the team in scoring at 13.5 and 13.2 points per game respectively. Grill actually comes off the bench. Duke Blue Devils transfer forward Mark Mitchell is averaging 12.8 points per game.
This collective approach has really started to blossom recently. In addition to two top 25 wins last week, Mizzou has beaten two ranked teams on the road. One was MSU, but the other was actually the Florida Gators. They are playing as well as they possibly could right now.
Barnes and the Vols will play their third straight home game Wednesday night. After that, they’re back on the road to face the Oklahoma Sooners Saturday and Kentucky next Tuesday. Mizzou, meanwhile, will host the Texas A&M Aggies Saturday after this one, which will be its fourth straight game against a top 25 opponent.
