It was never not going to be a fight, but Tennessee answered the call. Still riding high from their 20-point win over the Florida Gators Saturday, the Vols faced a red-hot Missouri Tigers team Wednesday night and fell behind by 11 points early in the second half.
However, Rick Barnes’ team, ranked No. 4 in both polls, fought back the rest of the way and took complete control before building a 75-61 lead with four minutes to go. Then they nearly blew it, having to make free throws the rest of the way while Mizzou shot their way back into it from three, but they still held on for an 85-81 win.
Dennis Gates’ team, ranked No. 15 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll, played as well as they could play, shooting 40 percent from three and only committing three turnovers against this elite UT defense. That should have been enough. However, the Vols found new life offensively, and it was from players returning to their lineup.
Igor Milicic Jr. and Zakai Zeigler were back starting the game after missing Saturday’s blowout win due to illness and injury respectively. In the process, they added another element to Tennessee’s scoring offense that wasn’t there before, as both finished the game with 21 points.
Starting with Milicic, he had 10 rebounds, four blocks, five assists and two steals on his stat line. Typically, when he scores like this, he does it shooting well from three, and he did go 2-of-3 from outside. However, Milicic finally exerted some dominance underneath the basket, as he hit six buckets in the paint.
Zeigler, meanwhile, finally found the return of his three-point shot, going 4-of-4 from outside while adding eight assists. A lot of that, though, had to do with Milicic finally commanding a presence inside, and Felix Okpara did his part as well by scoring 12 points, most noticeably going 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
Those two bigs being an offensive force allowed Zeigler to shoot well from three while also scoring in transition. Chaz Lanier also helped by scoring 10 points and going 2-of-5 from three following his elite performance against Florida, so people now have to respect him again.
Simply put, the establishment of an inside offensive presence combined with the Vols’ top scoring guard staying involved kept the offense free-flowing and allowed them to do what they need to do. Even Jahmai Mashack, with just seven points, hit a three and two other shots in the paint. Jordan Gainey added 10 off the bench.
With that performance, Tennessee was able to overcome a superb game from Mizzou. Again, shooting that well and taking that good care of the ball in Thompson-Boling Arena against the Vols’ defense is a testament to how prepared and well-coached they were in this game. Kudos to them for that, but kudos to UT for a big win.
The Vols, who improve to 19-4 and 6-4 in SEC play, will visit the Oklahoma Sooner Saturday, snapping a streak of five straight games against top 25 opponents. Mizzou, meanwhile, falls to 17-5 and 6-3 in SEC play and will face the Texas A&M Aggies Saturday in its fourth straight game against top 25 opponents.
