No. 4 Tennessee basketball narrowly defeated No. 15 Missouri, 85-81, Wednesday night on Rocky Top.
Faced with an 11-point disadvantage early in the second half, No. 4 Tennessee basketball dominated the final 19 minutes to overcome No. 15 Missouri, 85-81, on Wednesday night at Food City Center.
Missouri’s 81 points were the most by a Tennessee opponent since March 9, 2024, when Kentucky scored 85 in the regular season finale.
Tamar Bates, a senior guard, topped all scorers with 22 points, all of which came in the second half, when he shot 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-8 from the line. Tony Perkins, a 6-foot-4 guard, finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting (Tennessee limited him to five in the final 31 minutes), five rebounds, and a team-best five assists. Caleb Grill, a graduate guard, scored 11 points on four of five attempts for the Tigers.
Takeaway #1: The Volunteers were red-hot from three-point range
“When the ball is going in, it all looks good,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes remarked.
Tennessee converted 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) from three-point range against Missouri, only eight days after shooting 11-of-45 in a defeat to Kentucky.
The red-hot three-point shooting was particularly crucial on a night when Tennessee shot only 10-of-20 at the basket and started the game poorly at the foul line before prevailing late.
Five of the nine players who appeared on Wednesday night sank a shot from beyond the arc.
Rick Barnes’ team will want to expand on the low-attempt, high-make recipe.
Takeaway #2: Milicic Jr. and Zeigler carry the weight for the Vols
Tennessee defeated then-No. 5 Florida on Saturday afternoon without starters Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic. That pair was responsible for Tennessee’s offensive success versus the Tigers.
According to SEC Network, Milicic Jr. and Zeigler were the first Tennessee tandem to score 20 points and five assists in the same game since 1998.
Building on his performance in the loss against Kentucky, Milicic Jr. was Tennessee’s top performer versus Missouri. He revived the Vols attack with seven points in the first half when they struggled to get anything started. Then, with Tennessee trailing by 11 points early in the second half, Milicic scored eight points during a 15-4 Tennessee comeback to tie the game.
The 6-foot-10 forward converted his first seven shots from the floor and finished with 21 points. In addition to scoring, Milicic impacted the game by handing out five assists, grabbing 10 rebounds, and blocking four shots.
In addition to his 21 points, Miličić pulled down a co-game-leading 10 rebounds, dished out a career-high-tying five assists, blocked a season- and game-best four shots, tallied a team-leading two steals and posted shooting lines of 8-of-10 overall, 2-of-3 from deep and 3-of-4 at the line.
Zeigler broke out of his shooting slump by making 4-of-4 three-pointers. Tennessee’s point guard finished the game with 21 points and eight assists.
Zeigler’s season-high 21 points featured flawless long-range shooting (4-of-4) and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. The Long Island, N.Y. native also topped all players with eight assists, climbing into the top ten of the SEC’s all-time leaderboard (636) and Tennessee’s single-season mark (164).
Takeaway #3: Tennessee’s offense shares the wealth
Five Volunteers scored in double figures in Wednesday’s win.
Milicic Jr. and Zeigler finished with 21 points apiece. Felix Okpara, a junior forward, finished the contest with 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocks, as well as going 4-of-5 from the line to tie his career high in makes. Senior guard Jordan Gainey had 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier had 10 points and six rebounds, one fewer than his season high.
21 of the 27 made baskets were the result of assists.
After completing a three-game homestand, Tennessee will face Oklahoma at noon ET on Saturday, live on ESPN from the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
To keep up with Tennessee Volunteers basketball on social media, follow @BleedOrangeRev on X/Twitter.
Next up for Tennessee basketball (19-4, 6-4): at Oklahoma (16-6, 3-6) – Feb. 8 at Noon EST
Next up for Missouri basketball (17-5, 6-3): vs. No. 10 Texas A&M (17-5, 6-3) – Feb. 8 at 3:30 p.m. EST