Missouri guard Xavier Pinson insisted he wasn’t in a two-game slump even though his production on the floor had dipped to unusually low levels heading into Saturday night’s showdown in Knoxville, Tenn. It wasn’t a slump, Pinson reasoned on Friday, because the Tigers had won both games.
On Saturday, Pinson busted out of whatever he wants to call that two-game stretch — and then some. The junior point guard scored 19 of his season-high 27 points in the first half as the No. 19 Tigers upset the No. 6 Volunteers, 73-64, at Thompson-Boling Arena in a game Mizzou never trailed against the Southeastern Conference preseason favorite. The victory avenged Mizzou’s 20-point loss to the Volunteers on Dec. 30 and was the Tigers’ first win in Knoxville since 1972.
At No. 6, Tennessee is the highest-ranked team the Tigers have beaten on the road since a 2012 victory at No. 3 Baylor.
