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.
Already with three SEC road wins, Mizzou improved to 10-2 and 4-2 in conference play and moved ahead of Tennessee (10-3, 4-3) in the SEC standings. The Tigers are back on the road Tuesday at Auburn (9-7, 3-5).
Dru Smith added 18 points for the Tigers, while Kobe Brown scored eight and pulled down seven rebounds, including two crucial offensive boards in the final minutes.
The Tigers opened with a blistering start, much better than their last outing against Tennessee, when the Vols raced to a 23-6 lead through the first nine minutes. On Saturday, UT committed five turnovers before the first media timeout, then doubled that total by the second timeout. The Tigers took advantage of the extra possessions with a lethal half from behind the 3-point arc.
Pinson, after going without a field goal in 19 minutes Tuesday against South Carolina, scored 19 first-half points, including 3 of 3 from behind the arc. When Pinson headed to the bench late in the half with his second foul, Smith took his turn from deep, connecting on two more 3s in the final three minutes to keep the Tigers in front. Mizzou led by as many as 13 points in the first half, never trailed and scored 12 points off those Vols turnovers. Pinson’s 19 first-half points already matched the most by any Vols opponent this season.
As much as the Vols stumbled and fumbled early, they got back within three points twice in the final six minutes and trailed just 40-34 at halftime.
Mizzou didn’t let up in the second half. Just as the Vols got back within four, the Tigers ripped off a 9-2 run, getting a corner 3-pointer from Brown to beat the shot clock buzzer, then another 3-pointer from Javon Pickett on the wing to push MU ahead by 11.
Heading into the second media timeout, Tennessee’s Victor Bailey Jr. was called for a flagrant 1 foul for swiping at Brown on a drive to the basket. Brown’s free throws matched MU’s biggest lead at 58-45.
Mizzou went cold for a four-minute stretch, missing eight straight shots, but then finished strong with three straight baskets to take a 64-50 lead on a Dru Smith jumper with five minutes left, enough of a cushion for the Tigers to cruise to their biggest road win in nearly a decade.
