COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Southeastern Conference heavyweight matchup at Mizzou Arena turned into an early knockout on Wednesday. Tennessee, looking underrated as the nation’s No. 7 team, blitzed No. 12 Mizzou from the opening tip and suffocated the life out of the Tigers' unbeaten start, handing MU a 73-53 loss to open SEC play.
In a matchup of the SEC’s only ranked teams through the first month of the season, the Volunteers (7-0, 1-0 SEC) never trailed and led by at least 20 points for most of the second half. The Tigers (6-1, 0-1) finished with more turnovers (21) than field goals (16) and shot just 3 of 16 from 3-point range. Xavier Pinson led Mizzou with 11 points and was the Tigers' only player in double figures.
Four different Tennessee players reached double figures, led by Santiago Vescovi's 15 points.
