COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men’s Basketball head coach Kim Anderson earned his 300th career win Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena, as the Tigers outshot and outrebounded Vanderbilt on the way to a resounding 72-52 win. The Black & Gold (7-17, 2-10) outscored the Commodores (12-13, 5-7) by 14 points in the second half to help them improve to 4-0 all-time at home against Vanderbilt.
Junior forward Jordan Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.) led the Tigers with 23 points off the bench, his second-straight game with a career-high 23 points. His back-to-back 20-point games had previously only been accomplished by a Tiger once this season, with freshman guard Frankie Hughes (Cleveland, Ohio) accomplishing the feat in the first and second games of the campaign. Barnett sank a career-high five three-pointers, shooting 62.5 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-8).
Following up Barnett’s strong outing was sophomore forward Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.), who posted 13 points (5-of-12 FG, 3-of-3 3PT) and eight rebounds. The effort was his 13th game this season recording at least 10 points and five rebounds, and the 28th such occurrence of his career.
Sophomore guard Terrence Phillips (Orange County, Calif.) also contributed heavily to Mizzou’s offensive success, scoring 12 points (5-of-11 FG, 2-of-2 FT) for the Tigers. He also snagged six rebounds, contributing to the team total of 43. Mizzou outrebounded the Commodores by an impressive 18-board margin. Barnett and sophomore guard K.J. Walton (Indianapolis, Ind.) each grabbed nine rebounds.
Despite scoring six quick points to start the first half, Vanderbilt then went nearly four minutes without scoring, allowing the Tigers to take a 13-6 lead. The Commodores staged a quick comeback, but the Tigers were able to maintain their lead for the remainder of the first half and entered the break up 35-29.
The second half began at a slower pace for both teams, with the Commodores eventually tying the game, 38-38. The Tigers were quick to bounce back, reclaiming the lead and eventually stretching their lead to double digits, 59-48, with 5:02 left in the contest.
Mizzou’s defensive effort was superb in the second half, leaving the Commodores without a field goal for the last 12:13 of the game. A final jumper from Phillips with 26 seconds remaining secured the Tigers a 20-point lead that proved to be the final score, 72-52.
Coming into the game, Vanderbilt led the Southeastern Conference in three-point percentage, shooting 39.1 percent. Mizzou held the Commodores to their poorest three-point shooting performance of the season, shooting 6-of-28 from deep range, a mere 21.4 percent. Previously, Vanderbilt’s season low had been 26.3 percent against Middle Tennessee on Dec. 8.
Mizzou continues at home with Alabama on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Mizzou Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network and Tiger Radio Network.
