KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Despite falling behind by double digits early, Mizzou Men’s Basketball (7-19, 2-12) fought to cut the lead to single digits, but could not put together a large enough run to take the lead, falling by a score of 90-70 at Tennessee (15-12, 7-7) on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena. Three Tigers scored in double figures as Mizzou connected on 23-of-30 shots from the free throw line, its second-highest total on the season.
The Tigers were led by sophomore guard Terrence Phillips (Orange County, Calif.), who scored 18 points while draining 4-of-6 shots from beyond the three-point line, one short of his career-high for three-pointers made in a game. Junior forward Jordan Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.) and sophomore forward Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.) joined Phillips in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. Freshman forward Reed Nikko (Maple Grove, Minn) led the team in rebounding with six boards.
Barnett and sophomore guard Jordan Geist (Fort Wayne, Ind.) made the most of their trips to the charity stripe, connecting on a combined 12-of-13 from the free throw line. Barnett matched his career high by shooting 6-of-7 from the free throw line, while Geist was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, the first time in his career he has been perfect from the line when shooting at least five shots from the charity stripe.
A slow start in the first half saw the Tigers fall behind by as much as 18 in the opening frame. Mizzou scored 11-straight points to cut the lead to seven points at 33-26 with 2:20 to play, but the Volunteers responded by ending the half on a 11-2 run to take a 41-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. Barnett led the team in scoring in the first half, scoring nine points while converting 4-of-5 shots from the free throw line.
Seeing two minutes of action in the opening period, sophomore forward Adam Wolf (Beaver Dam, Wis.) scored the first two points of his season on a put-back layup near the end of the half.
Phillips drained all four of his three-pointers in the second half, but the Tigers could never cut the lead to less than 10 as the Volunteers shot 50 percent from the field in the second half to increase its lead and take the game, 90-70.
Mizzou returns to Columbia to face No. 13 Kentucky on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Tipoff from Mizzou Arena is slated for 8 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
