COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri men’s basketball earned its second-straight win in SEC play, topping Vanderbilt, 75-66, in front of a sold-out crowd at Mizzou Arena Saturday afternoon. The Tigers improve to 13-3 on the year and 2-1 versus league foes, while the Commodores, who are receiving votes in both national polls, fall to 13-3 and 1-1 in SEC action.
GAME LEADERS
Junior Mark Mitchell led the Tigers with 19 points – sinking 6-of-11 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line – while also tallying seven boards.
Sophomore Anthony Robinson II chipped in 15 points and added a career-best eight assists to go with three steals for MU. Graduate Caleb Grill rounded out the Tigers in double figures with 13 points off the bench.
Graduate Josh Gray anchored the Mizzou defense with a season-best 11 rebounds.
GAME RECAP
Mizzou led wire-to-wire as the hosts rode a hot start en route to the win. The Tigers sunk their first four 3-pointers of the game to quickly race to a 14-2 lead. The schools would then trade a couple of runs of the rest of the half. A 10-0 spurt gave Mizzou a game-high 17-point lead, 39-22, before the Commodores finished the period with a 7-0 run of their own as the Tigers headed into the locker room with a nine-point lead, 41-32.
The Tigers maintained their lead early before Vanderbilt made its final push. The visitors used a 9-0 run to pull within three, 49-46, with 12:44 remaining. Tamar Bates and Grill would answer with back-to-back triples to quickly put the Tigers back up by nine only for a later 8-0 run by Vanderbilt allowed the Commodores to pull within a single point, 61-60.
Bates ended the run with a transition dunk for a 63-60 lead with 4:50 left in regulation. After Vanderbilt cut the deficit back to two, 68-66, Grill then drew a foul during a 3-point attempt, igniting a 7-0 run to finish the game for the 75-66 victory.
TEAM STATS
Mizzou shot 49.0 percent in the winning effort, including 10-of-24 from 3-point range (41.7 percent). The Tigers also held the Commodores to 40.4 percent shooting and just 33.3 percent in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Tigers aim to continue their winning ways, playing at No. 8 Florida on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
