Missouri basketball beats Tennessee in first SEC Tournament game. Here's what happened
NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Missouri basketball didn't need a miracle this time.
The Tigers moved to the SEC tournament semifinals on Friday, with a 79-71 victory at Bridgestone Arena. DeAndre Gholston had to hit a half-court buzzer-beater last time. On Friday, MU's veteran roster simply showed what it was made of, outlasting the Volunteers for the win.
The semifinal appearance against Alabama will be the first in SEC history for the Tigers.
"We're proud of what we've accomplished thus far," Missouri head coach Dennis Gates said after the game. "Looking forward to a touch matchup tomorrow against who I think is the No. 1 team in the country."
Missouri got off to a terrible start in the second half, surrendering a quick bucket and then a three-pointer by the Volunteers. After that, the Tigers settled in and went on a run.
By the under-16 timeout, MU had a 42-41 lead. At the under-12, it was 50-49. The Volunteers were never without an answer for Missouri’s newfound offense, and Gates took a timeout after Tyreke Key hit back-to-back three-pointers to give UT a 55-53 lead with 10:24 left.
The rest of the way was more of the same. Neither team gave the other an inch, and the game came all the way down to the wire.
D'Moi Hodge led Missouri with 26 points. Kobe Brown had 24, and also led the team with nine rebounds.
First half rock fight
The Tigers and Volunteers got off to a defensive showdown early on. Missouri forced four Tennessee turnovers before the under-16 timeout in the first half, but struggled at the other end.
With less than 12 remaining in the first half, Gates took his first timeout. Tennessee led 16-9, and the Tigers were making even more mistakes offensively. Brown had the only three-pointer of the game for MU so far, as the team was just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Missouri spent the first half violating one of Gates’ cardinal rules, racking up a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. The Tigers gave the ball away eight time, against just six assists.
Later in the half, things improved. The Tigers started to make some shots, got back into it, and dueled with the Volunteers for the lead in the closing minutes of the first.
"We don't allow the outside conditions to impact our internal belief in each other," Gates said. "We want to stay galvanized and connected as much as possible."
With just nine seconds remaining on the first half clock, Brown got the ball and fired up a 3-pointer from somewhere in Wilson County. It fell, and it looked for a moment that the Tigers would escape the half with a tie, despite all the previous mistakes.
Instead, Tennessee returned fire. Jahmai Mashack hit a three of his own as time expired, and Missouri went to the locker room down 33-30.
Brown led the Tigers in the first half with 12 points. Hodge was second, turning in a nine-point effort through 20 minutes.
What's next?
When Missouri entered Friday’s game, it knew exactly who its opponent would be in the SEC semifinals. Alabama beat the brakes off of Mississippi State in the early game on Friday, winning 72-49.
It’s no secret that the Crimson Tide are the team to beat in the tournament. Despite the controversy surrounding the program of late concerning former team member Darius Miles’ indictment for capital murder, and the involvement—or not— of star freshman Brandon Miller, Alabama still looked like the best team in the conference.
A win against Alabama would be a season-defining moment for Missouri head coach Dennis Gates, as he continues his efforts to guide the Tigers back to glory. It also would be the upset of the tournament, after the Tide beat MU 85-64 in a January matchup at Mizzou Arena.
"Tonight's a sleepless night," Gates said. "I'll watch probably every game they played since the last game we played them, dial into all the notes I have. But we have a tough opponent. "
In that game, the Tigers clearly didn’t have the horses to keep up with Nate Oats’ squad. However, Missouri will have something it didn’t that night in Kobe Brown, who missed the first matchup with Alabama due to an injury.
Missouri and Alabama will play in the first game of Saturday’s tournament action. The game is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. tomorrow and will be aired on ESPN.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou basketball faced Tennessee in SEC tournament. What happened?
