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about an hour ago
Grace Wesoly SEC staff
Nashville, Tenn. — No. 4 Missouri (24-8, 11-7 SEC) won a back-and-forth battle against No. 5 Tennessee, 79-71, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Tigers earned a semifinal slot thanks to their consistency in a contest that featured 15 games and 13 lead changes. They trailed the Vols for more than 21 minutes of the game, but found their flow in the final minutes to pull away.
D’Moi Hodge scored 26 points, the most any player has scored against Tennessee this season, and added four rebounds and three assists. Kobe Brown followed close behind with 24 on 9-of-13 shooting while recording nine boards and three assists. The duo combined for seven 3-pointers and became the third Mizzou teammate to score 20-plus points in the same SEC Tournament game and the first since Jordan Geist and Torrence Watson did so in 2019 against Auburn.
Dean Gholston scored 10 points for the Tigers and Nick Honor scored eight with two three-pointers and four assists.
Santiago Vescovi led the Tennessee offense with 17 points, joining Chris Lofton (2008) and Skylar McBee (2012) as the only Vols over the last 25 seasons to sink five 3-pointers in an SEC Tournament game.
Olivier Nkamhoua recorded his fourth career double-double and second double-double of the season with an 11-point, 10-rebound performance. Three other Volunteers scored in double figures: Tyreke Key with 16 and five rebounds, Jahma Mashack with 14 and Julia Phillips with 10 and eight rebounds.
Vescovi’s hot hands sparked Tennessee’s enthusiasm with two early 3-pointers early in the game.
Brown responded by flushing a dunk, but the Volunteers were undeterred, going on a 10-3 run and setting up a 16-9 lead that prompted Mizzou to call a timeout as the Tennessee fans went wild.
The Tigers battled back with a quick seven-point lead to match the Vols at 16 with 8:08 left in the first half as the battle for the lead began.
Hodge drilled a 3-pointer to push the Tigers ahead, but Key knocked one down to regain the lead before Vescovi made another three to put Tennessee up, 25-21. However, Hodge was ready to fight back with a pair of free throws followed by the equalizer with a fast break dunk, making it 25-25 with 4:05 left in the half.
Brown was forced to the basket with a smooth layup to put Missouri on top, but Tennessee swiped the lead back with a Nkamhoua 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Phillips. However, Brown didn’t back down, draining a three to match the score with just nine seconds left in the first half.
Jahmai Mashack hit one from far right at the halftime buzzer, giving UT a 33-30 advantage as the crowd erupted again.
The Vols brought momentum into the second half, but Mizzou had three 3-pointers lying in wait from the hands of Hodge, Honor and Brown to tie it up at 39. Tussle for advantage continued as Tennessee closed with a three-point play by Phillips and then pulled ahead with back-to-back 3-pointers by Key, making it 55-53 UT and, prompting the Tigers timeout that brought the crowd to their feet again midway through the second half.
The latter half of the second period boasted six ties and five lead changes as back-to-back threes by Honor and Hodge proved to be the difference makers, giving the Tigers a 75-69 advantage with just 1:25 to play.
Key responded with what was Tennessee’s last basket of the game as Brown tacked on another layup and Hodge made a pair of free throws to finalize Mizzou’s 79-71 victory.
Until Next Time
Missouri will face 1-seed Alabama (27-5, 16-2 SEC) in the semifinals of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at 1pm ET – the game will be televised on ESPN.
Tennessee (23-10, 11-7 SEC) was eliminated from the SEC Tournament and is awaiting word on when and where it will play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
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