Tennessee was unable to string stops together in the second half and the turnover bugaboo got them again as Missouri knocked off the Vols 73-68 on Tuesday night in Columbia.
Here’s three quick takeaways as Tennessee falls on the road.
Turnovers Issue Rears Its Ugly Head For Tennessee
Tennessee had posted two of its better turnover performances of the season last week against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. Forcing turnovers is not a strength of Missouri’s which presented Tennessee with the opportunity to continue that trend.
And to start the game, Tennessee did a good job of taking care of the ball. The Vols had just two turnovers in the first eight minutes and both were players grabbing rebounds while falling out of bounds trying to save the ball. Their fourth turnover came when a Missouri defender clearly fouled Bishop Boswell.
But things spiraled. Tennessee played two fast on the offensive end and made poor decisions. Secondary ball handlers Boswell, Ethan Burg and Troy Henderson all had easily avoidable turnovers. Tennessee turned it over eight times in the first half including a stretch of six turnovers in eight possessions. That allowed Missouri to cut Tennessee’s eight point lead to just one point during that 6:07 stretch.
The issue was not quite as prevalant in the second half but still showed up periodically as Tennessee finished the night with 15 turnovers.
Tennessee Had No Answers For T.O. Barrett Or Mark Mitchell
Tennessee has won a handful of games this season while Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament just led the way offensively with the opponent having very few answers.
But it was Missouri’s duo of T.O. Barrett and Mark Mitchell that Tennessee had no answers for on Tuesday night.
Barrett is averaging just 8.1 points per game but has emerged as a top option for Missouri as of late, scoring 13-plus points in six of the Tigers’ last eight games. But he took it to a whole new level against Tennessee.
The 6-foot-4 guard scored a career-high 28 points on an incredibly efficient 12-for-17 shooting from the field. Barrett got down hill and finished through contact consistently.
Mitchell is Missouri’s top player and he played like that, scoring 23 points. The power forward took Okpara, Jaylen Carey and whomever else was guarding him off the dribble and consistently scored through contact.
Tennessee didn’t have an answer for either Missouri player as they combined to score 69.9% of Missouri’s points.
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One Likely And Unlikely Offensive Contributor
Despite a bad offensive performance, Tennessee had two players leading the way. Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s offensive contributions were unsurprising. The senior point guard was extremely streak, missing his first four three-pointers and finishing the game three-for-12 from beyond the arc.
But Gillespie also had some big shots when Tennessee was faltering including the final five points of the second half. The Vols’ leading scorer ended the night with 19 points and six assists.
Many of those assists were to an unlikely offensive force— Felix Okpara. The senior center went for his SEC-high, totaling 15 points without missing a single shot. Many of Okpara’s buckets came on open dunks but he also did a much better job scoring with defenders on a hip than he really ever has during his college career.
Okpara scored 11 of Tennessee’s first 14 points of the second half but made little scoring impact after that. Still, his 15 points marked just his third SEC game in double figures.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee basketball returns home on Saturday evening when they face rival Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Tipoff between the Vols and Crimson Tide is at 6 p.m. ET. ESPN is broadcasting the game.
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