COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team raced out to a 10-point lead Tuesday at Missouri, but ended the night on the short side of a 73-69 decision.
Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie led No. 22 Tennessee (20-8, 10-5 SEC) with 19 points at Mizzou Arena, as its four-game winning streak came to an end.
The Volunteers used an early 10-0 run, during which they went 4-of-4 from the field in just 1:51, to claim a 12-2 advantage after only 3:35 of action. That came during a span in which they held Missouri (19-9, 10-6 SEC) without a point for 3:56.
A 5:24 scoreless drought by Tennessee midway through the half allowed the home team to climb back, as it tallied eight straight points in 2:51 of that stretch to make it 21-20 with exactly six minutes left in the session. The Volunteers, though, continued to play strong defense and held the Tigers without made field goal for 4:40—they missed eight shots in a row—and without a point for the first 4:04 of that.
Missouri snapped the drought with back-to-back baskets to claim its first lead, 26-24, with 1:01 left in the first half, but Gillespie scored the last five points of the frame to give Tennessee a 29-26 edge at the break. The Volunteers went 5-of-14 from beyond the arc, while the Tigers missed all nine of their long-range attempts.
The Tigers went ahead by two, 36-34, on a three-point play with 15:58 to go. Tennessee, however, answered with a 9-2 burst in 2:03—the first six points came from senior forward Felix Okpara and the latter three were by freshman forward DeWayne Brown II—to earn a 43-38 advantage with 13:29 left.
Missouri countered with 12 of the next 14 points, including seven straight in 1:17, to take its first multiple-possession lead, 50-45, with precisely 10 minutes to play. The Tigers, aided by three straight made 3-pointers after a 1-of-12 start, extended their margin to eight, 56-48, with 7:52 left.
Tennessee scored seven of the next nine points, over just 65 seconds, to get the deficit down to three with 6:12 remaining. The home team pushed the cushion back to seven with 3:34 to go, but Gillespie scored the next five points, including drilling a deep 3-pointer, to make it 67-65 just 75 seconds later.
The Volunteers got a stop and had chance to tie or take the lead, but could not convert. Missouri scored at the other end to double its edge with 57 ticks left. A second-chance basket by freshman forward Nate Ament then made it 69-67 with 25.4 seconds to go, but the Tigers hit four of their five free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.
Gillespie added a game-high six assists to his team-best point total, plus notched a pair of steals to co-lead Tennessee. Ament had 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a career-high-tying two blocks, the latter of which paced all players.
Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell scored a career-high-tying 13 points and went 5-of-11 from the floor to set a new top mark in makes. Junior forward Jaylen Carey pulled down 10 rebounds, including a co-season-best six on the offensive end, to lead the game.
Sophomore guard T.O. Barrett scored a career-best 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting for Missouri, with all his shots coming inside the arc. Senior guard/forward Mark Mitchell scored 23 points for the Tigers, finishing 8-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 at the line. No other player on the team eclipsed eight points.
Both sides shot under 30.0 percent from beyond the arc, but Missouri went 22-of-38 (57.9 percent) on 2-pointers and 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) at the stripe, outpacing the Volunteers in both areas.
Tennessee did have a 20-8 margin in second-chance points, but it allowed a 23-7 tally in points off turnovers, committing 15 and forcing just eight.
The Volunteers now head home for a top-25 matchup against No. 17/18 Alabama, with action slated for Saturday at 6 p.m. at Food City Center, live on ESPN.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• Tennessee is now 13-11 in its all-time series with Missouri, with that ledger featuring an 11-7 record since the Tigers joined the SEC and an 11-6 mark in league competition.
• The Volunteers fell to 12-7 in their last 19 contests versus Missouri, including to 7-4 over the past 11 matchups.
• Tennessee’s five-game series road winning streak—it went from Jan. 8, 2019, to Feb. 20, 2024—came to an end Tuesday.
• The past five series meetings have all been determined by eight or fewer points—including four within five—and feature a combined margin of just 22 points, only 4.4 per game.
• Tuesday marked the 11th time in the last 12 series meetings—that extends to Jan. 17, 2018—the Volunteers were ranked after they were unranked in each of the first 12 matchups, with Tennessee dropping to 6-5 in those 11 games (4-3 with Missouri unranked).
• Tennessee has logged double-digit offensive rebounds in 27 of 28 games this year, with 15-plus in 18 outings, 17-plus 10 times and 20-plus on five occasions, with a high of 26.
• The Volunteers have grabbed at least 35 total boards in 25 of 28 contests, with 40-plus in 17, 42-plus in 16, 45-plus in 13 and 50-plus in six, with a top tally of 60.
• Through 28 outings thus far, Tennessee has amassed 13-plus assists on 24 occasions, with 17-plus in 17 games, 20-plus in seven and 23-plus in four.
• Across its 28 games this season, Tennessee has played just three that did not feature a double-digit lead for either side.
• Missouri played the first 14:19 of the contest without committing a foul and totaled just three in the opening half, while Tennessee committed only four of its own.
• Meanwhile, in the second half, five fouls were called each way—both teams eclipsing their first-half totals—in the first 8:08 of action and each concluded the half with 10.
• The last time a Tennessee opponent went a half without making a 3-pointer was March 14, 2025, when Texas shot 0-of-8 after the break in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Nashville, Tenn.
• Barrett and Mitchell became the first opposing duo with 20-plus points against the Volunteers since Baylor’s Norchad Omier (22) and V.J. Edgecombe (20) achieved the feat on Nov. 22, 2024, in Nassau, Bahamas.
• Carey rebounded four of Tennessee’s five missed shots in the opening three minutes of the second half to up his total for the night to six, already tying his second-highest single-game figure as a collegian.
• Carey finished with six-plus offensive rebounds for the seventh time in his career, including the fourth this season.
• Tuesday marked the 11th time Carey has registered double-figure rebounds, including the fifth as a Volunteer.
• Okpara scored in double figures for the second time in the last three games after reaching that mark just once in his prior 17 appearances.
• Okpara tallied 15-plus points for the second time in the last three contests after hitting that figure once in his previous 33 outings, dating to March 1, 2025, nearly a full year ago.
• Okpara’s seven made field goals matched the second-highest mark of his career and tied the SEC best he has recorded twice previously: Feb. 18, 2026, against Oklahoma and Jan. 18, 2025, at Vanderbilt.
• Wednesday marked the second time Okpara has made seven field goals without a miss, as he also did so in the Jan. 18, 2025, contest at Vanderbilt.
• Okpara’s seven makes tied the most without a miss by a Volunteer this season, equaling freshman guard Amari Evans’ total Jan. 3 at Arkansas.
• Tennessee has now recorded two of the seven instances this year of an SEC player making seven-plus field goals without a miss, including two of the four on the road and two of the four in league competition (same four games).
• The other two SEC competitors to make seven-plus field goals without a miss this season on the road and/or in SEC play are Florida’s Rueben Chinyelu (7-of-7 on Jan. 28 at South Carolina) and Georgia’s Somto Cyril (8-of-8 on Jan. 10 at South Carolina).
• The 13 points for Boswell tied his career high, previously compiled both Jan. 28 at Georgia in an overtime affair and Jan. 13 versus Texas A&M in a double-overtime contest.
• Boswell scored in double figures for the sixth time as a collegian, logging 11-plus points for the third time.
• Boswell connected on multiple 3-pointers for the fourth time in his career, including the second in SEC play.
• The five made field goals for Boswell set a new career best, surpassing the four he made three days ago at Vanderbilt and Nov. 25, 2025, against Houston in Las Vegas.
• Boswell made four shots from the field for the second consecutive contest after doing so just once previously.
• Ament registered multiple blocked shots for the fourth time in his career, all of which have come in conference action.
