Tennessee Vols notch 'gut-check' win with strong close at Mizzou

Tennessee's Armani Moore, right, shoots past Missouri's Jakeenan Gant, left, during their game Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, in Columbia, Mo.
Tennessee's Armani Moore, right, shoots past Missouri's Jakeenan Gant, left, during their game Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, in Columbia, Mo.
photo Tennessee's Armani Moore, right, shoots past Missouri's Jakeenan Gant, left, during their game Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, in Columbia, Mo.

The basketball game was there for Tennessee's taking.

Thanks to some key plays down the stretch Saturday evening, the Volunteers grabbed hold of it and won 59-51 at Missouri.

Despite leading scorer Josh Richardson scoring a season-low eight points, Tennessee nabbed a second straight Southeastern Conference road win by outscoring the Tigers 16-5 in the final five minutes at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The Vols won their first two SEC road games for the first time since winning at Georgia and Vanderbilt in 2009.

"This was a gut-check win," first-year coach Donnie Tyndall told the Vol Network radio broadcast after the game. "So proud of my kids and the way they battled tonight. They never gave up. Things didn't go their way, they go up ... and (we) never even batted an eye.

"We just kept playing, and that's tough to do. It was a tough environment. Great win for our team today."

Armani Moore notched his third career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting, including just his second 3-pointer of the season.

"It's a big boost for me when my coaches are behind me a hundred percent and my teammates," Moore said. "It just gives me a whole lot more confidence in just knowing that I can go out there and be aggressive. I feel like I can get a lot of things done."

Derek Reese added 10 points and eight rebounds to continue his solid play, and Kevin Punter had a bounce-back game with a 12-point night that included a big 3 late and four clinching free throws.

Tennessee (11-5, 3-1b) made 18 of 20 free throws and held the Tigers to 36 percent shooting in its first win in Columbia in the 10th meeting between the two.

"We're continuing to improve," Tyndall said. "We've talked about this ... that it's not going to be pretty a whole lot this year. We understand that. As we have a year or two to recruit and get our post players developed and all those things that come with it, maybe it becomes a tad more pretty.

"I don't ever want us to ever not have that grit and toughness, but this year it's going to be grinding every game, and that's what our team is doing to be 3-1 in league play (with) two road wins in a row with this young, inexperienced group. I'm really proud of them."

With nearly 14 minutes to go, the Vols took their largest lead of the game at 37-29 when the Tigers discovered their 3-point shooting stroke.

Missouri, just 2-of-11 from long range in the first half, knocked down six treys -- more than half the Tigers' 10 second-half baskets -- after halftime. Top scorer Wes Clark followed up triples by Tramaine Isabell and Keith Shamburger by hitting one to give Missouri a 44-43 lead with about six minutes left.

The Tigers led 46-43 on Jakeenan Gant's layup, but Punter, who was 1-of-15 shooting his last two games entering the game against a program to which he committed last spring before signing with Tennessee, made a huge 3.

That set the stage for Tennessee's decisive run.

"I think this: We have a mentality about us right now, which is good," Tyndall said. "Our chemistry is great. Guys are pulling for each other. They're playing for each other."

Moore drove to the basket for a layup, Reese scored off his own miss in the lane and Richardson found Robert Hubbs on a backdoor cut for a dunk as the Vols forced two of Missouri's three crunch-time turnovers with their trapping press.

"We work so hard on our press," Moore said, "and we pay very close to detail to what we're supposed, and there at the end I feel like they did a great job of buying into what we were trying to do."

After Namon Wright hit a 3 to make 52-49 with 1:37 left, Tennessee hit seven of its eight free throws down the stretch to ice the game away.

Since a 4-4 start, Tennessee has won seven of eight games, the lone defeat coming to Alabama.

"You're going to go through some times where you feel like there's some games you should have won that you lost," Moore said, "but it's all about getting together and staying together as a team and knowing that we can do some very great things.

"I feel like now, we learn with each other, and hopefully we can keep this little winning streak going."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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