COLUMBIA, MO — For the first four minutes Tuesday night, Missouri looked like a team drifting helplessly in deep space. A turnover on the opening possession. A 10–0 Tennessee run. A 12–2 deficit before the first media timeout.
Then T.O. Barrett ignited the hyperdrive.
The sophomore guard delivered the best performance of his career — 28 points on 12‑for‑17 shooting, including a barrage of downhill finishes that Tennessee never solved — as Missouri stormed back to beat No. 20 Tennessee 73–69 at Mizzou Arena. Mark Mitchell added 23 points, and the Tigers erased every bit of their early chaos with a second‑half performance built on toughness, simplicity, and two stars who refused to let their season slip away.
“Hard‑fought game,” Mitchell said afterward. “Glad we could pull it out. That’s a really good Tennessee team. I’m just proud of our resilience, especially the way the game started.”
A disastrous start — and the spark that flipped everything
Missouri’s opening possession ended with Barrett throwing the ball away. Tennessee immediately turned it into points, and by the 16:27 mark the Vols led 12–2 behind a 10–0 burst and a Mizzou scoring drought stretching nearly three minutes.
Dennis Gates burned a timeout.
And from that moment forward, the Tigers began clawing back.
Mitchell steadied things with two free throws. Barrett hit a jumper at 13:13. Trent Burns — who continues to grow into his role “right before your eyes,” Gates said — scored an uncontested layup to cut it to 16–10.
By the under‑10 timeout, Mizzou had life. Mitchell muscled in a contested layup to make it 21–16, and the crowd erupted when Tennessee’s Ethan Burg threw the ball away moments later. Barrett followed with a layup, then another, then a steal‑and‑slam that gave Missouri its first lead at 26–24 with 56 seconds left.
Tennessee closed the half with a Gillespie jumper to lead 29–26, but the tone had changed. Missouri had gone from overwhelmed to fully engaged — and Barrett had 14 points, playing with the relentless energy Anthony Robinson II usually supplies.
Second half: Mitchell hunted mismatches, Barrett took over
The Vols opened the second half with an alley‑oop to Felix Okpara and an and‑one moments later, stretching the lead to 34–30. But Missouri’s counterpunch was immediate.
Trent Pierce — who had just been scolded by a fan on the previous defensive possession — drilled a three. Mitchell followed with an and‑one, roaring as he hit the floor. Mizzou led 36–34 with 15:58 left, and the building finally felt alive.
From there, the Tigers simplified everything.
As Rock M Nation’s Matt Harris summarized on X:
“Game plan boiled down to T.O. hitting double gaps and going at Bishop Boswell, while Mark Mitchell hunted mismatches from the left slot and worked back to his left shoulder. Sometimes, simplicity is best.”
Mitchell’s footwork and strength carved up Tennessee’s switches. His hook shot at 9:59 capped a 12–2 run and put Missouri up five. Robinson II hit back‑to‑back threes — one that bounced in, out, and back in — to extend the lead to 56–48.
And Barrett? He entered in Trent Burns's words, a "flow state" when driving into the paint
He scored three straight layups, each more physical than the last. He spun through traffic. He absorbed contact. He finished everything. With 6:03 left, he had 22. With 5:27 left, he had 24. With 4:12 left, he had 26.
“I didn’t feel like they could guard me,” Barrett said. “They weren’t doubling, so I just kept going.”
Mitchell added another and‑one at 3:34 to push the lead to 67–60, but Tennessee refused to go away. Gillespie buried a three with 2:19 left to cut it to 67–65, and Mizzou Arena tightened.
Closing time: Barrett delivers the dagger, Crews ices it
With 1:06 left, Gillespie missed a potential go‑ahead three. Missouri called timeout. And then Barrett delivered the shot of the night — another contested layup, his 28th point, putting Mizzou up 69–65 with 57 seconds remaining.
“He plays hard, man,” Gates said. “Sometimes you have to give great players the opportunity to take risks. And he doesn’t sulk. He doesn’t put his head down.”
Jacob Crews — who hadn’t scored from the field — calmly knocked down four free throws in the final 20 seconds as Missouri broke Tennessee’s press with poise that simply didn’t exist two weeks ago.
When the horn sounded, Gates turned toward the Antlers and flashed a pair of hearts with his hands. The student section sent them right back.