Skip to main content
tennessee logo

Igor Milicic, Zakai Zeigler lead No. 4 Tennessee in rally past No. 15 Missouri, 85-81

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 9 hours•

GrantRamey

Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Tennessee Athletics, Andrew Ferguson
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Tennessee Athletics, Andrew Ferguson

Igor Milicic and Zakai Zeigler returned for No. 4 Tennessee against No. 15 Missouri Wednesday night and the Vols needed every single second the two seniors gave them. 

The red-hot Tigers led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but the Vols woke up in time to rally to build a 14-point lead of their own and then hold on for an 85-81 win at Food City Center. 

Milicic did a little bit of everything while leading Tennessee (19-4, 6-4 SEC), finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals. Zeigler had 21 points, eight assists and three rebounds. Chaz Lanier added 10 points and six rebounds, and Felix Okpara had 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Milicic missed the 64-44 win over Florida on Saturday due to an illness and Zeigler was sidelined by a sore right knee.

Missouri (17-5, 6-3) got a game-high 22 from Tamar Bates, Tony Perkins scored 11 of his 16 in the first half and Caleb Grill had 11.

Mizzou’s lead was 11 in the first minute of the second half with five straight points off back-to-back Tennessee turnovers out of halftime. It was a tie game just over five minutes later, then a 10-point lead for the Vols just six minutes after that.

Tennessee finally found life with an 11-1 run over 1:43 early in the second half to go from down nine to tying the game.

Milcic and Zeigler tied it with back-to-back threes 30 seconds apart, at 16:28 and 15:58, then the Vols took the lead with 15:27 left on a Jordan Gainey three. It was a 68-58 lead with 7:05 to go after three Zeigler free throws.

Tennessee scored 31 points in the first 8:18 of the second half, after scoring 28 points in 20 minutes in the first half. The Vols started 6-for-8 from the 3-point line in the second half, too, making them 10-for-13 from the game, just over a week removed from going 11-for-45 in the 78-73 home loss to Kentucky.

Tennessee trailed by as many as nine points in the first half

Missouri didn’t score for the game’s first five minutes, 13 seconds, but took control early in the first half with a 13-2 run that needed just 3:25, putting Mizzou up 13-7. Perkins scored 11 points in the first nine minutes after making his first four shots from the field, including three 3-pointers. 

Marques Warrick sparked the next Mizzou run, scoring seven straight points to put the Tigers up 30-21, their biggest lead of the game, with 3:37 left before halftime.

Tennessee shot 48.0% from the field and went 4-for-5 at the 3-point line in the first half, but had eight turnovers while forcing just two from Missouri. 

Jahmai Mashack and Milicic had seven points each in the first half for the Vols, with Milicic adding four assists and two rebounds. Zeigler made two threes of his own while Lanier took just two shots in 14 minutes in the first half.

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee at Oklahoma

After three straight home games — the 78-73 loss to Kentucky, the 64-44 win over Florida and Wednesday’s game against Missouri — Tennessee goes on the road for four of its next five games.

It starts at Oklahoma (16-6, 3-6) on Saturday in a Noon Eastern Time start on ESPN, then continues at Kentucky on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2). 

Vanderbilt comes to Food City Center on February 15 and the Vols follow the home date with trips to Texas A&M on February 22 and, after a midweek bye, a road game at LSU on February 25.

The regular-season schedule wraps up with two of three games at home in March: Alabama (March 1), at Ole Miss (March 5) and South Carolina (March 8).

You may also like