Two surging teams, No. 14 Missouri and gritty Vanderbilt, will put their momentum against one another when they square off Saturday in a key Southeastern Conference game in Nashville, Tenn.
Missouri beat Vanderbilt 75-66 at home earlier this season and owns a 10-8 edge all time against the Commodores. A total of 15 of 17 games between the programs have been won by the home team, with one neutral site contest.
The Tigers (21-7, 10-5 SEC) travel to Nashville after a 101-71 home dismantling of South Carolina on Tuesday. Caleb Grill led Missouri with 22 points while Anthony Robinson II had 14 points and eight assists, Mark Mitchell and Tony Perkins poured in 13 points apiece, Tamar Bates scored 11 and Jacob Crews added 10.
It was the first time that Missouri had six players in double-figure scoring in an SEC game and the 30-point win was its largest in league play since also beating Arkansas by the same amount on March 5, 2013. The Tigers shot 63.5 percent from the field for their second-highest total all-time in an SEC game.
“It was just a complete team effort and that’s the most difficult to beat,” Grill said. “When we’re clicking like that, it makes us really tough to beat. I don’t think we’ve played our best game yet. I don’t think we’ve found our best rhythm yet and I think we’ll find that stretch coming forward. Each game we get a little better, and we just have to keep stacking games like that.”
Missouri has won four of its past five games, with its 10 wins through 15 games its most as a member of the league in 2013.
Vanderbilt (19-9, 7-8 SEC) heads home after a stirring 86-84 victory at No. 12 Texas A&M on Wednesday. It was the Commodores’ second straight win over a ranked team and the fourth over a squad ranked in the Top 25 in SEC play.
The Commodores, who led by 10 points with 3:33 to play, were shackled by foul trouble and late turnovers but held on thanks to Tyler Nickel’s 21 points on a career-high seven 3-pointers. MJ Collins added 16 points and Jason Edwards had 15 for Vanderbilt.
“A lot of times as a coach you want to win when you deserve to win and I felt like we did, but A&M almost pulled it from us,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “Proud of our guys. It’s one of our best wins this year, maybe the best win, beating a good team like this on the road at the end of February. It was important for us.”
The win, combined with the Commodores’ victory over then-No. 24 Ole Miss on Feb. 22, likely assured Vanderbilt a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores have games against unranked Arkansas and Georgia after Saturday’s visit from Missouri.
“The games are important now,” Byington added. “You want to play meaningful games at the end of February, play meaningful games in March and we are. We’ve had moments where I feel like we’re sometimes better, but you’ve got to win. We’ll take it any way possible.”
–Field Level Media
