CINCINATTI, Ohio - In its first road game of the 2015-16 season, Mizzou Men's Basketball (2-1) fell to Xavier (2-0), 78-66, on Nov. 17 at the Cintas Center. Mizzou's youth movement was impactful once again, as 54 of the Tigers' 66 points (82 percent) came from freshmen or sophomores.

Freshman guard Cullen VanLeer (Pacific, Mo.) paced the Tigers with 13 points. Mizzou held the lead at 38-37 less than one minute into the second half, but Xavier responded with a 12-2 run to snag control back from head coach Kim Anderson's group.

Joining VanLeer in double digits for the Tigers was freshman forward Kevin Puryear (Blue Springs, Mo.) with 12 points, junior guard Wes Clark (Detroit, Mich.) with 11 points and sophomore guard Tramaine Isabell with 11 points (Seattle, Wash.). Puryear led the team in rebounds with five, while Clark led the team in assists with three.

Xavier jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the first half, but Mizzou used a 17-7 run to get back into the game. Defense was the key to the run as the Tigers' tough play led to 11-straight missed shots from Xavier. Two free throws from Puryear gave Mizzou a 30-26 lead with 3:09 left in the half, the largest lead of the night for the Tigers.

Trailing by 14 with under six minutes to play in the game, VanLeer hit two consecutive three-pointers to cut the lead to 10, but the deficit was too much to overcome in the end for the Tigers.

After playing three games in five days, Mizzou will have five days off before hitting the court again on Monday, Nov. 23, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., for the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.

The Tigers face Kansas State to start the event, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPNU.