COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Men's Basketball clawed its way to a 52-52 tie with 7:45 remaining in its clash with No. 11 Kentucky, but the Tigers (7-20, 2-13) were ultimately outlasted down the stretch by the Wildcats (23-5, 13-2) by a score of 72-62 on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena.
Sophomore guard Terrence Phillips (Orange County, Ca.) headed the charge for the Tigers, as he scored a career-high 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, with a perfect 8-of-8 mark from the free throw line. Junior forward Jordan Barnett (St. Louis, Mo.) also provided a strong performance, as he recorded 13 points and hauled in seven rebounds.
Senior forward Russell Woods (Chicago, Ill.) opened the scoring for Mizzou with an inside hook shot and seconds later, sophomore guard K.J. Walton (Indianapolis, Ind.) forced a turnover and finished with a slam dunk on the other end. Phillips followed with a three-pointer from the right wing to give Mizzou an early 7-3 advantage. Phillips sank 4-of-8 shots from deep range; the fifth time he has made at least four triples in a game this season.
After a Kentucky run to claim the lead, Barnett stuffed a jumpshot attempt, collected the loose ball and finished the play with an astounding dunk on the fast break. Woods found himself wide open inside on the following possession and put home a slam to knot the game at 13-13 with 13:48 remaining in the first half.
With the Tigers trailing 20-15, Phillips drilled another deep-range shot from the left corner to cut into the Wildcats' lead. A few possessions later, Barnett knocked home a jumper from the right side to make the score 22-20, Kentucky. Following a media timeout, Phillips delivered another three-pointer to spark a 7-0 Tiger run.
The scoring spurt gave Mizzou a 28-24 lead and led to a Kentucky timeout with 4:20 remaining in the first half. Kentucky battled back and eventually went into the break with a 31-30 advantage. Kentucky's 31 points were its fourth-lowest total at halftime this season.
After a slow start to the second half, Walton got the Tigers going on a baseline drive which ended in a three-point play. Phillips' strong play in the second half took hold about midway through the period, with the Tiger sophomore scoring nine of Mizzou's next 13 points to get the score to 50-46 Kentucky with 9:01 remaining in the game.
With the game knotted at 52-52, Kentucky responded with a 10-1 run. Barnett ignited the Mizzou Arena crowd again as he drove the baseline for another jam that made the score 62-55 with 4:55 left.
Kentucky continued to find ways to score as they stretched the lead to 10 with 1:40 remaining. The Wildcats rode the advantage to a 72-62 result. Foul trouble plagued the Tigers, as Mizzou big men Reed Nikko (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Woods both fouled out before the final media timeout.
Mizzou next hits the road for Ole Miss, as the Tigers tip off in Oxford, Mississippi, against the Rebels on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2:30 p.m. CT. Live coverage of the game can be found on the SEC Network and the Tiger Radio Network.
For all the latest on Mizzou Men's Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team at @MizzouHoops (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
