COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Men's Basketball secured its first home win in SEC play on Wednesday night, using a strong second-half effort to defeat Georgia, 68-56. Despite only scoring 20 points in the first half, head coach Cuonzo Martin's squad responded in the second frame at Mizzou Arena, scoring 48 points on 57.1 percent shooting. Mizzou took the lead at the 17:46 mark of the second half thanks to a 13-2 run and never trailed after that.

In his first career start, freshman forward Jontay Porter (Columbia, Mo.) tallied the second double-double of his career, posting 15 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate senior guard Kassius Robertson (Toronto, Ontario) scored in double-digits for the sixth-consecutive game, chipping in 15 points on 3-5 shooting from downtown. He is the nation's scoring leader among graduate transfers at the Power-5 level and has now led Mizzou in scoring seven times this season.

TURNING POINT

The Tigers went into halftime trailing, 23-20, and the energy had seemingly left Mizzou Arena. However, as soon as the second frame began, the Tigers found their stride, opening the half on a 13-2 run. The freshman front line of Jontay Porter and Jeremiah Tilmon (East St. Louis, Ill.) started the spurt, and junior guard Jordan Geist (Fort Wayne, Ind.) finished it, as the trio combined for all 13 of those points, 12 coming in the paint.

Tilmon and Porter did it in different ways to get Mizzou the lead for the first time since a 2-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game. Tilmon threw down two thunderous jams during the run, while Porter used his signature footwork to score. The duo combined for nine of the 13 points. Geist, who had five points in the entire first half, drove the ball to the hoop on consecutive possessions, finishing strong both times to end the run. The Tigers used the stretch to build a 33-25 lead, and rode that lead to their first win at home in conference play.

TOP TIGERS

• Freshman forward Jeremiah Tilmon played his best game in conference play thus far, scoring 10 points and grabbing three rebounds.
• Junior guard Jordan Geist played a balanced game on his birthday, scoring 10 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing four assists.
• Junior forward Kevin Puryear ended the game with nine points, but scored seven straight during a 7-0 solo run late in the second half to put the game out of reach. Puryear also had three rebounds and one assist.

GAME NOTES

• Wednesday's win marked Mizzou's first over Georgia since Jan. 10, 2013, a 79-62 win at Mizzou Arena. Georgia had won the previous six meetings. Mizzou cut Georgia's lead in the all-time series to 6-5.
• Mizzou head coach Cuonzo Martin moves to 3-3 in six all-time meetings against Georgia.
• The 12-point win was Mizzou's largest in SEC play since a 15-point triumph over Auburn on Jan. 9, 2016, nearly two years to the day and a span of 41 games.
• Mizzou won for the first time this season when trailing at the half. Mizzou lost its previous three contests when tailing following the initial 20 minutes.
• Mizzou has yet to lose back-to-back games this season, rebounding after a 77-75 home loss to Florida last Saturday.
• Mizzou led for just 21 second in the opening 20 minutes of action, but took the lead just 2:14 into the second half thanks to six paint points and seven total combined points from Jeremiah Tilmon and Jontay Porter. That was part of a 13-2 run to open the half, with 12 of the 13 points coming in the paint, six coming via dunks.

UP NEXT

Mizzou goes back out on the road, heading to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the Razorbacks. That game is set to tip at 5 p.m. CT, and can be seen on ESPN2.