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Men's Basketball

Mizzou Men's Basketball Pushes Past Wofford with Dominant Second Half

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men's Basketball (3-1) defeated Wofford, 75-56, on Monday night at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers have opened the season 3-1 for the third straight season.

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men's Basketball (3-1) defeated Wofford, 75-56, on Monday night at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers have opened the season 3-1 for the third straight season. Following a tightly contested first half, Mizzou dominated the contest on both ends of the court over the final 20 minutes. The Tigers held the Terriers without a field goal in the final 14:35 of the game, while outscoring the Terriers (2-3) 30-13.

Junior guard Mark Smith led Mizzou's offense with 19 points and four rebounds. His performance was supplemented by double-digit scoring from junior big man Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr. (16 points) and sophomore guard Xavier Pinson (10 points).

Mizzou dominated on the low block, scoring 28 points in the paint and finishing the contest with an emphatic block from redshirt freshman forward Parker Braun. The team shot 54.9-percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Turning Point

After a back and forth battle to open the second half, Tilmon, Jr., threw down back-to-back dunks to put the Tigers up 42-41 with 16:16 left contest. Mizzou would not surrender the lead for the rest of the game, using a 13-0 run over a six-minute period to put out the game out of reach.

Top Tigers

  • Pinson finished in double figures off the bench, racking up 10 points in 31 minutes. His performance was punctuated with an emphatic breakaway slam in the midst of the Tigers' 13-0 scoring run.
  • Tilmon, Jr. was a menace all over the court, tying his season high with 16 points, including his first career 3-pointer and pulling in five rebounds and one block. He shot 6-of-7 from the field.
  • Redshirt junior guard Dru Smith quietly orchestrated the Mizzou offense, dishing out a season-high seven assists, while adding two steals and eight points.
  • Mark Smith continued to be a force from 3-point range, sinking five treys for the second time this season. His 19 points also matched the season high he set against Northern Kentucky.

Game Notes

  • Mizzou has now held opponents to 63 or fewer points in four consecutive games to start the season. This marks the first time that's been done since 1951-1952 when the Tigers did so in eight straight games.
  • Mizzou is now 18-0 under Martin when holding opponents to under 60 points, and has now held opponents under 70 points 42 times in Martin's 69 games as head coach at the school.
  • The Tigers held the Terriers without a field goal for the final 14:35 of the game.
  • Mizzou forced 16 Wofford turnovers on the night. The Terriers entered the game averaging 8.8 turnovers a game.
  • Mark Smith recorded 19 points on Monday – the ninth time in his career he has scored 15 or more points. This was the seventh game of his career sinking at least four from beyond the arc.
  • Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr. scored 16 points tonight – the 10th time he has scored at least 15 points in his career. Tilmon, Jr. has scored in double-digits three times this season.
  • The Tigers improved to 8-0 when Tilmon Jr. scores 16 or more points in his career.
  • Pinson dished out four assists, the 11th time he has recorded four or more assists in his career.
  • The Tigers shot 60-percent (15-of-25) from the field in the first half. It marked the best first-half shooting percentage for Mizzou since the Tigers shot 60-percent from the field against Mississippi State (Feb. 10, 2018). It was the most efficient Mizzou has been from the field over 20 minutes since shooting 64-percent (16-of-25) in the second half against Georgia last season (March 6, 2019).
  • Dru Smith dished seven assists, the most for him since Dec. 5, 2017 vs Bowling Green. This was Dru's 10th career game with more than six assists. 
  • Dru Smith is the first Tiger with at least seven assists in a game since Jordan Geist dealt seven dimes in the Braggin' Rights game against Illinois last season (Dec. 22, 2018).
  • The Tigers improved to 3-0 all-time against Wofford, and 11-0 all-time against Southern Conference opponents.

Up Next

Mizzou will be back in action at Mizzou Arena, Wednesday night against Morehead State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT, with the game being streamed digitally on SEC Network+.

For all the latest on Mizzou's Men's Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @MizzouHoops.