PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Mizzou Men's Basketball (5-4) knocked off the Temple Owls, 64-54, on the road at the Liacouras Center on Saturday night. The Tigers handed Temple (6-2) just its third loss at home since the start of the 2018-19 season.

Javon Pickett led Mizzou with a season-high 16 points off the bench, and scored seven of Mizzou's first 11 points.

The Tigers held Temple to under 10 points until the 9:30 mark in the first half. Redshirt juniors Mitchell Smith and Dru Smith nailed shots from beyond the arc punctuating a 10-2 run midway through the first half that give Mizzou early control of the game.

Mizzou went to the locker room at halftime with a 33-27 lead. The Owls opened the second half on a 12-2 run, but Mizzou's resilience prevented Temple from extending its lead, holding the deficit within six points.

Mizzou surged into the lead with clutch buckets down the stretch from sharpshooter Mark Smith and sophomore Xavier Pinson. Stingy defense, forced turnovers and consecutive stops helped head Cuonzo Martin's squad seal the road victory in the final minutes.

Turning Point

With four minutes remaining in the game, Mizzou forced back-to-back turnovers, with the latter resulting in a Jeremiah Tilmon, Jr. dunk. Two minutes later, Mark Smith drilled a deep 3-pointer to push Mizzou's lead to five. Pinson followed with two tough finishes in the lane to wrap up the 64-54 victory.      

Tilmon scored seven of his nine points in the final eight minutes, while Mizzou outscored Temple 13-2 in the final 4:09 of the game.

Top Tigers

• Sophomore guard Javon Pickett scored a season-high 16 points off the bench. He added five rebounds and an assist.
• Redshirt junior Dru Smith filled the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists on the night.
• Xavier Pinson played a major role in sealing the victory for the Tigers in the final minutes, scoring seven points.

Notes

• Mizzou handed Temple only its third loss at home since the start of the 2018-19 season.
• Mizzou forced 19 turnovers on the night, the most since forcing 21 against Incarnate Word in the season opener (Nov. 6).
• The 19 turnovers are the most committed by Temple in a non-OT game since it committed 20 in a loss to then No. 8/9 Cincinnati (Jan. 24, 2018).
• The Tigers have forced 14+ turnovers in six games this season.
• Mizzou improved to 5-0 when holding its opponent to under 60 points this season.
• Javon Pickett's 16 points gave him his 12th-career game scoring in double figures, and it was his highest scoring output since scoring 21 against South Carolina (Jan. 13, 2019).
• Pickett is the fourth different leading scorer for Mizzou this season.
• Mitchell Smith recorded the second start of his career.
• All nine Tigers that saw action Saturday night recorded points.
• Dru Smith has now collected a steal in 21-consecutive games, dating back to his time at Evansville.
• Dru Smith has also recorded an assist in 51-straight games.
• Mizzou now leads the all-time series between Temple 3-2, while picking up its first road win over the Owls in Philadelphia. 

Up Next

Mizzou returns home next Sunday, Dec. 15, to take on Southern Illinois at Mizzou Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on the 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.