COLOMBIA, SC – Jeremiah Tilmon scored 17 points and hit a perfect 5 to 5 kick on his return to the roster, and Dru Smith matched Tilmon for the team’s high with 17 points of his own, while the 20th Tigers ranked lost three consecutive matches Saturday with one 93-78 victory in South Carolina.
Playing for the first time since a two-game leave after a death in his family, Tilmon also added 4 rebounds, with Tigers winning their first street game since January 23. Five different tigers scored double digits, while Xavier Pinson scored 16 points, Kobe Brown scored 12 points and Mark Smith completed the group with 13 points.
South Carolina scored the first basket of the day, but Missouri never lost again after taking an 8 to 6 lead in the two and a half minutes of play. Breaking with the recent trend on the road, the Tigers led by 16 points at the break and never saw their lead drop to less than 7 points in the second half as they kept the Gamecocks away.
The Tigers also circumvented some recent external shooting problems, hitting 9 out of 20 attempts from three points to 45% of distance shots for the game. Mizzou hit 58% of the field on his biggest winning margin since a 16 point win over Texas A&M at College Station, TX on January 16.
Mizzou returns home to face Ole Miss on Tuesday at 8 pm at the Mizzou Arena.