NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ It took a bumpy first half before finally happening, but Missouri sliced up the worst defense in the SEC. The trick was giving Jontay Porter the ball on a post-up, or wide open at the top of the key, or pretty much anywhere else on the court against Vanderbilt.
Even when there was no ball movement on one possession with about 5 minutes remaining in the game, Porter just tossed up a 3-pointer that swished through the net and set a new career high for the 6-foot-11 freshman. A possession later, he drove to the basket for an uncontested dunk. That gave him seven straight points for Missouri, and coach Cuonzo Martin started running up the sideline in excitement. His team was on its way to a 74-66 win.
Porter torched Vanderbilt for a career high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting. His dunk gave Mizzou a 15-point lead, its largest of the game, with just more than 4 minutes remaining.
His third 3 of the game, which came just a few minutes into the second half, gave Mizzou its first lead since early in the game. That shot also gave Porter the first of the seven points he would score during a 9-4 run. The other bucket on that run came on a layup by Kevin Puryear, who cut into the lane and caught a perfect Porter bounce pass out of a double team.
Porter finished with six assists, including two that led to 3s by Jordan Barnett, who scored 17 points and made four shots from beyond the arc.
Porter's older brother, Michael Porter Jr., still didn't play after receiving full clearance to return to basketball activities a few months removed from back surgery. But it turned out the Tigers didn't need him, despite heading to halftime down 32-30.
This wasn't a must-win for Missouri (19-11, 9-8), but it was close. The Tigers had lost three straight games. The Commodores' RPI of 119 is the lowest in the Southeastern Conference, and Mizzou, hoping to make its first NCAA Tournament since 2013, had already lost two games against teams with RPIs above 100: Mississippi and Illinois.
Vandy offered a favorable matchup for MU, which held a size advantage. The Commodores came into the game last in the conference in block rate. They were also last in 3-point defense and defensive effective field-goal percentage and defensive turnover rate. They didn't look that bad to start, though.
Freshman center Jeremiah Tilmon _ who finished with seven points and six rebounds _ was effective early, scoring Missouri's first two baskets off post-ups. But the Tigers didn't take advantage of every other flaw the Commodores have. Mizzou turned the ball over nine times in the first half, including on its first possession, and the Tigers allowed the Commodores to shoot 8-of-15 from three in the first half.
Vanderbilt went ahead by seven points, its largest lead of the game, about 11 minutes into the first half, thanks to a 11-6 run that included three Commodore 3-pointers from three different players.
Missouri tightened up at the end of the half and prevented Vandy from scoring for the last 2 minutes, 59 seconds of the first half. After hitting two free throws, Porter took a charge on the other end of the court, right in front of Martin, who clenched his first and let out a scream. A bit later, Barnett played good isolation defense on Vanderbilt's Riley LaChance to make sure the Tigers went into the half down just two points despite their struggles.
Martin continued to have Barnett defend LaChance in the second half, and Jordan Geist guarded the Commodores' best scorer, Jeff Roberson, who is about 3 inches taller than Geist. Roberson led Vanderbilt with 19 points but shot just 2 of 8 in the second half. Lachance scored 17 points.
