KNOXVILLE, Tenn. _ Cuonzo Martin's return to Knoxville wasn't as memorable as his team could have made it, but it reminded Tennessee fans what made the Vols hire him in the first place.
Missouri put up a good fight against No. 1 Tennessee in a 72-60 loss that the Tigers prevented from getting out of hand.
Freshman Javon Pickett led Missouri (11-10, 2-7 SEC) with 12 points in the loss while senior Jordan Geist added 11. Tennessee forwards Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams led the Vols (21-1, 9-0 SEC) with 13 points each.
Missouri's second meeting with Tennessee had a few similarities to its first one. The Tigers weren't intimidated by the Volunteers' top ranking. Pickett scored seven of Mizzou's first 17 points and was aggressive on offense despite a few bad shots. After playing nine minutes in MU's first game against Tennessee, Jeremiah Tilmon played 16 minutes in the first half and got a touch on almost every possession. Tilmon injured his shoulder late in the first half but only sat out two minutes before returning.
The Tigers' troubles came after Pickett scored a layup that put MU up 17-13 with just over 11 minutes remaining. Tennessee responded with an 18-2 run over an eight-minute stretch for a 31-19 lead. The run coincided with an MU scoring drought that spanned nearly six minutes.
A 7-0 run by Missouri cut the lead to five points toward the end of the first half. Geist's corner 3 with a minute remaining were the first points of the game for MU's leading scorer. Tilmon's late jumper sent the Tigers into halftime down 37-31.
Missouri had the Vols' lead down to four early in the second half but struggled to get any closer because of shooting woes. The Tigers started the second half off shooting 2 for 10 and another scoring drought let Tennessee get the lead back up to 10.
Blue Springs South graduate Kevin Puryear, who has struggled offensively as of late, had a bounce-back game with eight points and six rebounds. His layup with 12 minutes left cut the Vols' lead to 10. Pickett later cut it to eight with another layup but a pair of missed 3s by Mitchell Smith prevented MU from getting the game within two possessions.
The Tigers were without sophomore guard Mark Smith for the fourth straight game and his absence showed. Smith is one of the best 3-point shooters in the country and MU shot just 29 percent from behind the arc for the game.
Missouri's next game is Saturday against Texas A&M. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. on the SEC Network.
