COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Southeastern Conference heavyweight matchup at Mizzou Arena turned into an early knockout on Wednesday. Tennessee, looking underrated as the nation’s No. 7 team, blitzed No. 12 Mizzou from the opening tip and suffocated the life out of the Tigers' unbeaten start, handing MU a 73-53 loss to open SEC play.
In a matchup of the SEC’s only ranked teams through the first month of the season, the Volunteers (7-0, 1-0 SEC) never trailed and led by at least 20 points for most of the second half. The Tigers (6-1, 0-1) finished with more turnovers (21) than field goals (16) and shot just 3 of 16 from 3-point range.