Saturday, Tennessee fell to Missouri 64-73. The Vols were looking to rebound after a thorough defeat at Florida on Tuesday but excessive turnovers would change their plans. 

Rick Barnes promised changes in the lineup after Tuesday night’s loss to Florida however, tonight’s starting rotation would go unchanged. 

Tennessee once again goes with Santiago Vescovi, Keon Johnson, Josiah Jordan James, Yves Pons and John Fulkerson. 

The attempt to have some continuity would not pay off for Tennessee as they would be pledged with another slow start that was overall extremely sloppy. 

Tennessee had 11 turnovers in the first half while 10 of them came in the first nine minutes of game time which hampered the Vols from finding any momentum. 

“We sped ourselves up on offense going up alginate their defense, ” sophomore guard Davonte Gaines said. “We had a couple of sloppy plays and a couple of turnovers we could’ve controlled. I just feel like we got sped up.” 

Missouri was able to make Tennessee pay by scoring 12 points off of those 10 turnovers. This helped Missouri open up a lead as large as 13 points in the first half. 

Xavier Pinson was able to dominate the Vols defense in the first half for the Tigers. 

Pinson, usually a guard that likes to drive the ball to the basket, torched the Vols with his three-point and mid-range shot. He went three for three from behind the three-point line and eight for 10 from the field for 19 points in the first half. 

Dru Smith was able to support Pinson in the first half with 13 points on 50% shooting from the floor and 50% shooting from behind the three-point line with three made three-pointers. 

Missouri was able to shoot 53% from the field and 50% from behind the three-point line in the first half, both of which are uncharacteristically high for the Tigers.

For the Vols, the main high point in the first half was the play of Pons. 

Pons had 15 points in 15 minutes on 80% shooting from the field and 66.7% from behind the three-point line. He was also able to go five-for-five from the free throw line.

Tennessee once again lacked any presence from Fulkerson in the first half. 

Fulkerson played just eight minutes and was unable to account for any points while only having two rebounds and five turnovers. 

The Vols were able to keep the halftime score at a maintainable 40-34 deficit largely on the back of the team’s 45% shooting from behind the three-point line along with the play of the small ball lineup down the stretch which was able to make some headway against the Tigers. 

The second half would be largely the same story for the Vols. 

Fulkerson was able to rebound off of his poor first-half performance with seven points in the second half along with six rebounds. 

Victor Bailey Jr. was able to bring Tennessee some life in the second half with strong defensive play and some very timely shooting. Bailey would finish the game with 12 points on 57% shooting from the field and 66% shooting from behind the three-point line. 

Pons was able to finish the game with 20 points and five rebounds on 60% shooting from the field and 42% shooting from the three-point line. 

Like the first half, Tennessee would struggle to hold on to the ball and would have seven second-half turnovers and finish with 18 in the game. 

“I am surprised by the turnovers, I am shocked, ” Barnes said. “It’s pathetic. Turned the ball over 36 times in two games.”

The effort of Fulkerson, Pons and Bailey wouldn’t be enough though as the Tigers continued to have answers for everything the Vols threw at them. 

“I thought they played like a veteran team, ” Barnes said of Missouri. “They knew exactly what to do. Cuonzo made great adjustments.”

Pinson would continue to make clutch plays for the Tigers and would finish with 27 points on 71% shooting from the field along with four rebounds and three steals. 

Jeremiah Tillman would assert himself in the paint in the second half and would finish with nine points, five rebounds and two blocks. Tillman was a go-to player in the paint for the Tigers and moved his defenders around at will. 

“We destroyed them on their home court and obviously they didn’t want that to happen again, ” Pons said. “They were better than us tonight.”

For the Vols to find success once again they’ll need to stop being their own worst enemy and start forcing their opponents into mistakes. 

“We have got to get everybody back healthy and we’ll be fine,” Barnes said. 

 Tennessee will once again look to rebound from a loss when Mississippi State comes to Thompson-Boling Arena for a 7 p.m. ET tip off on Tuesday night.