Going into Tuesday night’s contest against the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Missouri Tigers knew they needed a win. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, a measurement of a team’s strength at a given moment in the season, had Missouri ranked 52nd in the country.
Matching up against a smaller Commodores team that has just one regular who’s 6-foot-10 or taller, the Tigers also needed a big-time performance from freshman big men Jeremiah Tilmon and Jontay Porter.
Tilmon was quiet for much of the game; Porter was not.
On a night where much of the conversation pregame was whether or not Michael Porter Jr. would play, the younger Porter stole the show, pouring in a season- and game-high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting to lead Missouri to a 74-66 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to ESPN, Missouri improved its chances of making the NCAA Tournament to 68 percent with the win. Missouri is currently projected as a 9-seed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Porter entered the contest shooting just 9 of 26 in his last four games but more than made up for it Tuesday night. He was all over the place on the offensive end, hitting all four of his shot attempts from behind the arc as well as a few huge jump shots from the elbow to foil Vanderbilt’s zone defense late in the game. Porter also had seven rebounds and six assists, leading Missouri in those categories, as well.
Missouri was able to partially put to rest the turnover woes the team had suffered from during its three-game losing streak, turning the ball over 13 times, eight fewer than the team had in its 90-87 loss to Ole Miss on Feb. 20. The team also shot well, pouring in 12 of 22 3-point attempts and shooting 57.8 percent from the field overall.
While no one played as well as Porter, Missouri also got a good performance from one of its elder statesmen: senior Jordan Barnett. Barnett was a workhorse, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 17 points while also recording six rebounds and a steal. Barnett also hit 3 of 4 free throw attempts, setting the tone for his team. The Tigers went 10 for 14 from the free-throw line on the night.
Missouri will play its final game of the regular season Saturday afternoon in Columbia, when the Arkansas Razorbacks come to town. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m., and the game will be on ESPN2.
_Edited by Bennett Durando | bdurando@themaneater.com_