San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
PINSON, TILMON HELP MISSOURI RALLY TO BEAT TCU
No matter how early Jeremiah Tilmon gets to the gym, the senior forward says Missouri teammate Xavier Pinson is already there.
They both deserve a morning off after this performance.
Pinson scored a careerbest 36 points, Tilmon had a career-high 33 and No. 12 Missouri beat visiting TCU 102-98 in overtime Saturday in the SEC/BIG 12 Challenge.
“He’ll probably stay tonight and get some shots up,” Tilmon said of Pinson. “I was expecting him to come out and play good, but I wasn’t expecting something like that.”
The Tigers (11-3) trailed by 12 with less than five minutes left in regulation. Missouri, which was one of the nation’s worst 3-point shooting teams coming into the day, rallied behind Pinson’s outside shooting. He went 8 for 13 from beyond the arc, including a deep 3 with 3.9 seconds
Missouri 102, TCU 98 (OT)
left that tied it at 89.
“I put the work in, so it’s not a surprise to me,” Pinson said of his big day.
Dru Smith put Missouri ahead to stay with a left-handed layup high off the glass in overtime. Then the Tigers managed to get two straight important stops when Mark Smith blocked a shot and Kobe Brown came up with a steal.
“Human nature, when there’s that type of lead and the crowd’s out of it, you’re ready to give up and quit,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “They just dug deep, made plays, drove the ball and executed stuff we talked about in practice. Just a great, great team win.”
Freshman Mike Miles led TCU (9-7) with a career-high 28 points. Chuck O’bannon scored 17 points, and RJ Nembhard had 15.
No. 2 Baylor 84, Auburn 72: Davion Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists against his former team, Matthew Mayer soared for a couple of highlight dunks and host Baylor remained undefeated at 16-0 with a win over Auburn (10-8) in the Big 12/ SEC Challenge.
No. 3 Villanova 80, Seton Hall 72: Jeremiah Robinsonearl scored 23 points in 21 minutes and Villanova (11-1, 6-0 Big East) rolled to its ninth straight victory, beating host Seton Hall (9-8, 6-5).
No. 20 Virginia Tech 65, No. 8 Virginia 51: Keve Aluma scored a career-high 29 points to lead Virginia Tech (13-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) past visiting Virginia (11-3, 7-1).
No. 24 Oklahoma 66, No. 9 Alabama 61: De’vion Harmon scored 18 points to help host Oklahoma (11-4) beat Alabama (14-4) in the SEC/BIG 12 Challenge, despite playing without scoring leader Austin Reaves and starting guard Alondes Williams because of COVID-19 protocols.
No. 10 Texas Tech 76, LSU 71: Mac Mcclung, who had not made a field goal in the second half, hit two 3-pointers to key a stunning late rally by Texas Tech (12-5) in a win over LSU (11-5) in the SEC/ Big 12 Challenge.
Florida 85, No. 11 West Virginia 80: Colin Castleton scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half and visiting Florida (10-4) beat West Virginia (11-5) in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
Penn State 81, No. 14 Wisconsin 71: Myreon Jones scored 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting and host Penn State (6-7, 3-6 Big Ten) snapped a decade-long skid against Wisconsin (13-5, 7-4).
No. 17 Creighton 69, Depaul 62: Marcus Zegarowski scored 19 points, and visiting Creighton (13-4, 9-3 Big East) beat Depaul (3-7, 1-7) for the 13th straight time.
No. 18 Tennessee 80, No. 15 Kansas 61: Yves Pons scored 17 points and Tennessee (12-3) never trailed in beating visiting Kansas (11-6) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Georgia Tech 76, No. 16 Florida State 65: Moses Wright scored 23 points and host Georgia Tech (8-5, 4-3 ACC) beat Florida State (10-3, 6-2), ending the Seminoles’ five-game winning streak.
Purdue 81, No. 21 Minnesota 62: Brandon Newman scored 21 of his season-high 29 points in the second half , and host Purdue (12-6, 6-4 Big Ten) overcame an early 14point deficit to beat Minnesota (11-6, 4-6).