3 Takeaways from Mizzou's Huge Win Over No. 22 Tennessee

After grabbing two huge ranked wins over teams from the state of Tennessee in less than a week, Dennis Gates still believes his team is early on its timeline of reaching its potential. Considering the fact that the Tigers have found unexpected ways to continue to improve and solidify their NCAA Tournament resume, there's validity to his claim.

The Tigers' 73-69 win over No. 22 Tennessee included the best showing yet from a Missouri player that has steadily improved ever since emerging as a starter early in conference play, plus the Tigers' showing some of their best adaptability yet.

Missouri proved it doesn't need to be able to exploit a height advantage or play an opponent favorable to its style to win. Instead, the Tigers themselves can be the enforcers.

Here’s three takeaways from the win that has now put Missouri in a firm position to earn a bid for the NCAA Tournament if they can simply win the games they'll be expected to out of the final three.

Seek Volunteers to Guard T.O. Barrett

Feb 11, 2026; College Station, Texas, USA; Missouri Tigers guard T.O. Barrett (5) dribbles the ball during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

T.O. Barrett took the gloves off Tuesday night, scoring a career high of 28 points. Nothing new was specifically learned about Barrett nor his playing ability in the performance — this was what he's consistently flashed for most of the last month. But it was the best showing yet of just how much he can impact the game.

There was a run of just over nine minutes in the middle of the second half where Barrett looked as if he controlled the defense at his will. Rick Barnes agreed.

"He went down there and got what he wanted," Barnes said following the game.

So did Barrett.

"I didn't feel like they could guard me, so I just kept going at it," Barrett said of the second half.

In the stretch, Barrett scored 12 of Missouri's 24 points in that stretch on his own layups. That stretch was pivotal to the Tigers not only re-taking the lead, but driving it past the thin margins that their earlier leads couldn't get past.

But the most important stretch from Barrett was arguably in the first half when he dug the Tigers out of an early hole.

After falling behind 14-4, in the first six minutes, Barrett scored 12 points in the final 13:13 of the half. His quickness in the half court when the Tigers forced four turnovers in a four-minute span allowed the Tigers' offense to come alive.

Tennessee's defensive identity this season, as Gates put it in a press conference Monday, is being able to "physically annihilate" opponents. Barrett obliterated that plan down with the power he took through the lane.

"I'm learning off of every single game, and I'm learning where I can get to my spots and where I can be physical," Barrett said.

Preventing Free and Second-Chance Points

Feb 24, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers players huddle during the first half of a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Mizzou Arena | Sam Simon/MissouriOnSI

What was so crucial to the Volunteers building the early lead they did was dominating the glass. The Tigers grabbed five offensive rebounds while the Volunteers grabbed 14 defensive rebounds. Missouri grabbed nine defensive rebounds compared to 6 offensive rebounds for Tennessee.

"I thought our guys got distracted with the physicality and the non-whistles early," Gates said.

Elite rebounding is a key part of Tennessee's identity. Though the final tally wasn't quite as distant — Tennessee out-rebounded Missouri 42 to 30 — the Volunteers didn't score the points they needed to off of second-chance points, only scoring 20 off of 18 offensive rebounds.

Being able to adjust to the physicality Tennessee showed early in the game was key in limiting that impact.

"They were able to calibrate their senses, so to speak, and understand you're only as physical as the game allows, and stay in the stance, keep your feet on the wood on the ground, and then try to leverage and put your weight back on someone else," Gates said. "Once they got through that shock, they were able to, you know, slowly, and not try to hit home runs. They were able to slowly get back in the game."

Instead, the Tigers were able to took advantage of one of Tennessee's weaknesses, giving up turnovers. Missouri scored 23 points off of 15 Tennessee turnovers. Barrett believed a significant part of that was the peskiness of Anthony Robinson II on defense.

"I think a lot it was Anthony Robinson coming in and applying a lot of pressure, and that kind of just rattles their entire offense," Barrett said. "Then we just kind of play off of that."

Additionaly, while there was some questionable calls in the second half that led to several protests from Gates, the Volunteers didn't have enough opportunities from the free-throw line to make a difference in this close game.

Gates' bar of success from the free-throw line is making more free throws than the other team attempts. The Tigers cleared that bar, shooting 17 for 22 from the line while Tennessee shot 8 for 14.

Role of 3s Proven Vital in Contrasting Halves

Feb 21, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Trent Pierce (11) shoots a three point shot in the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 94-86. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Perimeter shooting isn’t what Missouri’s offense does best this season, but it is still an important complement for everything else in the unit to function. Especially in a game where Tennessee was constantly opening perimeter looks for its lanky perimeter shooters.

In the first half, Missouri missed all nine of their 3-point attempts, while Tennessee shot 5 for 14. Controlling the offensive glass early gave the Volunteers even more insurance to take chances from deep.

A lack of scoring from 3s has been a common theme emerging in losses where Missouri’s offense is stagnant. In a loss against Texas, the Tigers shot 4 for 10 behind the arc. Against Alabama, the Tigers shot 2 for 12 on 3-point shots in a second half where it quickly failed to establish any sort of comeback.

But that flipped for Missouri in the second half, proving to be an important supporting act to the work Mark Mitchell and Barrett did in the paint all night. The Tigers shot 4 for 8 from 3 in the second half, including makes in big moments to extend the lead. Robinson made back-to-back 3s to expand a two-point Missouri lead to eight within less than two minutes.

On the other end, the turnovers Missouri forced were able to prevent Tennessee from the quickness the shooting-happy offense thrived on.