Jeremiah Tilmon’s career day powered the Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in a 81-68 Mizzou victory. The senior center poured in 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds against the undermanned Razorbacks’ frontcourt to deliver Mizzou’s first win in Fayetteville since 2015.
The Tigers (7-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) evened their league record following Wednesday’s 20-point loss to No. 7 Tennessee. The loss was the first of the year for Arkansas (9-1, 1-1).
Mizzou point guard Xavier Pinson bounced back from his rough outing against Tennessee, giving the Tigers 23 points. Mark Smith struggled with turnovers — he had eight of MU’s 21 giveaways — but added 11 points and nine rebounds and finally broke out of his 3-point shooting slump with two timely shots from deep.
Arkansas was missing graduate transfer forward Justin Smith, a pregame scratch with an ankle injury, and the Tigers feasted inside, outscoring Arkansas in the paint 34-22. The Tigers made 16 of 24 dunks and layups, compared to just 8 of 30 from Arkansas.
Mizzou built an 18-point lead with 3:24 left, but during the game’s final media timeout, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was ejected after picking up two technical fouls. His team responded with an 8-0 flurry to cut the lead to 10, but Mark Smith squelched the rally with a corner 3-pointer. Next, Mizzou travels to Mississippi State Tuesday at 8:00 on KTUF.