Dailyn Swain poured in 25 points as Texas pulled away from Missouri 85-68 on Saturday night in Columbia, Mo., for its fourth straight victory.
Matas Vokietaitis scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (16-9, 6-5 Southeastern Conference), who outscored the Tigers 52-37 in the second half. Jordan Pope added a total of 15 points as Texas improved its NCAA Tournament credentials.
Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone each scored 16 points and Anthony Robinson II added 11 for the Tigers (17-8, 7-5), who suffered just their second loss in 15 games at home.
The foul-plagued game was played at a ponderous pace. While Texas made 21 of 23 free throws, Missouri missed 12 of 38 from the line.
The Tigers moved out to an early 12-7 lead spurred by Stone, who hit a 3-point jumper and drove for a dunk, and Mitchell, who scored twice inside.
Simeon Wilcher stopped that run with a 3-pointer for the Longhorns, who eventually pulled ahead 19-18 with 7 minutes left in the first half on Nic Codie’s three-point play in the lane.
The teams exchanged leads for the rest of the half. With 1.9 seconds left, Tramon Mark converted a three-point play in the lane to put Texas up 33-31 at the break.
With Missouri starting center Shawn Phillips Jr. limited to seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Texas grabbed eight offensive rebounds and outscored the Tigers 22-14 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
Swain hit a short jumper to put Texas up 41-37 with 15:44 left to play, then Nicholas Randall pulled the Tigers even with a pair of dunks.
The Longhorns responded with a 16-6 run, triggered by Mark’s three-point play, to move ahead 57-47 with 10:11 left to play.
Missouri cut its deficit to seven points, but Texas pushed its lead to 67-55 with 7:05 left with Pope and Swain hitting 3-point jumpers on consecutive possessions.
The Tigers got no closer than eight points during the rest of the game. Swain’s 3-point jumper with 2:26 left extended the lead to 80-66 and iced the game.
–Field Level Media
