Mizzou defends home court, outlasts Vanderbilt for second SEC win

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou remains flawless on its home floor.

The Tigers (13-3) defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores (13-3) 75-66, maintaining the team's perfect record at home with its 13th consecutive win inside Mizzou Arena.

MU never trailed in this contest, taking control of the game with a 14-2 scoring run to start the first half. During that stretch, head coach Dennis Gates' group connected on four three-pointers, courtesy of four different players. Mizzou assembled a lead as large as 17 points in the first 20 minutes and carried a 41-32 advantage into halftime.

Mark Mitchell brought the lead back to double digits to start the second half, capping off his team's streak of six straight points with one of his six rebounds and a put-back in the paint.

However, MU's 47-34 advantage started to slip away. Vanderbilt rallied to record a 12-2 scoring run to make it a one-score game with less than 13 minutes to play. The Tigers responded by regaining a nine-point lead with back-to-back three-pointers from Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill at the 8:22-mark in the second half, but the Commodores strung together eight straight points to cut their deficit down to 61-60 with a three-pointer from Chris Manon in the final six minutes of the contest.

Mizzou held off Vanderbilt's comeback bid by booking trips to the charity stripe down the stretch, hitting eight free throws to sustain its lead until the final buzzer sounded.

Mark Mitchell (19), Anthony Robinson (15) and Caleb Grill (13) all cracked double figures in this game. Mitchell also tallied seven rebounds, and Robinson added a career-high eight assists, along with a team-best three steals

Coach Gates' group buried 49% of its shots from the floor and finished 10-for-24 from three-point range. MU also out-rebounded Vanderbilt by four boards, led by an 11-rebound performance from Josh Gray over just 19 minutes of game time.

Up next - Mizzou hits the road for Gainesville to face No. 8 Florida on Tuesday, Jan. 14. The Tigers will have their sights set on capturing their third win of SEC play and first conference victory away from Columbia when tipoff arrives at 8 p.m.