Missouri downs UT-Arlington 65-45

Jeremiah Tilmon posted 10 points and 12 rebounds – his second double-double this season – to lead Missouri to a 65-45 victory over UT-Arlington on Tuesday night.

The 6-foot-10 Tilmon took advantage of an undersized UTA frontcourt. The tallest players in the Mavericks’ starting lineup – Andres Ibarguen and Patrick Mwamba – are each 6-foot-5. The sophomore forward has been heating up, and has now scored double-digits in each of his last three contests.

Missouri freshman Torrence Watson added a season-high 12 points. Watson made three of his six 3-point attempts. He entered the game shooting just 27.6 percent from beyond the arc.

The Tigers came into the contest shooting 38.2 percent from 3, tops in the Southeastern Conference. Missouri (5-3) shot 9-for-25 from 3-point range against the Mavericks, who entered the game holding opponents to just 27.2 percent from beyond the arc.

UTA (3-6) struggled all game to establish offensive flow. They turned the ball over 21 times and shot 39 percent from the field. Ibarguen led UTA with nine points.

Missouri finished shooting 44 percent. The team’s leading scorer for the season – Jordan Geist – added nine points and team-leading three assists.

The Mavericks return just 3.2 percent of their points from last season, the least amount of production in college basketball. UTA’s nonconference schedule is also filled with power-conference opponents, including Indiana, Arkansas, Missouri, No. 1 Gonzaga and Texas.

BIG PICTURE

UT Arlington: The Mavericks lost their top nine scorers from last year and continue to rebuild under first-year coach Chris Ogden. UTA has now lost five games in a row for the first time since 2013-14.

Missouri: After starting the season 3-3, the Tigers have won two in a row – with a chance to make it three on Friday – ahead of nonconference matchups with Xavier and Illinois.

UP NEXT

UT Arlington will stay on the road to play North Texas on Saturday.

Missouri faces Oral Roberts at home Friday.