COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball downed Western Illinois, 71-68, in a tight battle on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena. Mizzou (5-2) used clutch free throws and defensive stops in the final minute to prevail over the Leathernecks, who made 11 three-pointers in the contest.

Sophomore Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) tallied 13 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots. She has three double-doubles this season and has reached double figures in all seven of Mizzou’s games so far in 2016-17. Do-it-all sophomore Sophie Cunningham recorded a double-double of her own with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Cunningham scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half to lead Mizzou to a victory.

Freshman Jordan Chavis (Lexington, N.C.) recorded 11 points for her third double-digit performance in the last four games. She also matched her career-high with four rebounds. Chavis accounted for 11 of Mizzou’s 21 bench points and hit three 3-pointers. The freshman has made 12 treys this season.

Porter and Chavis sparked the Mizzou offense in the second quarter, engineering a 10-0 run that gave the Tigers a 29-24 advantage. After back-to-back buckets down low by Porter, Chavis gave Mizzou its first lead of the frame after sinking her second three-pointer. Western Illinois responded to the momentum swing and clawed back to tie it at 31-31, but Chavis drilled another long ball with eight seconds remaining to give Mizzou a 34-31 edge at halftime.

It was a back-and-forth contest throughout the second half as the lead changed 12 times in the final 20 minutes of play. A last-second layup by Cunningham handed Mizzou a 53-52 lead at the end of the third quarter. The sophomore guard went for 5-for-10 from the floor in the second half.

The fourth quarter remained tight as the score was even at 68-68 with 1:17 remaining. Cunningham drew a foul on the Tigers’ ensuing possession to garner two free throws. She drained them both to put Mizzou ahead, 70-68. Redshirt senior guard Lianna Doty (St. Louis, Mo.) came up with the big defensive play on the other end, forcing a Western Illinois turnover. Doty finished with seven assists, five rebounds and five steals in 26 solid minutes.

Cunningham added another free throw to give Mizzou a three-point lead and the Tigers sealed its fifth win of the season with one more defensive stop.

Mizzou finishes a two-game home stand when it hosts Missouri State on Friday at Mizzou Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

— MU Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Cole had 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and Pablo Rivas scored 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting to help North Carolina Central defeat Missouri 62-52 on Monday night.

North Carolina Central (4-2), a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, never trailed and led 24-20 at halftime. The Eagles seemed to stymie any momentum Missouri could muster over the course of its stagnant offensive performance.

It was the Tigers’ lowest scoring output since losing to then-No. 13 Arizona on Dec. 13, 2015.

Terrence Phillips led Missouri (3-3) with 17 points despite playing only 21 minutes due to foul trouble. The Tigers made 17 of 68 field-goal attempts, shooting 17.1 percent in the first half.

Phillips hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, but the Eagles answered with an 8-0 run and maintained momentum for the duration of the half. Missouri trailed 54-50 with 1:38 remaining, but the Eagles closed on an 8-2 run.

BIG PICTURE

North Carolina Central: Missouri was one of two Power 5 schools on the Eagles’ schedule. Ohio State defeated the Eagles 69-63 on Nov. 14 in Columbus. NC Central opens conference play at home against Maryland Eastern Shore on Jan. 7.

Missouri: The Tigers have struggled with slow starts this season. Missouri trailed No. 7 Xavier 9-3 early before an eventual one-point overtime loss and trailed Northwestern State 14-9 before pulling away to an 84-60 win. The Tigers also defeated Tulane 67-62 on Nov. 20 despite trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half.

UP NEXT

NC Central hosts Southern Wesleyan Thursday.

Missouri hosts Western Kentucky on Saturday in the first meeting between the schools.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri junior defensive end Marcell Frazier (Portland, Ore.) has been named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week, as announced today by the league office.  Frazier was awarded for his outstanding play in last Friday’s 28-24 victory over Arkansas, as he made numerous key plays that sparked Mizzou’s win to close the 2016 season.

Frazier ended the day with four tackles (42 yards in losses) – with all of them coming behind the line of scrimmage, including three sacks (35 yards).  His last sack was the game clincher, as he wrapped up Arkansas QB Austin Allen for a 17-yard loss on 4th-and-goal from the Mizzou 20-yardline with the Razorbacks in striking distance in the final minute of play.  That sack turned the ball over to Mizzou, and the Tiger offense killed the clock to claim the come-from-behind win.

Frazier and his defensive teammates pitched a second-half shutout against the potent Arkansas offense, and that allowed the Tiger offense to put together a rally that saw Mizzou overcome a 24-7 halftime deficit.  The 17-point halftime deficit was the largest overcome for a victory in program history.

Frazier added a quarterback pressure on the day and he also drew a holding penalty against the Razorbacks in the fourth quarter due to his constant presence in the backfield.  The junior end turned in his most productive season as a Tiger, ending the 2016 campaign with career highs in tackles (33), tackles for loss (8.5 for 68 yards), QB sacks (7.5 for 61 yards), QB pressures (4) and fumble recoveries (2).  He finished the season with a flourish, notching 7.5 of his TFLs and 6.5 of his QB sacks in the final three games against Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Arkansas.  His 7.5 sacks ranks him 9th in the SEC for the season.

Frazier is the second Tiger defensive lineman to win the league’s weekly award in 2016, as he joins fellow junior Charles Harris, who won the honor after Mizzou defeated Vanderbilt on Nov. 12.  He’s the third Tiger overall to receive weekly league honors this year, as freshman WR Johnathan Johnson won SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 10.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Volleyball gathered at the Clinton Club inside Mizzou Arena on Sunday, Nov. 27, and learned its 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament destination.

The Tigers received the No. 15 national seed and will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 1 and Friday, Dec. 2. Joining Mizzou at the Hearnes Center will be Northern Illinois, Purdue and Iowa State.

The Tigers will square off against Northern Illinois in their opening round matchup on Thursday evening. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CT). Purdue and Iowa State will meet in the other first round contest with first serve set for 4:30 p.m. (CT).

Thursday evening’s pair of winners will meet on Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) for the chance to move onto the Sweet 16.

Mizzou’s 2016 NCAA Tournament appearance marks its 13th trip to postseason play since 2000. The Tigers have made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years, as they reached the second round in 2015.

Under 2016 SEC Coach of the Year Wayne Kreklow, Mizzou enjoyed an outstanding regular season with a 25-5 overall record and 16-2 mark in conference play. On Saturday, Nov. 26, the Tigers tallied a 3-0 sweep over Tennessee, clinching their second SEC Championship in the past four seasons.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri coach Barry Odom got a much-needed gift on the eve of his 40th birthday.

Drew Lock completed 16 of 26 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown, and Missouri scored 21 unanswered second-half points in a 28-24 victory over Arkansas 28-24 on Friday.

Missouri (4-8, 2-6 Southeastern Conference) has faced a number of off-field issues in recent weeks, including the arrest and suspension of leading rusher Damarea Crockett, and the firing of defensive line coach Jackie Shipp.

Odom discussed the impact of a win following such circumstances.

“I’m tremendously proud of our seniors and this team to finish the way that they did,” Odom said. “We learned a lot about ourselves, we learned a lot about this team, and I’m proud that our seniors were able to walk out of there with a win against a pretty good football team.”

Austin Allen led Arkansas on a 10-play drive on its final possession, but he was hurried on fourth-and-goal from the 20 and was whistled for intentional grounding.

“We knew we weren’t that far off,” Odom said. “We knew if we could go execute just to try to battle to get back in the game a little bit … just asked them to try to get it in the fourth. If we could do that, then you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

J’Mon Moore caught six passes for 135 yards, becoming the only 1,000-yard receiver this season for Missouri. Moore was also credited with a rushing touchdown after picking up a ball that running back Ish Witter dropped prior to crossing the goal line.

Witter had just five carries for 12 yards, but an early injury gave way to Nate Strong as the primary ball carrier. Strong finished with 17 carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 12:48 remaining.

Allen was 24 of 39 for 348 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for Arkansas (7-5, 3-5). Drew Morgan had six catches for 54 yards, and Keon Hatcher caught three passes for 105 yards.

“I think the thing that was very, very obvious was the tale of two halves,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. “We didn’t match the intensity that we needed to in the second half to get this win.”

Arkansas took a 7-0 lead in the first minute after a 66-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage set up a 1-yard touchdown by Rawleigh Williams. By halftime, the Razorbacks led 24-7 and had outgained Missouri by nearly 200 yards.

SENIOR DAY

Missouri honored 17 seniors during pre-game ceremonies, including cornerback Aarion Penton, who had six tackles, two pass breakups and an interception in the end zone with 4:02 seconds remaining.

Linebacker Donavin Newsom, normally No. 25, wore No. 30 in honor of linebacker Michael Scherer, who led the Tigers in tackles before suffering a season-ending knee injury in a 51-45 loss to Middle Tennessee Oct. 22. Newsom added two tackles, one sack and a pass deflection.

TAKEAWAYS

Arkansas: In the first half, Williams rushed 12 times for 68 yards and a touchdown, and Whaley had eight carries for 54 yards and a score. In the second half, the two were held to 49 yards. After converting 7 of 10 third-down attempts in the first half, the Razorbacks were 2 of 7 on third down in the second half.

Missouri: The Tigers struggled defensively in the first half, surrendering 318 total yards. In the second half, Missouri had six tackles for a loss and forced two interceptions in the red zone, one of which set up a touchdown. The Tigers finished with 11 tackles for loss and four sacks.

UP NEXT

Arkansas will await bowl selection, marking the third consecutive season the Razorbacks have attained bowl eligibility. They defeated Kansas State 45-23 in the 2016 Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2.

Missouri’s 2016 season is over.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri says it is reviewing allegations of possible academic rules violations made by a former tutor in the athletic department.

The university released a statement Tuesday saying the violations were brought by a tutor who worked in the Athletics Academic Services. Missouri says it has also notified the NCAA, which is working with the school on the investigation.

The release did not reveal what the allegations are or which teams might be involved.

Director of athletics Jim Sterk says the university’s “mission is to uphold the highest standard of academic performance and ensure the proper conduct with all of our programs.”

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Freshman Jordan Chavis (Lexington, N.C.) came off the bench to hit five three-pointers and score a career-high 17 points, as Mizzou Women’s Basketball rolled to a 77-48 win over Indiana State on Tuesday night at Mizzou Arena. Chavis tallied 13 of her game-high 17 in the second half to lead four Tigers in double figures, helping Mizzou (3-1) win its 26th consecutive non-conference home game.

Sophomore forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) tallied 16 points and four rebounds, sophomore guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) scored 15 points, and freshman forward Hannah Schuchts (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 10 points. Cunningham and Schuchts each pulled down a game-high-tying six rebounds, and Cunningham led all players with four assists.

The Tigers dominated from the outset, scoring the first 14 points of the game. Mizzou held the Sycamores (2-2) scoreless for the first 4:50, and without a field goal until their ninth shot fell with 4:05 left in the quarter. Buoyed by six points each from Sophie Cunningham and freshman guard Amber Smith (Shreveport, La.), the Tigers cruised to a 20-6 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Porter took over offensively in the second quarter, boosting the Mizzou lead to 16 on a 3-point play with 6:15 left in the half. After ISU slowly chipped away, Porter hit back-to-back long-range jumpers – the second a 3-pointer – to extend the lead to 31-16. The Tigers would maintain that 15-point lead at halftime, 34-19. Porter tallied a game-high 12 points in the first half, while Cunningham added five rebounds.

The Sycamores were able to close the lead to as low as eight points with 6:04 left in the third quarter. Mizzou responded with a 13-0 run, and would lead by at least 20 the rest of the way.

The Tigers continued their stellar free-throw shooting as a team, canning 27-of-28 charity tosses (96.4 percent) – a mark that is the third-best single-game free-throw percentage in school history. Mizzou came into the game shooting a SEC-best 78.3 percent from the line.

Mizzou will celebrate the Thanksgiving weekend in the Bahamas by playing in the Junkanoo Jam. The Tigers tip off Friday at 4:15 p.m. CT against Creighton, then cap their trip Saturday afternoon against either Dayton or Georgia Tech.

— Mizzou Athletics —

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — K.J. Walton scored 20 points and Frankie Hughes added 14 points as Missouri rallied to beat Tulane 67-62 at the Tire Pros Invitational.

Kevin Puryear scored 11 points for the Tigers (2-2), who claimed seventh-place in the tournament.

“I’m glad for our team that we finally experienced some success at this tournament,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. “I think maybe we had a little doubt in our minds today and the only way I know to cure that is to play with effort and intensity. We challenged them to do that and they responded.”

Tulane (1-4) got 18 points from Cameron Reynolds and 10 apiece from Malik Morgan and Kaiin Harris, but lost for the third straight time.

“This was a tale of two halves for us,” Tulane coach Mike Dunleavy said. “I thought we did a really nice job with their dribble penetration in the first half. Then they just took it to us in the second half, got to the free throw line a bunch and scored 40 points in the paint on us. It’s hard to survive that number.”

Puryear and Walton, who had two points each in the first half, woke up a stagnant Missouri offense at the start of the second half. They combined for 27 points after halftime.

Puryear scored nine of his team’s first 11 points of the second half with some strong post-up moves to cut the 10-point halftime deficit to just 36-33 with 15:50 left. A few minutes later, Walton came off the bench and scored 11 points in a 15-3 run to give Missouri a 51-46 lead.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri desperately needed this win. The Tigers looked uninspired in the first half, but showed a lot of fight and energy in the final 20 minutes. Tulane was just as desperate, but expectations for the Green Wave aren’t nearly as high as they are for the Tigers. Tulane led most of the game and had an opportunity to steal a win at the end.

AT THE LINE

Missouri didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half, but went 13 of 16 in the second half.

“Us not shooting a free throw in the first half is not a criticism of the officials, we just weren’t taking the ball strong to the basket,” Anderson said. “We didn’t abandon the perimeter game in the second half, but we wanted to get the ball to the basket as much as possible and it showed.”

WRONG DIRECTION

Missouri allowed opponents to shoot progressively better in each of its first three games before halting the run against Tulane. The Tigers limited Tulane to 33.3 percent for the game, after allowing Davidson to shoot 44.4 percent in its last game.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY

Tulane’s 32-22 halftime lead was the first time the Green Wave has led at the half in three games in the tournament. The advantage didn’t last.

UP NEXT

Tulane travels to Georgia Tech Saturday.

Missouri will host Northwestern State Saturday.

— Associated Press —

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs made his final home game one to remember.

Not even having his team knocked out of the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division race could ruin his day.

Dobbs threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores — including a career-long 70-yarder — as Tennessee won a 63-37 shootout with Missouri on Saturday.

“I definitely had a blast,” Dobbs said. “It’s not really an end. We obviously still have a couple of games left, but it’s an enjoyable opportunity and I definitely enjoyed it tonight.”

Tennessee’s hopes of reaching the SEC championship game vanished when No. 21 Florida upset No. 16 LSU 16-10 earlier Saturday to clinch its second straight SEC East title.

“There’s still a lot to play for,” Dobbs said. “Our legacy’s on the line, how we want to leave Tennessee.”

Dobbs was 15 of 22 for 223 yards Saturday with two touchdown passes to Jauan Jennings and one to Josh Malone. He rushed for a career-high 190 yards on just 10 carries. He even helped lead Tennessee’s Pride of the Southland band after the game.

It was an impressive farewell to Neyland Stadium for a guy who has served as the face of Tennessee’s program while balancing his quarterback responsibilities with his academic demands as an aerospace engineering major.

“I’m not very political, but he could be the president of the United States if he wanted to,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said.

The Vols (8-3, 4-3 SEC) won despite allowing 740 yards in total offense, the highest single-game total ever by a Tennessee opponent. Troy gained 721 yards in a 55-48 loss to Tennessee in 2012.

Damarea Crockett rushed for 225 yards and Ish Witter gained 163 yards to lead a 420-yard rushing attack for Missouri (3-8, 1-6). The Tigers gained 600-plus total yards for the fourth time this season.

“Offensively that’s a pretty good day,” Missouri coach Barry Odom said. “I didn’t have enough answers defensively to put us there to win it.”

Crockett had the second-highest single-game rushing total ever by a Tennessee opponent. Mississippi’s Dexter McCluster rushed for 282 yards against Tennessee in 2009.

Tennessee’s John Kelly rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown. Alvin Kamara ran for 55 yards and two scores.

The Vols were clinging to a 35-30 lead when Dobbs made a move around Missouri’s Thomas Wilson at the line of scrimmage and raced for a 70-yard touchdown with 13:20 remaining.

Tennessee took command from there.

THE TAKEAWAY

Missouri: The Tigers’ season-long kicking woes hurt them again Saturday.

Missouri missed an extra-point attempt for the fifth time this season at the end of the Tigers’ first series. Missouri also had gone 5 of 12 on field-goal attempts this season before Saturday.

The Tigers’ kicking game has struggled so much that they decided to go for it rather than attempting a field goal while facing fourth-and-12 from the Tennessee 20 early in the second quarter. After Missouri was penalized for a false start, the Tigers still kept their offense on the field to try converting the first down on fourth-and-17 from the 25. The drive ended with an incomplete pass.

Tennessee: The Vols’ defense remains extremely vulnerable, particularly against the run. Missouri put up huge numbers against Tennessee one week after the Vols allowed 443 yards rushing in a 49-36 victory over Kentucky. Tennessee also gave up 353 yards rushing to Texas A&M and 409 to Alabama this season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

This win could help Tennessee get back into the Top 25. The Vols, who have been ranked as high as ninth this year, fell out of the rankings after an Oct. 29 loss at South Carolina. Tennessee was fourth in the “also receiving votes” section of the AP poll this week but was 19th in the College Football Playoff rankings.

KEY STATS

Tennessee has won three straight games and has scored over 40 points in all of them. This marks the first time since 1995 that the Volunteers have scored 40-plus points in three consecutive games. … Crockett now has rushed for 1,062 yards this season, the most ever by a Missouri freshman.

UP NEXT

Missouri hosts Arkansas on Friday.

Tennessee is at Vanderbilt on Saturday.

— Associated Press —