Trash talk, half-court heaves and ‘basketball gods’: How Mizzou upset No. 6 Tennessee

Before DeAndre Gholston hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the Thompson-Boling Arena midcourt logo to stun Tennessee 86-85, he and Sean East had gotten in trouble. The two had previously been chucking up half-court prayers before games, and it aggravated members of Dennis Gates’ staff.

“They thought we were too relaxed or not taking it serious,” East said after the game. “But we just really do it just to have a little fun before the game and get our juices flowing.”

His staffers might have been upset by the pregame heaves, but Gates himself wasn’t. He understood what his players were trying to do.

And with Gholston making his second game-winning three of the season after the first came against Central Florida on Dec. 17, he can’t argue with the results.

“You want to let young people be young people because you never know,” Gates said. “They know something, right? And you want to put them in situations where they’re successful, but those guys doing that either relieves stress — or they’re practicing a shot.”

It was fortunate that Missouri was even in the situation to begin with. With 4.2 seconds left, Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi, a career 79.8% free-throw shooter entering Saturday’s game, prepared to shoot two and seal MU’s demise.

When Vescovi came to the line earlier in the game, East had thrown some trash talk his way, telling the Volunteer guard he was going to miss one, since he had missed in a loss to Vanderbilt on Wednesday. Vescovi nailed those, but before his final tries, East was at it again.

“I said, ‘He’s gonna miss one. He just missed last game. He’s thinking about it,’” East said. “And he gave us one.”

Vescovi missed the first shot. Then, with the chance to go up three, Tennessee committed a lane violation that Gates credited to the “basketball gods,” resulting in possession for the Tigers under their own basket.

Gholston got the ball, and the plan was for him to either take the shot himself or get it to East.

East was never getting the ball, though. Gholston’s eyes never left the rim, and he sunk the buzzer-beater before being mobbed by the rest of the Tigers.

Considering the earlier shot against UCF, there’s a pattern developing for Gholston. According to the transfer from Milwaukee, it started back his freshman year of high school.

A senior had passed him the ball with a chance to win a game, and the young guard missed the shot.

“I was hurting (for) about two weeks,” Gholston said. “So every single day I kind of just told myself to always be fearless in that situation and be confident. And it worked out.”

The shot continued a tough stretch for the Volunteers, who also got beat on a Vanderbilt buzzer-beater Tuesday. For Missouri, it marked a new milestone for Gates’ rebuild of the Tigers: a Quad 1 win on the road.

The Tigers had been out to a 17-point lead at one point, but Tennessee recuperated and responded in the second half, taking up residence at the free throw line and regaining the lead. Two of Missouri’s top contributors, Mo Diarra and D’Moi Hodge, fouled out, and Kobe Brown was playing with four.

The absences opened up minutes for Mabor Majak, who had only played in five total games before Saturday. Majak played solid defense, had a block and a made free throw against the Volunteers, joining the ranks of Tigers, including Diarra and Isiaih Mosley (who missed the game), who started the season largely absent but grew to contribute.

“He’s been working,” East said of Majak. “He’s been telling coach he’s ready and he’s been working every day in practice, showing up early. And I mean, he deserves it man, and he’s gonna get some more minutes. He plays his balls off.”

With the win, the Tigers earned their second SEC road victory of the season. They’ll face Auburn on the road next in a game scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN2.

This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Trash talk, half-court heaves and ‘basketball gods’: How Mizzou upset No. 6 Tennessee."