Thirty-five seconds was all Jeremiah Tilmon required to show what he had in store for TCU on Saturday. On Missouri’s first possession, the Tigers’ big man rolled hard to the rim, jumped from the left block, and reached aloft to mash down Xavier Pinson’s high-arching lob. If not for Kevin Samuel backing into the senior, a highlight-reel day might have started with a crescendo.
Instead, it was one of the few plays Tilmon, who poured in a career-high 33 points on 13 of 16 shooting, couldn’t pull off. Granting relief is easy, though, to a veteran who convened a masterclass of low-post play in the Tigers’ 102-98 overtime victory against the Horned Frogs.