Swain's Second Half Surge Lifts Texas Past Missouri 85-68
Dallas-area product Dailyn Swain scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime as Texas pulled away from Missouri in Columbia for their fourth straight victory.
Dailyn Swain turned a tight halftime battle into a commanding Texas victory, scoring 18 of his 25 points after the break as the Longhorns defeated Missouri 85-68 Saturday night at Mizzou Arena.
Texas (16-9, 7-5 SEC) has now won four straight games and five of their last six, with Swain’s second-half explosion providing the spark that broke open a deadlocked contest.
Matas Vokietaitis delivered a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Jordan Pope contributed 15 points, 12 coming in the decisive second half.
The game remained knotted at 41-41 with 14:39 remaining when Missouri’s Nicholas Randall threw down a put-back dunk following a missed T.O. Barrett layup. Texas responded immediately as Tramon Mark converted a three-point play, followed by Pope’s 3-pointer two minutes later that gave the Longhorns a six-point advantage they would never relinquish.
Vokietaitis made two free throws to ignite an 8-1 Texas run that stretched the lead to 59-48 with 9:09 left, effectively putting the game away.
Missouri (17-8, 7-5) got 16 points each from Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone but couldn’t match Texas’ second-half intensity.
The game featured aggressive play from both sides, with officials calling 41 personal fouls. Texas capitalized on the whistles, converting 21 of 23 free throws (91 percent) compared to Missouri’s 26 of 38 (68 percent).
Texas dominated in the paint, outscoring Missouri 40-28 in that area. The Tigers entered the contest outscoring SEC opponents in the paint by an average of 10.4 points, the second-best margin in the conference.
Both Mitchell and Swain entered Saturday as the only SEC players – and two of just 11 nationally – with at least 400 points, 130 rebounds and 80 assists this season.
Tipoff was delayed approximately 20 minutes due to the late arrival of an official after traffic was disrupted by a vehicle collision. Despite the delay, Missouri fans filled the 15,061-seat Mizzou Arena for the program’s first sellout of the season.
Texas returns home to host LSU on Tuesday, while Missouri faces No. 19 Vanderbilt at home Wednesday.