Tennessee showed it could win without Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milici Jr. in its rout of Florida four days ago. Wednesday, it showed how its ceiling is with them back in the lineup.

Missouri looked on the cusp of pulling away early in the second half at Food City Center before Zeigler and Milicic took over in bunches, headlining the No. 4 Vols' most impressive shooting performance since SEC play began in a 85-81 triumph over the No. 15 Tigers.

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The performance came just over a week after Tennessee was unable to match Kentucky's three-point shooting in a rare home defeat. This time, the Vols (19-4, 6-4 SEC) were able to match Missouri (16-7, 6-3) step-for-step after the Tigers led by as much as 11 in the first few minutes of the second half.

Zeigler and Milicic paced Tennessee in scoring with 21 points each in their return to the lineup, while Felix Okpara scored 12 and Chaz Lanier finished with 10.

The Vols 50% from the field and 66.7% from three-point range. They shared the ball, too, totaling 21 assists.

Milicic led the team in rebounding with 10 to complete the double-double. Tennessee out-rebounded the Tigers, 38-30 and out-scored them in the paint, 34-18.

Missouri was 42.9% from the field and were led by Tamar Bates, who tallied 22 points.

Zakai Zeigler had an expected warm reception when he was announced in the Tennessee starting lineup after missing the Florida game with a knee injury four days before. Then he laced a 3-pointer on the Vols' first possession.

That shot didn't exactly open the flood gates for Tennessee offensively in the early-going of the first half, but it hardly mattered with the way the Vols were playing on the defensive end.

Tennessee caused all kinds of fits for Missouri, which entered as one of the top scoring teams in the SEC, holding the Tigers scoreless for the first five-plus minutes. Tony Perkins eventually got Missouri on the board with a three to trim the Vols' lead to 5-3.

Tennessee's empty possessions with the lead while the Tigers were unable to score caught up with it. Caleb Grill scored to draw Missouri even, then another Perkins 3-pointer put the Tigers in front for the first time, 8-5 with 12 minutes left in the first half.

Perkins' third connection from deep to answer a score from Chaz Lanier stretched the Missouri lead to 13-7, shades of the Vols' loss to Kentucky one week before.

Those comparisons were magnified when Grill added another three out of a Tigers' timeout that opened up a 16-9 lead inside of 10 minutes remaining in he half.

Igor Milicic Jr. provided Tennessee with a much-needed answer--a 3-pointer that pulled it within four. He followed it up with a turnaround jumper on the Vols' next offensive possession to get back within four at 18-14.

Jahmai Mashack, left open at the top of the arc, uncorked a shot that appeared off the mark, but it bounced high off the back of the iron and fell through to again keep Tennessee within a possession.

The problem for the Vols were giving up long offensive rebounds when Missouri did miss and seven turnovers in the first 13 minutes.

Two sequences that interrupted the Tigers' momentum was a lob pass on the inbound that Cade Phillips brought down emphatically and a defensive board that ended in Milicic driving into wide open lane and scoring to cut Tennessee's deficit to two.

But Missouri rattled off a 7-0 run that resulted in its largest lead of the half after Marques Warrick hit the Tigers' sixth 3-pointer to pull ahead 31-20 and force Rick Barnes into a Vols' timeout with 3:29 to go before the intermission.

That timeout proved worthwhile. Tennessee strung together a run of its own, out-scoring Missouri, 7-4 over the last three minutes of the half. But the Tigers went into the break with a 34-28 edge.

Tamar Bates opened the second half with a corner three to extend that edge. The Vols' second offensive possession of the half ended in another missed shot and Tigers rebound, leading to Mashack getting whistled for a foul on a three-point attempt from Perkins.

Perkins hit two of three and Missouri was up double-digits less than two minutes into the half, 39-28.

The Tigers continued to have an answer to everything Tennessee threw at them in those first few minutes, but a 6-0 run changed that. It started with a two-straight scores from Zeigler. Milicic tipped in a missed shot to inch closer, then he buried a 3-pointer that was followed up by another from Zeigler to even the score at 43-43 with 15:37 to go.

Jordan Gainey, fresh off of the bench out of a timeout, knocked down a three from the corner to give the Vols the lead, 46-44.

The back-and-forth continued, but Tennessee couldn't miss. Lanier hit a couple of threes and Zeigler laced another to put the Vols out in front, 59-53. Missouri tried to quell the shooting barrage with a timeout with 11:41 remaining.

The short break slowed Tennessee down, but only for a minute. The Tigers pulled within three before the Vols responded to go back up seven with inside of nine minutes left.

It looked like Missouri was never going to recover from Tennessee's surge. The Vols put on an offensive clinic, turning what looked like a tug-of-war that was going to go into the final minute into a comfortable closing act.

And it just wasn't just Tennessee's shooting that caused the turnaround. The defense clamped down on Missouri, too, holding the Tigers without a field goal for more than six minutes.

Bates ended that drought with a three that brought Missouri within 10. A transition layup for T.O. Barrett trimmed the Vols' lead to eight as the clock ticked inside of three minutes. It was part of a 9-0 run that brought the Tigers within five, 75-70 with 1:40 left.

It settled into a free throw shooting contest after that and given Tennessee's lead, that was enough to put it away in the final minute.

Tennessee's run of match ups against ranked teams ended at five games, but it has to go on the road for the first time in two weeks Saturday.

The Vols play at Oklahoma in the first meeting between the two teams as SEC foes at Lloyd Noble Center at Noon ET on ESPN in the first of four road contests that Tennessee will play in its next five games.

The Sooners were among the last undefeated teams in college basketball before league play began in January and have spent time in both major polls, but conference play has brought mixed results.

Oklahoma (16-6, 3-6) is coming off of a 98-70 loss at No. 1 Auburn on Tuesday.

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