Jeremiah Tilmon's three-point play with one second left lifted the No. 14 Missouri Tigers to a 54-53 victory over visiting Bradley in a nonleague game on Tuesday night in Columbia, Mo.

Xavier Pinson led the Tigers (6-0) with 15 points, with Tilmon adding 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Elijah Childs scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Braves (6-3), who were bidding for their first nonconference road victory over a top 15 team since 1956.

Jayson Kent scored 11 points after scoring just 11 points in 12 minutes for Bradley previously this season. But he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 10 seconds left to give the Tigers an opportunity to win.

The Braves showed why they are one of the top defensive teams in the county.

They entered the week ranked 29th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 60 points per game. The Braves also ranked seventh in two-point field goal percentage allowed at 36.8 percent.

The Tigers missed their first eight shots of the game, including four from 3-point range. But the Braves made just 1 of 8 attempts from the floor and turned the ball over three times during the first 5:30 of the game.

Pinson's 3-pointer capped a 10-1 run that put the Tigers up 12-5.

Bradley missed 25 of its first 30 shots, including its first 11 attempts from beyond the arc. But the Braves stayed in the game by claiming 13 offensive rebounds and hounding the Tigers into nightmarish offensive struggles of their own.

Missouri led 21-19 at the half despite missing 27 of 34 attempts from the floor, 10 of 12 3-point attempts and 4 of 9 free-throw attempts. Dru Smith missed 4 of 5 shots from the field and sat out the final 3:22 of the half with two fouls.

The Braves scored the six points of the second half to surge ahead 25-21. Pinson stabilized the Tigers with a personal 5-0 spurt and the game's offensive tempo picked up.

Kent hit three consecutive jumpers, including one from 3-point range, to put Bradley up 34-32.

Childs' 3-pointer gave the Braves a 47-42 lead with 5:04 to play, and Ville Tahvanainen's 3-pointer with 3:44 left pushed the margin to eight points.

The Tigers outscored the Braves 12-6 the rest of the way to avoid the upset.

--Field Level Media