Santiago Vescovi led a balanced offense with 15 points as No. 7 Tennessee rolled to a 73-53 victory over No. 12 Missouri on Wednesday in Columbia, Mo.

The Volunteers (7-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) dominated from start to finish in the league opener for both teams.

Yves Pons scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds, made two steals and blocked four shots for Tennessee. Pons, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year, has 84 blocked shots in his past 38 games.

Jaden Springer scored 13 points for the Volunteers, and John Fulkerson added 11.

Xavier Pinson led the Tigers (6-1, 0-1) with 11 points.

The Volunteers, the preseason favorite to win the SEC, have won four straight games against the Tigers overall and three consecutive games at Mizzou Arena.

Tennessee came into the game leading NCAA Division I in scoring defense at 52.7 points allowed per game. Their plus-7.5 turnover margin ranked eighth in the country and their plus-28.2 scoring margin ranked sixth.

From the opening tip, the Volunteers showed the Tigers how they earned those terrific defensive numbers. They blocked five shots, forced 21 turnovers and held Missouri to 16-for-44 shooting from the floor (36.4 percent) -- including 3-for-16 from 3-point range.

Tennessee shot 50 percent overall and made 5 of 7 attempts from 3-point range.

The Volunteers raced to a quick 23-4 lead triggered by Vescovi's early steal and 3-point jumper. They hit their first seven shots from the floor with five different players scoring.

Meanwhile, the Tigers struggled through a 2-for-10 start from the floor. They missed their first four shots from 3-point range and they turned the ball over four times in the first eight minutes.

The Tigers finally snapped out of their offensive funk with a 6-1 run, started by back-to-back drives to the basket by Kobe Brown.

However, the Volunteers responded by with a 7-1 burst to push their lead to 31-13 and reaffirm their control of the game.

Tennessee shot 54 percent from the floor and grabbed five offensive rebounds during the first half to take a 38-25 lead into the break.

The Volunteers came out flying in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 7-2 in the first 1:28 to keep rolling toward their lopsided victory. Vescovi was the catalyst again, hitting two jumpers, one from 3-point range.

--Field Level Media