When Jeremiah Tilmon poked the ball away from Xavier’s Paul Scruggs, he looked up, saw no one between himself and the Missouri basket, and envisioned himself throwing down a highlight reel dunk. But as the 6-foot-10 center dribbled the length of the floor, Scruggs chased him, and by the time Tilmon reached the free throw line, he saw Scruggs at his hip. So instead of taking another dribble and risking a turnover of his own, Tilmon leapt toward the rim. He extended his right arm forward and flipped the ball into the net with a surprisingly fluid finger-roll.

After the game, Tilmon admitted that when he left the floor, doubt crept into his mind that he could maintain control of the ball and convert the finesse shot.

“I was worried the whole time,” Tilmon said with a smile. “I thought I was gonna miss.”

The play encapsulated a dominant individual performance for Tilmon, which sparked a dominant overall performance for Missouri. The Tigers established Tilmon as an offensive force early in the game, throwing the ball to him in the post on their first offensive possession. Tilmon scored, drew a foul and made the free throw to complete a three-point play. From there, the sophomore continued to make something good happen seemingly every time he touched the ball down low. Tilmon finished the game with a career-high 23 points on 10 of 15 shooting. He also pulled down 10 rebounds for his fifth career double-double. Missouri led by as many as 29 points in the second half and ultimately beat Xavier 71-56.

Xavier head coach Travis Steele described Tilmon as “an absolute load” in the paint. Steele said Tilmon controlled the paint on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. As for the final score, he said the Tigers “beat us like a drum.”

“He’s their best player,” Steele said of Tilmon. “He’s a guy they can really play through in the low post. ... When he’s in the game, he gives them an interior presence like few programs have inside.”

During Missouri’s 11-day break from competition prior to Tuesday’s game, Tilmon said he worked most on establishing a deeper post position and knowing what to do in the face of double-teams. But for much of the game, Xavier guarded Tilmon with a single defender. When Tilmon saw that, he said, scoring became “easy.”

“They always say, like, you should be lucky if a team is double-teaming you,” Tilmon said. “That means they kind of respect you. So if a team is not double-teaming you, then that means they don’t care. They don’t think they need to double-team you, so go get the basket.”

Once Tilmon’s teammates saw that he wasn’t being double-teamed, senior forward Kevin Puryear said, the offensive strategy became simple: Get him the ball.

“When Jeremiah’s playing that way we can definitely play through him,” Puryear said. “… It makes our job a lot easier. We’re feeding him the ball every time he’s open.”

Of course, in order to take advantage of his favorable matchup in the low post, Tilmon had to stay on the floor — something he’s struggled with throughout his college career. Tilmon’s 33 minutes were the second-most the foul-prone center has played all season. Plus, not only did Tilmon pick up just two fouls, he maintained his aggressiveness on the defensive end, something he’s struggled with in the past. Steele identified him as a big part of why Missouri was able to hold Xavier, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the country in two-point field goal percentage at 60.2 percent — to 38.8 percent shooting from the field.

Puryear attributed Tilmon’s lack of fouls to “playing his own game” and not pressing too hard to assert himself. Tilmon agreed.

“I was just letting the game come to me,” Tilmon said. “I was just playing calm and poised. I wasn’t trying to force nothing.”

Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin called Tilmon’s performance his best game in a Missouri uniform. But he also said, based on what he’s seen in practice lately, he wasn’t surprised by the outburst. Martin believes Tilmon’s best basketball is still in front of him.

“He scored 23 points because he’s talented,” Martin said. “Now, when he gets in his mind, ‘I can score 40’ — and not to shoot every ball, shoot bad shots — but that’s a different level, and that’s a different mental approach, and I think once he gets that then he’s a different level of player.”

TURNING POINT: Missouri actually got off to a slow offensive start, going five minutes without a point following Tilmon’s three-point play on the first possession. But then the team went back to Tilmon and he scored down low. Xavier proceeded to turned the ball over on four of its next six possessions, and Missouri took advantage. Puryear hit a three-pointer, Xavier Pinson scored a fastbreak layup, Tilmon had another three-point play, Jordan Geist hit a tough runner, then Tilmon had his steal and coast-to-coast drive. In all, Missouri went on a 17-0 run in a 3:36 span, and the game was never really in doubt from there.

IT WAS OVER WHEN: Geist capped a quick six-to-nothing run in the second half with a transition three-pointer. The bucket gave Missouri a 23-point lead with 12:10 to play.

CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM: As well as Missouri played on offense, its defense was perhaps more impressive. The Tigers absolutely suffocated the Xavier offense, holding a Musketeers team that entered the game shooting 49.8 percent from the floor to 38.8 percent shooting. Missouri also forced 17 turnovers — which helped offset 13 turnovers of its own — and scored 16 points off those turnovers. That’s the kind of defense with which Missouri is going to win games going forward. The Tigers are now 7-0 this season when they turn the ball over fewer times than their opponent.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN: When they met with the media last week, Martin and his players all said a point of emphasis in this matchup would be limiting the Musketeers’ second-chance points. Xavier certainly didn’t dominate Missouri on the offensive glass, but it did pull down eight offensive rebounds and score 10 second-chance points. Honestly, though, we’re nit-picking to find something wrong with that performance.

STOCK UP: Jeremiah Tilmon. Is it redundant to write even more about him? Maybe. But that performance deserves it.

STOCK DOWN: K.J. Santos. Santos actually didn't play Tuesday, and that could be cause for concern. Santos missed the first eight games of the season due to a foot injury, then made his debut last game against Oral Roberts. However, he was back in street clothes for this matchup. Martin said Santos' absence was again related to his foot, but he didn’t elaborate.

UP NEXT: Missouri (6-3, KenPom No. 83) will seek its first win since 2012 over rival Illinois (4-7, KenPom No. 98) in the annual Braggin’ Rights matchup Saturday. The game will tip off at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis at 7:00 p.m.