Florida 83, Missouri 52
GAINESVILLE -- Erik Murphy led four players in double-figures with 15 points, lifting No. 10 Florida to an 83-52 win over No. 17 Missouri at the O'Connell Center.
Kenny Boynton added 14 points for the Gators (14-2, 4-0 SEC). Scottie Wilbekin had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists and Will Yeguete had 13 points off the bench helping the Gators win their sixth straight win.
The win also was Florida coach Billy Donovan's 400th at Florida. Donovan is 435-180 overall and 400-160 in 17 seasons at Florida.
Jabari Brown led Missouri (13-4, 2-2 SEC) with 16 points. Kion Bell added 14 points before leaving the game with a leg injury in the second half.
Playing its second game in less than 36 hours (Florida played at Texas A&M on Thursday night), Florida came out with great energy before a sellout crowd. The Gators jumped to an early 9-0 lead, with four players scoring Florida's first nine points.
A runner from Mike Rosario extended Florida's lead to 15-2. Boynton and Rosario followed with back-to-back breakaway buckets to put the Gators in front, 19-5. Florida held Missouri to just five points through the first seven minutes of the game.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Murphy and freshman Michael Frazier II gave the Gators their biggest lead of the first half, 35-13. But Missouri closed the half with a 10-5 run. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Brown cut Florida's lead to 40-23 at halftime.
Florida shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the first half, while holding Missouri to 33.3 percent shoot.
Play was ragged on both sides through a turnover-filled first half.
Florida committed 11 first-half turnovers, while Missouri had 12 turnovers. But the Gators scored 22 pts off turnovers in the first half off turnovers, while Missouri scored just four points off turnovers.
NOTES: Florida junior forward Casey Prather sat out his second straight game with a high ankle sprain. ... Missouri forward Laurence Bowers was out with a sprained MCL. ... Missouri and Florida played their first SEC game and first game in school history. ... The last time Missouri played in the state of Florida, the Tigers lost 97-64 to Florida State on Dec. 23, 1977, in Orlando.
