Five takeaways from Florida’s too-close-for-comfort win vs. Missouri
It wasn’t pretty. Unless you looked at what the final score meant. But it still gave the Gator Nation a good scare for a few minutes.
The Gators won their 20th game of the season and avoided the embarrassment of being the first conference team to lose to Missouri this year, instead winning, 83-74.
And Florida — after decades of floundering in the wilderness — finally pulled its all-time SEC record to .500.
Most importantly, a Florida team barreling toward an NCAA Tournament bid did the work necessary, but it was not without some shaky moments.
The five takeaways on what was another important win for this team.
Florida did it without one of its stars
That’s because Walter Clayton Jr. made a mistake in saying something to official Pat Adams and the result was a technical foul. That was his fifth foul, so Florida had to play without its leading scorer for the final 14:08 of the game (he already had 13 points at that point).
“It wasn’t something we were planning for,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.
Anyone who saw the game knows the officiating was spotty, but you have to be smarter than that.
Fortunately, Florida had the answers.
And they were named Tyrese and Zyon
Tyrese Samuel was a beast against the Missouri zone in the second half and finished the game with a career-high 28 points plus 10 rebounds.
“It might have been his best game for us,” Golden said.
And Zyon Pullin made up for his fouled-out backcourt-mate with 21 points, including some clutch shots down the stretch.
Florida shot 65% in the second half (7 of 8 to finish the game) and that allowed it to go to 20-8 and 10-5 in the SEC.
The main reason? It solved the zone defense.
Which is why they pulled away in a tight game
The zone defense has been a problem for this team all year. Not in this game.
Maybe it was because the Tigers aren’t long enough defensively, but Florida – after struggling with the zone early in the second half – had little trouble getting the ball inside over the last 10 minutes.
“We knew they were going to play the zone a lot, and we practiced hard against it,” said Micah Handlogten, who had another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
“We really wanted that win because Coach told us before the game it had been since 2017 that Florida has won 20 games.”
Florida handled the first half
The bigs for the Gators were the difference in the first 20 minutes as Florida won the rebounding battle 25-19 and Samuel led Florida with 12 points.
Both teams struggled with 3-point shots as they were a combined 5-for-26. And both teams went cold at the end of the half with Missouri going the final 2:19 without a point and Florida making one of its final seven shots.
The biggest issue was that Will Richard, who had rediscovered his shot in the last two games, missed all six of his shots.
He did make a big one in the second half.
And you know it got interesting
Missouri pulled within a point with Clayton Jr. out, and Gator fans were looking at each other like they had seen this movie before.
But you don’t win nine of 11 games in this conference without having a clutch gene.
“We’ll take it,” said Golden. “It was a grind of a game. Missouri is a tricky opponent.”
The win sets up an interesting battle with South Carolina on Saturday at noon.
Next up
Florida hits the road to take on the No. 18 South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, March 2 in the first of the final three games of the season. The tip is scheduled for noon ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Read more
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