Missouri Tigers men’s basketball losing streak reaches 15 with defeat at Florida

The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team’s school-record losing streak extended to 15 games on Wednesday night.

Mizzou (8-20, 0-15 SEC) kept things interesting toward the end before falling 83-74 to the No. 24 Florida Gators at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The Gators improved to 20-8 (10-5 SEC).

Sean East II led the Tigers with his fourth-straight 20-point game. He hit 9-of-16 shots from the floor to go along with four assists.

Nick Honor, playing somewhat near his hometown of Orlando, added 18 points, while Tamar Bates and Connor Vanover put in 15 and 12 points, respectively.

The Gators scored the first six points of the game and were up 37-28 at halftime.

The Tigers cut Florida’s lead to one point with a 10-2 run that made it 39-38. But the Gators responded with a 12-2 run of their own, pushing the lead back to 11, at 51-40.

Mizzou’s final effort was a 10-1 rally that made it 55-54. Honor scored eight points during that run by the Tigers.

But Missouri missed a couple of open looks late and Florida proceeded to hit 11 of its next 12 field-goal attempts to cement the victory.

For the game, Mizzou shot 48.2% from the field to Florida’s 49.2%. But both sides were red-hot in the final 20 minutes, as MU shot 61.5% to UF’s 62.5%.

The Gators out-rebounded the Tigers 38 to 27.

East was one of a few bright spots for MU on Wednesday, becoming the first Tiger with four-straight 20-point games since Jabari Brown in the 2013-13 season.

On the other end of the equation, the Tigers’ losing streak has extended throughout the new year. Missouri’s last win, 92-59 against Central Arkansas, was on Dec. 30.

Since then, the Tigers have lost games by two points, three points, 24 points ... you name it.

The next chance for head coach Dennis Gates and company to right the ship comes Saturday at 7:30 p.m., against Ole Miss at Mizzou Arena.

This story was originally published February 28, 2024 at 7:41 PM.