Missouri Tigers await Selection Sunday after SEC Tournament loss to Florida Gators
A reminder: Florida is projected to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It showed in nearly all aspects of the Gators’ clash with the No. 7-seeded Mizzou Tigers in Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal, a 95-81 MU defeat.
Todd Golden’s Gators came into Friday seeking revenge from the last time they dealt with Dennis Gates’ Tigers. Mizzou pulled off an upset on the road earlier this season, an 83-82 win in Gainesville, and was hoping to recreate the statement win.
Instead, Mizzou was handed a 14-point defeat. In the simplest terms, Florida was just the better team Friday, particularly with Missouri missing one of its top players.
Mizzou shot 44.1% from the field. It cleaned up the turnovers from the Mississippi State game with nine (the Gators scored 16 points off those miscues). It took advantage of 16 Gators turnovers for 22 points.
Tamar Bates scored 16 points. Caleb Grill added 11 points off the bench. Anthony Robinson and Tony Perkins each chipped in 13 points.
There were plenty of things that Mizzou did right, but it doesn’t seem to matter when Florida was as good as it was, shooting 61.8% from the field and 37.5% from 3-point range. Will Richard and Walter Clayton combined for 30 points in the first half alone.
It was evident from the start how tough this was going to be for the Tigers. Florida put together a quick 10-0 run by the time the clock said 18:27 in the first half. From there, Mizzou fought to get within four in the second half, but never got closer. The Tigers never led.
Up next: Mizzou awaits Selection Sunday, when the Tigers will make their return to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the Dennis Gates era.
Until then, here are some takeaways from MU’s loss at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville...
The Mark Mitchell update
“I have elected to not play Mark tonight in order to prevent any further injury and allow his knee to fully recover and be 100%,” Gates said in a pregame statement. “ He had a great walkthrough and workout earlier today and we look forward to him helping us during the rest of the postseason.”
Foul trouble plagues the Tigers
Without Mitchell, the Tigers couldn’t afford any more hits to the lineup.
And then Josh Gray, who leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game, fouled out with 7:20 to go while the Tigers trailed by just six.
Mitchell and Gray are MU’s two team leaders in defensive boards. Without them, MU was missing a big part of its rebounding, and its defense ...
Mizzou unable to defend the paint
This was another aspect in which the Gators improved since their last game against the Tigers.
Florida connected for 48 points in the paint, a 15-point improvement from the upset in Gainesville earlier this season.
The Tigers were efficient on their own end, however, scoring 48 points in the paint. But it still wasn’t enough.
Florida scored 95 points with only 55 field-goal attempts. MU has allowed 90-plus points in its last five losses, a stretch which started Feb. 22.
The Tigers have lost five of seven entering March Madness.
