Mizzou basketball upsets reigning national champion Florida in SEC opener
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- Mizzou upset reigning champion Florida 76-74 in SEC opener in Columbia.
- Anthony Robinson II hit winning 3, finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists.
- Mizzou regained momentum with returns from Pierce and Stone; team now off to Kentucky.
New year, new Tigers?
In their SEC opener — and first game back after finishing 2025 with a brutal 43-point rivalry loss — the Missouri Tigers went blow for blow with reigning national champion Florida, holding off the No. 22 Gators for a 76-74 win.
It was Anthony Robinson II who called game, banking in a 3-pointer to finish off his 19-point night. His fortunate bounce gave the Tigers a five-point lead with about 20 seconds to go in Columbia.
It looked so effortless, yet Robinson evidently had doubts before making the ultimate game-winning play.
“Right before that bank shot (during a timeout), I said, ‘Nobody else is shooting that shot but you,’” head coach Dennis Gates recalled. “He looked at me as if I was going to change my mind. I said, ‘You’re shooting the ball.’”
On most nights, that would’ve been enough, but the Gators did have a look at a 3-pointer for the win as time expired.
Robinson, who was interviewed on the SEC Network’s postgame show, also posted eight rebounds with five assists.
“We put in a lot of work this week,” Robinson said while being swarmed by teammates.
That work, in particular, was sparked by a different demeanor in practice from Gates, who used an expletive to describe his coaching mindset over the last few days.
“I’d like to thank our guys for letting me be the biggest (jerk) known to man over the last week,” Gates said.
Despite the nail-biting finish, Mizzou did lead by double-digits at one point, jumping to a 10-point advantage in the second half.
Missouri also grabbed some momentum right at the halftime buzzer. The Gators led by three before Trent Burns nailed a buzzer-beating 3. The Tigers then kept their composure for the first 10 minutes of the second half before the Gators came chomping back in the fight.
Mizzou, which led 56-46 at the 12-minute mark of the second half, actually trailed 65-64 after a Thomas Haugh 3-pointer with 3:37 to play. But that was the Gators’ only second-half lead.
“We may have bent,” Gates said, “but we didn’t break.”
Haugh did just about everything he could against the Tigers, raining in 24 points. He scored while drawing a foul with around seven seconds to play, cutting the deficit to two. Mark Mitchell missed two free throws and Florida’s last-ditch 3-point attempt missed.
The Gators (9-5, 0-1 SEC) have been within six points in every defeat this season. Their most recent losses came against Duke (67-66) and UConn (77-73) in early December.
The Tigers, meanwhile, got a lift Saturday with the returns of Trent Pierce and Jayden Stone from injury. Both made an immediate impact. Pierce totaled 10 points with five rebounds, while Stone had nine points, six rebounds and two assists.
“Having Trent Pierce, having Jayden Stone back gives us the type of shot-making but also the type of defense when it comes down to IQ and also rebounding,” Gates said. “I’m proud of the plays that they made, I’m proud of the endurance that they showed to be able to not play a game this season (and then perform like that).”
Gates continued: “Trent Pierce did a hell of a job for his first outing of this year. ... A lot of kids across the country would have taken NIL and just redshirted, I’m just being honest with you. And Trent didn’t do that. It speaks to the character of him.”
Now a junior, Pierce averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Tigers last season, appearing in 33 games (19 starts). Despite missing time on the court this season, he said his time recovering from injury has helped him grow.
“I had to find ways to stay connected with my team,” Pierce said. “I had to come up with my voice. I had to find ways to coach guys that haven’t been here.”
Mizzou (11-3, 1-0 SEC) has now defeated Florida in back-to-back seasons, with last year’s top-5 upset win taking place in Gainesville, Florida.
Next up, the Tigers will deal with another traditional college basketball powerhouse, as they make the trip to Lexington, Kentucky, to face the Kentucky Wildcats. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN2.
This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 10:36 PM.
