How Mizzou basketball ‘showed signs’ of a breakout performance before Florida win
Missouri showed what it was made of Saturday night against the reigning national champion, No. 22 Florida, securing a 76-74 victory in its Southeastern Conference opener.
Graduate guard Jayden Stone and junior forward Trent Pierce — both in their first game back from injury, Pierce’s first of the season — put the nail in the coffin against the Gators. Stone started the game hot, scoring the first eight points for the Tigers. His offensive performance wasn’t the only place he shined, as he flew in from nowhere to grab six rebounds.
The offensive spark was important late in the second half as Florida scrapped at the lead: With less than three minutes to play, Pierce powered into the lane to finish a long possession after a missed shot from Stone, then a missed shot from Shawn Phillips Jr.
Pierce drove the ball while Florida was in the midst of rotation, as he regained the lead for the home side.
The next time down the floor, Pierce booked it around the 3-point line to the top of the key. Mark Mitchell fired a pass from the opposite side of the floor, and Pierce stepped into a 3 to put Mizzou up 69-65.
“We showed some signs in some of the games — against KU, Illinois, Notre Dame — we showed signs that we are a good team,” Pierce said. “But, I think, having that time just to reflect and look back on what it is that we’re missing, that really helped us kind of go into practice and just really focus on those things and elevate our game.”
Pierce and Stone were difference-makers Saturday. So was junior Anthony Robinson II, who arguably was the defining factor in the win. He effectively orchestrated the offense while maintaining his roots as an aggressive defender, something the guard hasn’t been able to pull off in other big games this season.
Robinson turned his performance from good to special in the second half, breaking the 39-39 tie from the first minute of play. Instead of looking to pass, Robinson was more aggressive on the offensive end and forced his way into the lane on multiple occasions.
Robinson ended his stellar performance with a banked-in 3 that marked MU’s final field goal. He led the Tigers in points (19), rebounds (8) and assists (5).
Mizzou coach Dennis Gates affirmed postgame he wanted Robinson taking the shot that ultimately banked in from 3-point range.
“He tried to look at me again as if I was going to change my mind,” Gates recalled, “and I said, ‘You’re shooting the ball.’”
Though Missouri was able to finish late, Florida was firing on all cylinders in the first half. The Gators were sinking 3s, pushing the ball and answering every MU bucket.
But momentum shifted in the last two minutes of the first half. Mizzou was finally within reach of taking control of the game. Freshman Nicholas Randall was working the Florida big men down low while the guards held down the perimeter. Florida, a scrappy yet polished team, was having trouble getting shots to fall, even when it infiltrated the lane.
Then, freshman Trent Burns was subbed into the game. Two freshmen up against the reigning national-champion Gators in Missouri’s SEC opener? Unexpected, to say the least.
The 7-foot-5 Burns used his first minutes in the game to contest a layup from Florida’s Xaivian Lee that barely beat the shot-clock buzzer. He reached up for the ball with one arm, blocking the shot into the backboard.
Boos erupted as a whistle blew, signaling a goaltending call against Burns. The freshman was pulled out of the game ... but was subbed back in not a minute later.
He waited on his defensive side of the court for the Gators to start their next possession. He again went to contest a shot, and again committed a goaltend, giving Florida a 39-36 lead.
Then came the buzzer beater.
Mizzou’s final possession of the half began with about 15 seconds left. Robinson killed the little time remaining on the clock. Fans screamed to move the ball, to do something. With about four seconds left, Robinson fired a pass to Burns on the 3-point line.
The center stepped in and released the ball, swishing a contested shot seamlessly. The score at half: 39-39.
“That play was designed to get it to him,” Gates said. “... Trent Burns, it got to a point in practice where I used some profanity, cursed him out and said, ‘Just shoot 3s.’
“The last, previous games, we were not poised enough to execute in the last two minutes, and sometimes those games got away from us. And I wanted to ... ensure that we had the ball last.”
Gates added one more thought on the play.
“I knew,” he said, “they would leave him wide open.”
The Tigers (11-3, 1-0 SEC) fought to the very end against the Gators in their SEC opener, earning a victory against a top-25 team when they needed it most. Missouri will next play Kentucky on the road at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky.
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