Quick breakdown of Florida basketball’s big win over Missouri Tigers
This seems to be a trend.
One week ago Todd Golden He won his first Southeastern Conference match. He won his first SEC home game four days later. He saw the Florida Gators beat the first ranked team in this season’s SEC on a cold Saturday.
Florida beats No. 20 Missouri (73-64) to win the third consecutive time and surpass.500 league play, after a 0-2 start.
UF is now at 10-7, and 3-2 in this league. Missouri suffered its second consecutive loss on the road, falling to 13-4 and 2 in the SEC.
Another pattern developing – Florida started miserably, crawled back into the game and dominated the second half. Let’s take a look at how it all broke down.
What happened?
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Although the game was tied at the break and tight all the way, Florida managed to make the most of its free shots down the stretch, despite two misses by [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag]To remove, press the.
The two free throws made by were perhaps the most memorable. [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] late on a 1-and-1 to extend Florida’s lead to 10 points. After Castleton’s misses, Missouri cut the lead to six, but [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag]’s fallaway 17-foot jumper was huge for Florida with 51.3 seconds to play.
[autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag]After transforming from a liability to an asset over the past three weeks, he was able to make two free throws with just 37.5 seconds remaining to complete it.
Florida’s second start looked like the Gators were drinking tryptophan milkshakes before their game. Mizzou scored an 11-0 lead, but Florida had four turnovers. The Gators didn’t score until [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] You had 15 minutes left to play the half.
However, the Gators were able to get back into it with three-point shooting and eventually led 26-25. Despite 14 turnovers by UF, the game was tied because the Tigers were 1-for-9 beyond the arc.
[autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag]He was the 16th transfer to reach the 1,000-point mark in Florida history. Another was [autotag]Dorian Finney Smith[/autotag].
What does it mean?
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Missouri is having trouble, with three losses in its last four games. So we will be watching to see if this can change into a Quad 1. Mizzou came in at 44 to Florida’s 54.
The key thing is that the team seems to be self-identifying, even though the start of the games were terrible. This was another win for a team that had a difficult start to the season. That sounds familiar?
Missouri: Player of the game
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Here’s another pattern to talk about. Florida has had a difficult time with its great players over the last three games. All wins. However, the Gators have made him work hard for his points. Kobe Brown had 21 points. To get there, he needed 18 shots and six free throw attempts.
Florida: Florida Player of the Year
Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
OK, we can’t do Castleton for every game. So, let’s go with Will Richard, who has had an up-and-down season but led Florida with 18 points Saturday. The Belmont transfer went 4-for-8 in three-point range, and made all six free throws. In SEC games before this game, he averaged only 7.3 points per game.
The numbers are inside
Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
The team that can’t shoot straight did not start well, but the Gators finished the game making 10 of 23. Missouri, on the other hand went 3-for-18. Florida was 21 points ahead from the beyond the arc. That’s how you overcome 19 turnovers.
He said it
Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
“Our guys have not cracked, have not faltered despite starting 0-2 in the conference. They’ve remained the course and are seeing the results. We finished the half tied, with 14 turnovers. Our message to the team was, ‘If we take care of the ball we’ll be fine.’” — Todd Golden.
Next up
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The Gators will play their sixth SEC match of the season, and second against, Texas A&M On Wednesday, at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. With a swarming defensive effort, the Aggies beat Gainesville’s Gators by 66 to63 on Jan. 4.
A win in College Station could be a Quad 1 because A&M is 72nd currently (road wins vs. top 75 are Quad 1s) heading into tonight’s game against South Carolina. The Aggies are currently 3-0 in the conference with a record of 11-5.
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