The first time the Missouri Tigers matched up with the Florida Gators, the Tigers couldn’t miss and jumped ahead with an early-game run.
In the SEC Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday, the teams swapped roles.
Florida jumped ahead 10-0 just 1:33 into the game and the Tigers never led on the way to a 95-81 Gator win to move the No. 2 seed into the SEC Tournament semifinals as the No. 7-seed Tigers exit with a win and a loss.
“We made 30 field goals, 30 field goals is a lot of field goals to make and still lose,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “We just couldn’t overcome their hot shooting and we were always that negative 10 that they started with, we were, that entirety set us back for the 35 minutes, 40 minutes of the game because they came out blazing and did not miss those shots.”
The No. 4-ranked Gators shot lights out, making 34-of-55 shots from the field (61.8 percent), 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from 3 and 18-of-23 (78.3 percent) from the free-throw line. The Gators opened the game making five-of-six from the field as they led 12-2.
“They shot the heck out of the basketball,” Gates said. “They were shooting 80 percent for a long period of time and it seemed like they wouldn’t miss. There were no mistakes that they made.”
A Trent Pierce dunk off a Tony Perkins assist got the Tigers on the board at the 17:14 mark of the first half.
But even without Mark Mitchell, who was ruled out of the game just minutes before game time after exiting Thursday’s matchup in the first half with a knee injury, the Tigers never fell away.
“Mark wanted to play,” Gates said. “He wanted to be out there with his team. I did not let him play. I, Coach Gates, did not let Mark Mitchell play.”
Missouri went on a 9-0 run with Marques Warrick hitting a 3-pointer from deep behind the left wing, then hitting a free throw before Tamar Bates hit a step-back 3 from the top of the key and and Peyton Marshall added a hook from the post as the freshman played his most minutes (7) since playing 14 against California.
The Tigers got within four points when Caleb Grill turned a steal into a fast-break dunk with 8:21 left to cut the Gator lead to 28-24.
But as they would every time the Tigers cut the game close, the Gators responded.
Florida immediately bounced back to an 11-point advantage, then built as far as a 14-point lead in the first half before taking a 50-37 lead into halftime.
“We did not get the trophy,” Gates said. “We don’t get the opportunity to raise a banner, our Season 3A ends early. We wanted to be here playing on Sunday and we’re not. So we did not accomplish a goal, but as it relates to the silver lining, we’ll see what it does.”
Florida controlled the early going in the second half until Missouri cut the lead to 62-56 on a Tony Perkins jumper with 14:23 left. Marshall got involved again with a dunk to bring the Tigers within 64-58.
The Tigers then got within four once again when Robinson drove the lane and pulled up in the paint for a short jumper to get within 64-60.
But, once again, the Gators responded, extending back to a 10-point lead with 9:02 left to play and never letting the Tigers closer than five the rest of the way.
With 7:34 left to play and the Tigers trailing by six, Josh Gray fouled out, leaving the Tigers with a small lineup the rest of the way that allowed Florida to extend the lead to the final margin.
Bates led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points to go with three rebounds, while Robinson had 13 points, three assists, two steals and two boards. Perkins added 13 points and four rebounds, while Grill quietly reached 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting.
The Gators won the rebounding battle 32-31, while Missouri grabbed 18 offensive boards leading to 20 second-chance points. Florida had nine offensive rebounds and 15 points on those opportunities.
The teams tied with 48 points in the paint each, but Florida blocked seven Tiger shots to no blocks for Missouri.
The Tigers return to Columbia and will wait to find out their NCAA Tournament fate during the selection show at 5 p.m.
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