Everything that could have gone right, went right for the Tigers in the first half.
And almost everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong for Missouri in the second half.
Almost.
But not quite everything as the Tigers hung on tight to an 83-82 win against the No. 5 Florida Gators in Gainesville on Tuesday, claiming the first Missouri road win since beating Pittsburgh on Nov. 28, 2023 and starting 3-1 in SEC play for the first time in program history.
“Hard-fought game,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “I thought our guys played with a level of focus from the very beginning to the very end.”
The Tigers led for nearly all 40 minutes, with Florida’s final advantage coming at 5-3 with 18:58 left in the first half, but though Missouri had as much as a 19-point lead, the Gators made sure it came down to the wire.
Before halftime, the Tigers hit shot after shot as Caleb Grill hit his first four attempts from beyond the arc to help the Tigers build an early 30-17 lead.
“That was one of the more resilient victories I’ve ever been a part of,” Grill said. “And everyone knows I’ve been in college forever.”
Then Jacob Crews got into the action with a 3 to make it 33-18 and Anthony Robinson put his shoulder into his defender to create space for a fadeaway jumper to make it 42-23 for the biggest lead of the night with 7:22 left to play.
Florida chipped away to get back within 10, but as has been the case in the past two Missouri games, every time their opponent makes a run, the Tigers respond.
Mark Mitchell turned a Crews steal into a layup, Robinson hit a free throw and Tony Perkins grabbed Robinson’s miss on the second attempt and connected on an and-1 layup on tippin to extend Missouri’s lead back to 50-34 with 1:02 left before halftime.
The Tigers took the 16-point lead into the break after arguably the best single-half performance of the Gates era, with Missouri connecting on 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) from the field, 7-of-14 (50 percent) from 3 and 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the free-throw line while committing only three turnovers, which were all in the final three minutes, and forcing eight Florida turnovers.
“These are wins you’ve got to try to get and we were lucky enough to get it,” Gates said.
Then came the insanity.
Missouri missed its first eight attempts from the field in the second half, but collected four offensive rebounds in the span, allowing Florida only a 5-0 run to start.
Grill broke the run with a catch-and-shoot 3 from the top of the key, then he fed Trent Pierce for a vicious two-handed dunk to create a 55-41 margin with 16:20 left to play.
Florida cut the lead to 58-53 with 12:20 left, but a Mitchell dunk ended a 7-0 Gator run and Grill drove the baseline for a layup through contact to create a 62-53 advantage.
To add to the insanity, Perkins hit the first of two free throw attempts, leading to a Crews offensive board, a missed Grill 3, a Perkins offensive rebound and a defensive foul on Florida setting up an inbounds play for Missouri.
The Tigers inbounded to Perkins, who attempt a clear-out elbow move, but connected with his defender’s crotch, ending in a flagrant 2 and an ejection for Perkins.
The Tigers were forced to bring Robinson back on the floor with four fouls and 9 minutes to play.
The Gators used the free throws and ensuing possession to cut the lead to 7, then Grill was called for a flagrant 1 on a hook-and-hold, giving the Gators another two free throws and possession.
The Tiger lead went from 11 with 9:05 left to three with 7:56 remaining.
But one of the unlikeliest Tigers, Josh Gray, extended the lead at the free-throw line as he made both attempts when he was sent to the line. He missed his initial try, but a lane violation gave him another try on a one-and-one, leading to his two makes as the sub-40 percent free-throw shooter made his first four attempts at the line on Tuesday.
The Tigers extended back to a 6-point lead when Pierce poked a pass into the Florida backcourt, then Tamar Bates won a battle for possession and tossed it ahead to Pierce for a transition dunk.
But Walter Clayton, who ended with 28 to lead the game for Florida, answered with a 3 before Pierce took a Bates drive-and-kick pass for a right-corner 3 right after to make it 75-69.
Grill pump faked and side-stepped into a 3 from the right wing to give the Tigers a 78-71 advantage with 2:23 left, the last time the lead would be three possessions.
Clayton made a layup to cut it to 5, then Mitchell hit just one of two free throws to keep the game within two scores.
Alijah Martin hit two free throws for Florida. Then after an empty Missouri offensive possession, the Tiger defense forced Florida into a missed 3. But the rebound attempt went out of bounds allowing Florida to regain possession, which turned into a Martin layup thrown toward the hoop in desperation to cut the lead to 79-77 with 38 seconds left.
But after the Tigers had multiple empty trips to the free-throw line, two misses from Gray and two misses from Grill, 61.7 percent free-throw shooter Mitchell went to the line and hit both to create an 81-77 lead.
The 80-point mark has been the magic number for Missouri this year as the Tigers are now 11-0 when reaching the mark.
Florida cut the lead again, but Grill was sent back to the line and hit both, creating an 83-79 margin.
“I knew if we made them both, it would seal the deal,” Grill said. “Missed two earlier and I couldn’t believe I missed them.”
Florida hit a 3 with a second left, but was unable to make up the difference as Missouri beat its second top-5 opponent this season, marking the first time the Tigers have done that since 2008-09, and the Tigers first top-5 road win since 2012.
The Tigers celebrated Gates’ birthday with the win as they get to 14-3, 3-1 SEC and will come home to face Arkansas at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“Great birthday gift from our players to me,” Gates said.
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