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There weren’t many Power 4 conferences that managed to have as miserable of a season as the 2023-24 Missouri Tigers.
Missouri finished 8-24 and 0-18 in the Southeastern Conference. The future appeared grim, but a No. 14-ranked recruiting class at least gave the Tigers some hope entering the new season.
This year has been an entirely different picture for Missouri and through 16 games into the season, the Tigers have nearly doubled their win total from the previous season.
On Tuesday night, Missouri (14-3, 3-1 SEC) took down the No. 5 Florida Gators (15-2, 2-2 SEC) 83-82 despite nearly a 19-point comeback by the Gators.
Inside the Gators’ Instant Analysis takes a quick look at how the game unfolded.
IT WAS OVER WHEN: Florida did everything it could to muster a comeback.
Missouri led by 16 points entering the second half and out-performed the Gators in nearly every metric.
Florida, who ranks No. 1 in the nation in rebounding, lost the rebound battle by two in the first half. The Tigers logged eight steals off the Gators’ mistakes and converted seven of its 14 three-point attempts.
Florida nearly came back in the final minutes of the contest and gradually chipped away at its deficit until Missouri led by just two with 30 seconds remaining.
Despite its efforts, Tigers guard Mark Mitchell iced the game and converted a pair of free throws to put the game just out of reach for the Gators.
Florida failed to score from beyond the perimeter after a missed three from forward Thomas Haugh and settled for a two-point field goal with just six seconds remaining.
Two more free throws from Missouri guard Caleb Grill ended the contest and secured the Tigers’ upset victory.
THEY STOLE THE SHOW: Gators senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. has struggled to find his footing early on in games, but as Florida’s offense failed to settle in, Clayton took charge and singlehandedly kept the Gators in the contest.
Florida scored just 34 points in the first half and 18 of them came at the hand of Clayton. The senior converted six of 10 shots.
There was a slight scare in the second half when Clayton stepped on the foot of a Missouri defender, leading him to go to the locker room during a timeout. However, the Lake Wales, Florida, native came back into the matchup and finished the game with 28 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
THESE STATS DON’T LIE: Missouri entered Tuesday night’s contest ranked No. 8 in the country in steals, averaging more than 10 per game.
Florida has struggled to limit its turnovers throughout the season and committed several against the Tigers early into the matchup.
In the first half, Missouri recorded eight steals and 10 points off of turnovers. Missouri’s propensity to fill the lanes and defend well on and off the ball made it difficult for Florida to manage a comeback.
THIS MATCHUP PROVED KEY: Gators guard Alijah Martin is the best defender on Florida’s roster and one of the best in the entire conference.
On Tuesday night, Martin was tasked with guarding Tigers three-point shooter Caleb Grill.
Grill got the best of Florida’s top guard early on. He sprinted around the perimeter, worked around screens and landed all four of his first shots from beyond the arc.
But in the second half, Martin limited Grill to just X made threes on X attempts. As a unit, Missouri’s three-point percentage fell from X% to X% in the second half.
WHAT A PLAY: As Martin dribbled the ball upcourt with 17:36 left in the second half, Gators center Alex Condon cut and b-lined toward the basket.
From nearly 40 feet away, Martin thrust a pass toward the rim, and Condon slammed the ball with two hands.
UP NEXT: The No. 5 Florida Gators host the Texas Longhorns (11-5, 0-3 SEC) at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
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