The Mizzou men’s basketball team opened Southeastern Conference play with a win over No. 22 Florida on Saturday night at Mizzou Arena. With the victory, the Tigers improve to 11-3 and 1-0 in SEC action, while the nationally-ranked Gators fall to 9-5 and 0-1 in SEC play.
MIZZOU LEADERS
Junior Anthony Robinson II led the team in points, rebounds and assists with 19 points, five dimes and a season-high eight boards on the night.
Senior Mark Mitchell contributed 14 points and a pair of blocks, while graduate student Jacob Crews made a season-high nine free throws on 10 attempts, totaling 13 points.
In his first game of the season after missing 13 contests due to injury, junior Trent Pierce rounded out the Tigers’ double-figure scorers – including five-straight points late to give the Tigers the lead for good on the night.
GAME RECAP
The Gators went up early with a trio of three pointers for a 9-2 advantage. Graduate student Jayden Stone kept the Tigers in the contest early despite missing the last seven contests due to an injury as he scored the team’s first eight points.
Florida would lead by as many as eight points in the opening stanza, 19-11, but the Tigers stayed close and a late 10-4 run – capped by a buzzer-beating triple by freshman Trent Burns – tied the game at 39 heading into the locker room.
Mizzou carried its momentum into the second half for the early advantage in the period. Robinson opened with two field goals before one by Mitchell, making the score 45-39 to start the second stanza. The Tigers continued the strong start and a triple from Pierce pushed the lead to double digits, 56-46.
Florida made a push, however, only to see the Tigers respond every time. The Gators cut the deficit to three, 57-54, after a 7-0 run only for Mizzou to go back in front by eight, 64-56. Florida then earned its only lead of the second half after a 9-0 run for the 65-64 advantage with under four minutes left.
Mizzou and Pierce were able to respond, however. A driving layup followed by a 3-pointer from the junior put the Tigers in front by four, 69-65, with over two minutes left. Florida would pull within two on multiple occasions but a clutch triple from Robinson with 22.4 ticks remaining and just enough free throws down the stretch helped the Tigers secure the win in the SEC opener, 76-74.
TEAM STATS
Mizzou made 45.5 percent of its field goals on the night with an 8-of-22 performance from 3-point range. The Tigers also finished the game with a 37-37 deadlock in rebounds against one of the nation’s top teams on the boards.
The Tigers held the Gators to 41.3 percent shooting and just 7-of-27 from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
The Tigers head to Lexington to take on Kentucky on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
