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NASHVILLE, Tenn ― Florida basketball coach Todd Golden expected to face Missouri again in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.
In fact, Golden centered his preparation this week on facing the Tigers.
That wound up the correct move, as 7-seed Missouri pulled away in the closing minutes to beat 10-seed Mississippi State 85-73 on Thursday night in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Senior guard Tamar Bates scored 25 points to lead the Tigers to the win.
It sets up a juicy matchup between No. 7 seed Missouri (22-10) and the No. 2 seed Florida Gators (27-4) in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night (7 p.m., SEC Network).
Missouri handed Florida its lone home loss of the season, beating UF 83-82 in the O'Connell Center on Jan. 14.
"They are one of the top two or three teams in the country, in my eyes," Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. "I think no one has given them the amount of credit that they deserve, I don't even know if they were ranked No. 1 in the country for multiple weeks but I do know that's how I look at them.
"It was a great atmosphere when we played in Gainesville. Todd Golden, I respect, and I respect their entire program. They're not the same team that they were, I think they have gotten better."
Golden said Wednesday he welcomed a potential rematch with Missouri because of how playing a team that caliber would prepare UF for the NCAA Tournament.
"That’s a Sweet 16 matchup, right there." Golden said. "Missouri is a very good. And, yeah, I think our guys would like another crack at them simply because we didn’t feel like we played our best game here – and not taking anything away from Missouri, ‘cause they played great. They beat us that night."
Here are three storylines to watch in UF's SEC Tournament matchup with the Tigers:
Grill burned UF in the first matchup between the two teams, scoring a game-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.
Florida point guard Walter Clayton said the goal this time around is to deny Grill the basketball and limit the number of attempts he puts up.
"He hit some tough ones the last time he played us here," Clayton said. "So not letting him get them off.”
The 6-foot-3 Grill earned SEC sixth man of the year honors after averaging 14.2 points off the bench for Missouri this season. He had an off shooting night Wednesday against Mississippi State, going just 2 of 11 from the floor and 1 of 8 from 3-point range for 5 points. But Grill said he welcomes the challenge of trying to bounce back Friday against the Gators.
"You have to go into every game confident," Grill said "I think if you go into a game not confident then you've lost confidence in yourself. No matter what you have to think how you can help your team win and go in with the confidence in yourself to play well."
Missouri generated 18 points off 13 Florida turnovers in the first matchup between the two schools. Clayton will need to be strong with the ball at the point, and passed must be crisp and on target against a Missouri team that averages 6.6 steals per game and 14.0 turnovers per game.
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Mitchell, who leads the Tigers in scoring at 14.1 points per game, left Thursday night's matchup against Mississippi State matchup with a knee injury and didn't return. His status for the Florida game is unclear at this point.
"Mark knows what he can and cannot do," Gates said. "He did not want to put his team at a disadvantage is he was not at 100 percent so at the end of the day he trusted our substitutions and our depth and he just didn't put himself back in the game.
"To me that's great leadership and we will see what his prognosis is."
Florida 77, Missouri 70: Florida will avenge its lone home loss of the season and pull away in the second half to beat the Tigers and advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the second straight year. UF's depth will play a factor in the win as Missouri will wear down in its second game in two days.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Takeaways as Florida basketball gets rematch with Mizzou in SEC Tournament quarterfinals
Continue reading...
In fact, Golden centered his preparation this week on facing the Tigers.
That wound up the correct move, as 7-seed Missouri pulled away in the closing minutes to beat 10-seed Mississippi State 85-73 on Thursday night in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Senior guard Tamar Bates scored 25 points to lead the Tigers to the win.
It sets up a juicy matchup between No. 7 seed Missouri (22-10) and the No. 2 seed Florida Gators (27-4) in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night (7 p.m., SEC Network).
Missouri handed Florida its lone home loss of the season, beating UF 83-82 in the O'Connell Center on Jan. 14.
"They are one of the top two or three teams in the country, in my eyes," Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. "I think no one has given them the amount of credit that they deserve, I don't even know if they were ranked No. 1 in the country for multiple weeks but I do know that's how I look at them.
"It was a great atmosphere when we played in Gainesville. Todd Golden, I respect, and I respect their entire program. They're not the same team that they were, I think they have gotten better."
Golden said Wednesday he welcomed a potential rematch with Missouri because of how playing a team that caliber would prepare UF for the NCAA Tournament.
"That’s a Sweet 16 matchup, right there." Golden said. "Missouri is a very good. And, yeah, I think our guys would like another crack at them simply because we didn’t feel like we played our best game here – and not taking anything away from Missouri, ‘cause they played great. They beat us that night."
Here are three storylines to watch in UF's SEC Tournament matchup with the Tigers:
Can Florida basketball keep Missouri shooting guard Caleb Grill from getting on a roll?
Grill burned UF in the first matchup between the two teams, scoring a game-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.
Florida point guard Walter Clayton said the goal this time around is to deny Grill the basketball and limit the number of attempts he puts up.
"He hit some tough ones the last time he played us here," Clayton said. "So not letting him get them off.”
The 6-foot-3 Grill earned SEC sixth man of the year honors after averaging 14.2 points off the bench for Missouri this season. He had an off shooting night Wednesday against Mississippi State, going just 2 of 11 from the floor and 1 of 8 from 3-point range for 5 points. But Grill said he welcomes the challenge of trying to bounce back Friday against the Gators.
"You have to go into every game confident," Grill said "I think if you go into a game not confident then you've lost confidence in yourself. No matter what you have to think how you can help your team win and go in with the confidence in yourself to play well."
Can Florida basketball take care of the ball better in the second matchup with the Tigers?
Missouri generated 18 points off 13 Florida turnovers in the first matchup between the two schools. Clayton will need to be strong with the ball at the point, and passed must be crisp and on target against a Missouri team that averages 6.6 steals per game and 14.0 turnovers per game.
What's the status of Missouri forward and leading scorer Mark Mitchell heading into Florida game?
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Mitchell, who leads the Tigers in scoring at 14.1 points per game, left Thursday night's matchup against Mississippi State matchup with a knee injury and didn't return. His status for the Florida game is unclear at this point.
"Mark knows what he can and cannot do," Gates said. "He did not want to put his team at a disadvantage is he was not at 100 percent so at the end of the day he trusted our substitutions and our depth and he just didn't put himself back in the game.
"To me that's great leadership and we will see what his prognosis is."
Prediction
Florida 77, Missouri 70: Florida will avenge its lone home loss of the season and pull away in the second half to beat the Tigers and advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the second straight year. UF's depth will play a factor in the win as Missouri will wear down in its second game in two days.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Takeaways as Florida basketball gets rematch with Mizzou in SEC Tournament quarterfinals
Continue reading...
