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Gators pull away at Mizzou for first SEC road win of the season

On3 imageby:Zach Abolverdi•01/20/24•

ZachAbolverdi

Micah-Handlogten-Florida-Gators
UAA Photo

The Gators bounced back from a 19-point loss at No. 6 Tennessee with their first SEC win of the season Saturday. Florida pulled away in the second half to defeat Missouri, 79-67, after dropping its first two away games in league play.

After a back-and-forth first half that saw nine lead changes and seven ties, the Tigers took a 43-42 lead with 16:55 left in the game. From there, UF went on a 8-0 run and never trailed again, leading by double digits for the final 7:36.

“A really great effort from our team,” UF coach Todd Golden said afterward. “This was a really challenging game for us, and obviously we came in 1-3, so we haven’t had a lot of conference success yet. But I think we have a really good team and to come in here on the road and control the game like we did, especially in the second half and end up winning by double figures, was a really big growth moment for our group.”

Five Gators finished in double figures for the fifth time this season, led by 17 points from senior forward Tyrese Samuel and a double-double by sophomore center Micah Handlogten with 10 points and 13 rebounds, one shy of his season high.

Junior guards Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard scored 15 and 13 points, respectively, on 4-for-11 shooting apiece (all in the second half for Richard). Senior point guard Zyon Pullin had 11 points, while sophomore Riley Kugel added 8 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The Gators matched a season-low with eight turnovers (vs. Pitt).

“Honestly, I think the biggest thing for us tonight, we did a good job taking care of the ball,” Golden said. “Only eight turnovers against a team that prides themselves on turning you over and does things specifically on the defensive end to do that. Our whole game plan tonight — we felt like we’d have a really good shot if we took care of it. Our goal was 12 turnovers or less. So to come out with eight was a key factor in getting this win tonight.”

After Tennessee senior guard Dalton Knecht dropped a career-high 39 points on Tuesday, the Gators survived a career night from Missouri junior guard Tamar Bates, who led all scorers with 36 points on 13-for-21 shooting.

Florida had the advantage on the glass and from downtown, outrebounding the Tigers 40-27 and shooting 41 percent from 3 (9-for-22) while holding them to a season-low 19 percent (3-for-16) from the behind the arc.

UF’s 13 offensive rebounds helped the Gators to a 13-2 edge in second-chance points.

“A lot of it comes down to physicality,” Handlogten said. “To be honest with you, at Tennessee we got punked, so it’s definitely something we highlighted in practice. Everything we did was all about physicality, physicality, physicality. We worked our butts off during practice, so I’m glad it got to show tonight. I think we can really build off it for future games.”

After back-to-back road games, the Gators (12-6, 2-3 SEC) are back home Wednesday against Mississippi State (13-5, 2-3) at 8:30 p.m. on SEC Network. The Bulldogs upset Tennessee in Starkville on Jan. 10 but have lost their first two SEC road games.

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