Slow start doomed No. 5 Gators in loss to Mizzou
If there was a lesson the No. 5 Florida Gators learned from the 83-82 home loss to unranked Missouri on Tuesday night, it might be this: Don’t dig themselves such a big hole.
While that sounds both obvious and perhaps simplistic, that’s exactly what happened inside Exactech Arena and it proved costly. In a league where you absolutely must protect your home court to have any chance at an SEC title, Florida saw its 16-game home winning streak snapped following a dismal first half, from which the Gators could not recover.
“It’s definitely not a good feeling but it’s definitely something you can learn from,” Florida senior guard Will Richard said. “I mean, you can’t have nights in this league having a first half like we had. It can’t happen again this season. Definitely something we can look at (Wednesday) and go over the film, break it down and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The Florida Gators currently are 8th in the SEC standings
Florida, now 15-2 overall, 2-2 in the SEC, fell behind by 19 in the first half, and trailed 50-34 at the break. Missouri, 14-3, 3-1, outshot, out-rebounded and out-hustled the Gators during the first frame.
What went wrong?
“I’d just say, lack of urgency and effort in the first half,” Richard said. “You can’t let that happen. I feel like we should have been ready to go from the jump. … I wouldn’t say it was them. I think it was just something that we relaxed a little bit and let them get comfortable too early. And that happened the whole first half.”
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Added senior guard Walter Clayton: “I think they definitely threw a couple different looks — it took us out of some things but kept adjusting and they kept adjusting.”
While the Gators were more in sync and showed more effort in the second half, playing catchup against a quality team — even at home — is difficult to do. That said, the Gators were within striking distance for much of the second half. But for every mini rally by the Gators, Missouri, led by Caleb Grill’s 22 points and Tamar Bates’ five steals, seemingly had an answer.
Taking care of the ball was an issue for UF
All told, the Tigers finished with 12 steals (the Gators had five). Meanwhile, Florida committed 13 turnovers to only eight for Missouri. By game’s end, the Gators had won the battle on the boards, 37-36, but entering the game Florida was No. 1 nationally in rebound margin while Missouri was only 158th. All in all, it was a frustrating night for the Gators, who got a game-high 28 points from Clayton.
“It’s real tough. Obviously, our goal is to stay under 12 turnovers — under six a half,” Clayton said. “Obviously we didn’t do that and they got some buckets off it. Kind of like giving the other team points. We’ve got to be better than that. We’ve got to be better that way.”
