There were some tense moments for the heavily favored Florida Gators at home but in the final minutes they took control and left no doubt against the Missouri Tigers coming away with a 83-74 win. Florida controlled the game for much of the first half but Missouri clawed back in the second and kept it close for much of the game, as close as 66-65 with 5:30 remaining. It was at that point where Zyon Pullin (21 points, 3 assists) took over hitting some key floaters and midrange jumpers and finding Tyrese Samuel for dunks around the rim, putting the Gators up by double-digits in a hurry that made this game look like it wasn’t as close as it was which is huge from a resume standpoint. With the win the Gators get their 20th win of the season and improve to 20-8 (10-5), while the lowly Missouri Tigers fall to 8-20 and perhaps most stunningly–0-15 in SEC play.
Career Night
With Missouri being a poor defensive team that lacks size on the inside it was set up for Tyrese Samuel to feast, and feast he did. From the opening tip it was clear the Gators were looking to feature the 6’10” forward and he went to work on just about anyone the Tigers put on him. When it was physical 6’6” Noah Carter, he’d simply shoot overtop of him. If it was 7’3” Connor Vanover, he’d use his strength to knock him off his spot before finishing with a layup. Everything was working for Samuel on his way to 28 points and 10 rebounds which is a career high in scoring for the transfer from Seton Hall. There are few teams that can match his physicality at the power forward spot and the Gators nearly almost have a positive mismatch there and with Samuel playing some of his best basketball of the season right now you can look for him to play a big role in key games down the stretch.
Unexpected Rotation Shake Up
Early in the second half Walter Clayton, who has been putting up huge point totals for the Gators as of late, was playing with three early fouls. Missouri’s Anthony Robertson got a steal and made an aggressive play towards the rim and with Clayton slightly out of position–Robertson finished the layup while taking contact from Clayton, and the ref blew his whistle to call Clayton for his fourth personal foul. Clayton had something to say about that and the ref ended up calling a technical foul giving him his fifth personal, fouling him out of the game with 14:08 remaining in the second half. Florida hadn’t gone 14 minutes without Clayton playing all season and even against a struggling Missouri team this was going to be a concern. The Gators started to slide at this point which allowed the Tigers to get back into the game, and there wasn’t a clear player who stepped up in Clayton’s absence. Denzel Abderdeen and Riley Kugel were given their opportunities but they combined for only 4 points in 26 minutes, and you could see Florida’s offense get into the mud. Ultimately it was Tyrese Samuel who shouldered much of the offensive load and the reliable Zyon Pullin took over in the final minutes of the game, but the Gators will be disappointed with the lack of composure that took Clayton out of the game and the inability of their guards off the bench to take on some of the offensive role.
Areas Of Growth
Something that has plagued the Gators all season long caused another issue on Wednesday and that’s zone offense. Florida was playing a solid offensive game against Missouri’s man to man defense in the first half and in the second the Tigers came out with something that was almost certainly in the game plan the whole time–a 2-3 zone. Florida has struggled with zones throughout conference play and word has quickly travelled around the league, and Missouri’s zone mixed in with the loss of Walter Clayton allowed the Tigers to completely slow down the Gators and get back into the game. For a while the only scores the Gators were getting were on offensive rebounds, particularly from Micah Handlogten who was excellent with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and to an extent that covered up just how much they were struggling to get anything going against a zone. Luckily for the Gators there aren’t a lot of teams in the SEC that play zone regularly but the fact that the winless Tigers were able to make it a 1-point game late in the second half largely due to a zone has to be a concern and something they’ll need to find ways to work on.
Final Thoughts
The 83-74 final score probably makes it seem like this game wasn’t as close as it was, though the Gators deserve credit for that. Despite the fact the Tigers were frustrating the Gators with their 2-3 zone and their constant floaters in the midrange on the offensive end when the biggest minutes of the game came–it was all Florida. A 9-point win in a game that was only one possession mere minutes before speaks to just how dominant the Gators were in crunch time and that is huge because oftentimes in basketball it doesn’t matter a whole lot what happens the first 36 minutes of action–it’s what happens after that final under-four timeout. Oftentimes it has been Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton taking care of business in these moments but this time it was Tyrese Samuel stepping up in Clayton’s absence, and his work on the inside alongside Pullin’s perimeter work was dominant against a much smaller and less physical Missouri team. They may have taken the scenic route to get there, but a 9-point win against Missouri is a solid outcome.