Trying to capture the program’s second win at Florida’s O’Connell Center, the No. 20 Missouri basketball team instead dropped its third straight conference game away from home, falling to the Gators, 73-64, on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla.
In a game the Tigers led 11-0 early in the first half, the Gators took advantage of their one clear advantage the rest of the way: big man Colin Castleton. The 6-foot-10 center caused problems on both ends of Billy Donovan Court, finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.
Now on their first losing streak of the season, the Tigers fell to 13-4 and 2-3 in SEC play. From here, Mizzou heads home for two games next week, first hosting Arkansas (12-5, 1-4) on Wednesday. The Razorbacks have lost three straight games since beating MU on Jan. 4.
The Tigers struggled from 3-point range again, making just 3 of 18 from deep while turning the ball over 14 times. Kobe Brown led MU with a game-high 21 points. The Tigers outscored UF in the paint 42-26 but missed 10 shots at the rim while allowing the Gators (10-7, 3-2) to make 10 3-pointers on 23 attempts.
Plenty went right for Missouri in the first half. The Tigers raced out to an 11-0 lead and managed to draw two fouls on Castleton. Florida chipped away from the 3-point arc and took its first lead, 26-25, on Kyle Lofton’s 3-pointer in the closing minutes. Noah Carter answered with a spinning drive from the elbow and drew a foul for a three-point play, but a couple Florida free throws down the stretch and five straight defensive stops kept the score even 28-28 headed into halftime. The Tigers missed nine of 10 shots during one icy stretch and for the half made just 1 of 9 3-pointers. Florida turned the ball over 14 times but only suffered minimum damage for the giveaways.
Mizzou had a chance to build a lead midway through the second half behind Mo Diarra. Getting his first real chance to be part of the regular rotation, Diarra powered through the paint for his second field goal of the season but after a Florida miss, Diarra whiffed on a dunk in transition. Florida went ahead on the next possession, turning an offensive rebound into Myreon Jones’ 3-pointer from the wing, good for a 48-47 lead.
Florida stretched its lead going through Castleton and answered every shot Mizzou delivered down the stretch. Brown’s deep 3 from the wing got the Tigers within four, but Jones came right back with another 3 for the Gators.
Down six with a minute to play, Mizzou opted to play out a possession rather than foul, but Lofton caught Brown on a defensive switch and drilled a step-back jumper for an eight-point lead.
