No. 22 Florida at Missouri

 
* When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Mizzou Arena / Columbia, Mo.
* Records: Florida (9-4) / Missouri (10-3)
* Series/Last meeting: Florida leads 12-5. The Gators, after falling to Mizzou two months earlier in what became the lone home loss of the 2025 season, defeated the 21st-ranked Tigers 95-81 on March 14 in quarterfinal play of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Nashville, Tennessee, to start a run of three straight wins over ranked opponents on the way to claiming the first league title since 2014. Senior Walter Clayton Jr. led the way with 18 points and six assists, while fellow guards and classmates Will Richard and Alijah Martin added 17 points a piece.
* TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart and Dane Bradshaw)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list
  (with Sean Kelley, Brian Hogan and Steve Egan) 
* Ticket info

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Projected Starters

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Alex Condon	F	6-11 / 230	Junior	14.3 pts / 8.9 reb
Rueben Chinyelu	C	6-10 / 255	Junior	10.7 pts / 10.9 reb
Thomas Haugh	F	6-9 / 215	Junior	16.7 pts / 6.4 reb
Xaivian Lee	G	6-4 / 185	Senior	12.2 pts / 4.6 reb / 3.5 ast
Boogie Fland	G	6-3 / 185	Sophomore	11.4 pts / 2.0 reb

Missouri	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Mark Mitchell	F	6-9 / 230	Senior	17.2 pts / 5.2 reb
Shawn Phillips Jr.	C	7-0 / 245	Senior	8.0 pts / 5.4 reb
Jacob Crews	F/G	6-8 / 215	Senior	13.9 pts / 4.7 reb
Annor Boateng	G	6-6 / 220	Sophomore	4.9 pts / 2.5 reb
Anthony Robinson II	G	6-3 / 185	Junior	10.9 pts / 3.5 reb / 3.4 ast

The Setup

Florida, ranked No. 22, and Missouri open their Southeastern Conference seasons, with the first game between the two at Mizzou Arena since 2024. … The Gators have won four straight, with their last outing a 94-72 defeat of Dartmouth to cap a run of three consecutive home games over the holidays. The Tigers’ last game was an ugly 91-48 loss to 20th-ranked Illinois on a neutral floor in St. Louis, but they’ve played the season without the services of some players due to injuries and those players are reportedly close to getting back. … UF is 4-3 all-time when playing at Columbia, including 1-0 under Coach Todd Golden. 

Tale of the Tape 

Florida	Statistics	Missouri
84.1	Scoring	83.8
.459	Field-goal percentage	.518
.282	3-point percentage	.366
75.4	Scoring defense	71.5
.403	Field-goal percentage defense	.417
.320	3-point percentage defense	.368
13th	KenPom.com overall ranking	64th
28th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	45th
10th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	124th
63rd	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	208th
24th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	94th
33rd	Overall strength of schedule ranking	351st

The Breakdown 

About the Gators: They exited pre-SEC play with some solid overall offense and defense numbers, with the exception of that glaring 28.2% marksmanship from the 3-point line. UF will start league play rated 341st nationally from long distance, last among all 79 power conference teams. The next-worse SEC team is South Carolina at 31.1% at 268th overall. … Florida also is struggling in turnover margin, where it ranks last in the league. Not only are the Gators turning the ball over too much (18.5% of their possessions end in turnovers, that’s 243rd nationally), they’re not creating a lot of turnovers (just 15.6%, which is 278th). Missouri plays a style that thrives on running through the passing lanes and creating steals. … The Gators are looking to win their conference opener for the first time since the ’20-21 season, with the current streak at four consecutive losses. … For the second time this season, center Rueben Chinyelu, the SEC’s rebound leader, has a three-game double-double streak and can become the first UF player to have four straight since David Lee in 2005. … Thomas Haugh ranks 10th in the league in scoring at 16.7 ppg, but is at 10.3 over the last three games. … Forward Alex Condon led the way for the Gators in the win over Dartmouth, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds, one shy of his fifth double-double. … Backup center Micah Handlogten had eight points and a team-best 13 boards in the game, including seven on the offensive end. His 21.7 offensive rebounding percentage is better than Chinyelu’s 18.1, which ranks ninth nationally. Handlogten needs more minutes to qualify for the national stats. … Guard Xaivian Lee has five straight double-figure scoring games and has made at least one three in eight consecutive games. He’s raised his 3-point percentage nine points over the previous seven games. … Point guard Boogie Fland continues to struggle from deep (22.2%), but he’s at 55.7 from the 2-point area and is coming off a 10-point, 5-assist, 3-steal game. … Backup guard Urban Klavzar (8.9 ppg) has made two 3s in each of the last three games and leads the team at 35.8% from distance. … Look for sophomore Isaiah Brown (4.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg) to get the first look in the hunt for the eighth man in the rotation.  

About the Tigers: It’s their fourth season under Dennis Gates, who in his first three sandwiched 25- and 22-win campaigns that ended in the NCAA Tournament around an 8-24 clunker in ’23-24 that ended with an historic 0-18 record in SEC play.  … They have 10 victories, but the strength of schedule and quality of wins is unimpressive. Missouri’s NET rating of 94 is the third-worst in the league, ahead of only Mississippi State and South Carolina, who check in at 103 and 104, respectively. The Tigers’ best win to date came against Minnesota, which is currently 110th in the NET. The other nine wins are against opponents rated 219th or worse. … Mizzou averaged 93.0 points through its first six games, but 75.7 since while dealing with availability issues from a trio of guys Gates was banking on: 6-10 forward Trent Pierce (starter last season, has not played in ’25-26); 6-11 forward Jevon Porter (missed Illinois game); guard Jayden Stone (41.7% from 3). The status of all three for this one is uncertain. … Missouri boasts a top-50 offense and ranks 15th in the country at 60.7% from the 2-point area, but the Tigers have not been a great defensive team, especially when it comes to defending the 3-point line (304th). Will the Gators’ poor long-range shooters be able to take advantage? … Mizzou was awful in the loss to Illinois. The Tigers hit just 16 of 56 shots (28.6%), allowed the Illini to make 30 of 55 (54.5%), including 15 of 33 from the arc (45.4%) and got smashed on the glass 38-24. … Forward Mark Mitchell, who started his career at Duke, has scored in double figures 10 straight games and has hit 22 points in at least half of those. He’s shooting 64.7% inside the arc and is among the nation’s best players at drawing fouls. … Fifth-year guard Jacob Crews leads the SEC in 3-point shooting percentage at 51.4, having sank 38 of 74. He has five games with at least four 3s. … Center Shawn Phillips, a transfer from Arizona State, is at 68.4% on the season and has yet to make a 3. If he has the ball in close, the Gators will foul him. He’s a 45.5% free-throw shooter. 

 

Numbers of Note 

* .000 — Golden’s winning percentage in SEC openers as Florida’s coach, based on an 0-3 mark. The Gators lost Golden’s conference head-coaching debut 61-58 at 20th-ranked Auburn on Dec. 28, 2022. They were beaten at home by No. 6 Kentucky 87-85 on Jan. 6, 2024 in what remains one of only two home losses the last two seasons. UF lost 106-100 at 10th-ranked UK on Jan. 4, 2025, the Gators’ first defeat of their eventual NCAA-championship season.  

* plus-17.2 — UF’s rebounding margin, which leads the nation by almost two per game. The Gators also remain the No. 2 offensive rebounding team in the country at 44.7%.

* 2015 — The year the Gators first played a conference game at Missouri. The date was Feb. 24 and UF was in a bad SEC tailspin, having lost eight of 11 and five of the previous six. The Tigers made it six of seven, but the Gators did their part by shooting less than 40% from the floor for a third straight game, 22% from the 3-point line, went 9-for-23 from the free-throw line (39%) and went the final 13-plus minutes with just two field goals in a 64-52 loss. For Mizzou, in last place and on its way to a 9-23 season, the win snapped a 13-game losing streak. The Tigers were led by freshman forward Namon Wright’s 28 points, including 6-for-8 from the 3-point line. UF freshman forward Devin Robinson had 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks. 

 

Bottom Line

After this Quad 2 opportunity, the Gators are looking at four consecutive Q1 games. UF is just 1-4 in Q1 chances this season, with the lone win coming against Miami. 

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.