Missouri 72, Florida 70
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center
Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 13-7 (9-6 SEC), Missouri 15-7 (8-7 SEC)
Box Score (PDF)<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2021_3_3_2021-5F03-5F03-5FUF-5Fvs-5FMizzou.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=hl3gTVq6OgTxtZSuZtavEkJ_TeD1hNZcJ8LB1ojRv48&s=Lh1XEy9GeVE01jikqYRP9RJaTTL1C0v-ekP3_6D9-m4&e= >
2020-21 Season Stats<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2020_12_2_2020-5F21-5FUFstats.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=hl3gTVq6OgTxtZSuZtavEkJ_TeD1hNZcJ8LB1ojRv48&s=WsW9bm9d1ojgFWhqYvnGcxS9BDZGxQmNl5bBEsy9cnU&e= >
Notable & Quotable
* The Gators battled back from eight points down with 2:27 remaining and tied the game at 70 on a pair of Colin Castleton free throws with less than 20 seconds left, but Dru Smith’s driving layup with 0.7 seconds left provided Missouri the decisive points
* Tre Mann’s electric play continued, as the Gainesville native led Florida with 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the floor. Over the past three games, Mann is averaging 20.3 points and shooting 24-for-36 (.667) from the field.
* Anthony Duruji grabbed a season high 11 rebounds.
Head Coach Mike White
On the winning score by Missouri…
“Great execution by Missouri out of the timeout. They got it to Dru Smith on the wing and we didn’t handle that ball screen situation very well, got beat to his strong hand, allowed the ball screen reject and then we had a couple guys swarming to the basketball, trying to make plays from the help side, I thought it looked like one of those guys might be able to get a hand on it, but he had a great finish. Credit those guys.”
On Tre Mann’s performance…
“Tre played with great activity. He scored some big baskets of course, he went 9-of-11 against a team that’s a terrific defensive program, a team that not too far in the past was ranked in the top 10. Tre did some really good things.”
Tre Mann
On the turnovers in the first half…
“That’s definitely what it was. We didn’t take care of the ball. … Just hard to overcome when you have 15 (turnovers) in the first half. We fought, we fought hard, but just have to clean up our play.”
On how tough it is to lose on a last-second shot…
“It’s just tough. We fought hard. We stayed in the game… We wanted that win. We wanted it bad. It’s hard losing.”
On being able to rally…
“It just shows that we won’t stop fighting until the end. We’re tough mentally and physically.”
On his personal success…
“Yeah, my teammates and my coaches have given me a lot of confidence. I’ve just been going off of the confidence that they give me. I just try to do whatever I can to help win and if I have to make the shot, that’s what I’m going to try to do. The game – you never know when it could be your last, so I try to give it my all.”
