Florida 66, Missouri 65
Mizzou Arena | Columbia, Mo.
Box Score<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2022_2_2_2022-5F02-5F02-5FUF-5Fat-5FMizzou.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=Luj_1NZu11LM8iJFZWlBRmrM0tZCzaqGCyhY8DkMgu1klDmM6AEIEkqcxV5NVbwi&s=gl97MXWTLZOPq9LqnfT-dQRIMMB5xvyI4izzlLWk11A&e= > | Season Stats<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2021_11_9_2021-5F22-5FUFStats.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=Luj_1NZu11LM8iJFZWlBRmrM0tZCzaqGCyhY8DkMgu1klDmM6AEIEkqcxV5NVbwi&s=g7R777_eY4-Ex1585eMaMRSo_HYpkKArAWvo_KpKNKc&e= >
Records: Florida 14-8 (4-5 SEC); Missouri 8-13 (2-6 SEC)
Next up for Florida: Home vs. Ole Miss, Saturday, 3:30 p.m., SEC Network
Notable
* Florida rallied from nine points down at the 8-minute mark and only took the lead on Tyree Appleby’s pair of free throws with 7.9 seconds left that provided the deciding points, sealing the win with a defensive stop. Appleby scored all 17 of his points in the second half, including a 10-for-10 performance at the free throw line.
* With the win, Florida sits tied for sixth in the SEC at the midpoint of conference action.
* Florida opened the game on fire, hitting six of its first eight 3-point attempts. The Gators shot 10-for-23 from distance in the game.
* Myreon Jones made his first four 3-point attempts and shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc for the game, leading Florida with 18 points.
* Jones drew a 3-shot foul and converted all three attempts with 6:38 left in the game.
* Jones’ five made 3-pointers marked his most at UF and matched the most by a Gator this season (Appleby, 5 vs. Maryland).
* Anthony Duruji reached the 1,000-point career scoring mark and finished the game with 14 points.
* Tuongthach Gatkek recorded five blocked shots and has 10 over the past three games.
* The game, originally scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern, was moved to 3 p.m. Eastern due to a snowstorm in the Columbia area.
* Florida played shorthanded again without big men Colin Castleton (shoulder) and Jason Jitoboh (eye, out for season).
Head Coach Mike White
On the fight the team showed down the stretch…
“Incredibly resilient group. I know people get sick of hearing it, I get sick of hearing myself say the same things. But, it’s the reality. The amount of adversity that these guys have had to deal with… I’m just really proud of our guys. I’m not surprised that our guys showed the resiliency and the fight they showed. Missouri had it going, they were throwing haymakers at us… Executing and making shots. They made it ugly for us offensively, especially early-to-mid second half. I mean, we had some ugly possessions. I thought Appleby down the stretch was fantastic. He made winning plays and was incredibly confident and aggressive. Then, we sat down, got some stops, and found a way to steal one.”
On the free throw shooting…
“It’s a road environment, there were a bunch of students in there who were pretty vocal, you’re not playing at home, and it’s certainly not a neutral site. They’ve had some adversity too, you know… I wish all these guys would get healthy with all the teams in our league. Mental toughness has been an issue for this team at times this year… Unfortunately and surprisingly at times with an older group. But tonight, again led by Appleby, Tyree showed a ton of swagger. It still wasn’t elite in that area. There is still some stuff we need to clean up, but certainly going to the foul line and converting, mental toughness was on display there. We’ve gotten a lot better at the line. We’re searching offensively right now with our lineups. It’s tough to get twos… We’re unique, we’ve changed. Getting to the foul line and converting is huge for us currently.”
On Myreon Jones in the first half…
“I thought he was more of a presence, had more of a nose for the basketball, got a little bit grindier defensively on the glass, and that is something that he can learn in all of these guys. It’s what comes first – that’s something that we can control, and making shots follows it. But, in his defense, he’s had his struggles at times this year, and he’s remained consistent with his work ethic. He lives in the gym. It’s really important to him and our guys are happy for him. If he doesn’t have the first half that he has, I’m not sure we’re able to come up with this.”
On Tuongthach Gatkek’s performance…
“He has to continue to fill out. I’m only going to eat half of my pizza and give him my other half. Tuon plays hard… Great activity, great motor. Had a huge play down the stretch. What an odd situation – we didn’t think he’d log many minutes this year at all. We considered a redshirt on the front end… But, we thought he could be a good player down the road, and he did too. He’s a guy who, between the lines every day, he brings it, he works and he has a great attitude. It’s a good example to a lot of people that if you’re not ready, you’re going to be exposed. And he was ready when his name was called here in these last couple of weeks. He’s certainly got a way to go in so many areas, but no question to his effort ever.”
#22 Tyree Appleby, Senior Guard
On his second half performance…
“My coaches kept telling me to stay poised and stay ready. As a collective group, I think we just pulled that out through the toughness and through the end with all the adversity we were facing. Collectively, we just came together and we won this game.”
On how much he puts on himself to provide more when missing players…
“Not too much. That’s not what we preach – we don’t do too much. Make the simple plays, do the simple things and do everything you can to try and impact the game. So, we don’t really try to worry about the offense. Defensively, as a team, we just put our heads down, say we were going to get stops at the end, and I think we got the stops.”
On how satisfying it is to be perfect from the free throw line…
“It feels good. I preach to myself all the time that I’m automatic at the free throw line. I think we shoot the most free throws probably between any team in the country. I think that they just prepared me for that moment.”
