The Gators will face Missouri in round one of the SEC Post-Season Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. Florida last met the Tigers in Gainesville, defeating them 86-70 on Feb. 22.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida will travel to Greenville, South Carolina, as the eleventh seed in the 2024 SEC tournament. The Gators will face the Missouri Tigers for an approximate 1:30 p.m. tip on Wednesday in Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The post-season contest against Mizzou will mark Florida’s twenty-ninth game of the 2023-24 season and their seventeenth SEC matchup.
MISSOURI (11-18, 2-14 SEC):
* Date: Wednesday, Mar. 6
* Time: 1:30 p.m. (25 minutes after the conclusion of Kentucky vs. Georgia)
* Site: Bon Secours Wellness Arena
* Stream: SECN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/c2ec8a39-883e-4ee6-9fde-332c4d865c2a>
* Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5362&type=Archive>
* Tickets<https://www.secticketoffice.com/events/secwbb.html>
THE SERIES:
The current series between Florida and Missouri is in favor of the Tigers at 11-4. The Gators trail by seven in the all-time series, but have come out ahead in their last two meetings against Missouri to put them on a two-game win streak.
HISTORY:
Since the Missouri Tigers joined the SEC in July, Florida has seen them a recorded fifteen times. The most recent matchup between the Gators and Mizzou was two weeks ago on Feb. 22, 2024 in Gainesville. Florida secured a sixteen-point win, defeating the Tigers 86-70 to mark their largest margin of victory over Mizzou. Aliyah Matharu led Florida offensively and set a career-high in scoring with 28 points, while Faith Dut was dominate on the boards and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. A little less than a year prior to their Feb. 2024 matchup, Florida traveled to gold and black territory to defeat Mizzou 61-52 to snap their three-game losing streak against the Tigers.
FLORIDA’S LAST GAME:
The Gators finished out their 2023-24 regular season on Sunday afternoon at Exactech Arena. Florida took on Auburn and were edged 77-74 by the seventh ranked team in the SEC. The Gators proved once more their ability to compete with 13 steals and 24 turnovers on Auburn to convert for 28-points.
Florida was led overall by Leilani Correa as she recorded her first double-double of the season with 23-points and 10 rebounds. Aliyah Matharu closely followed with 22-points, five rebounds, and four steals. The Gators finished out the home contest shooting 39.7 percent from the field and Auburn yielded a 56.3 percent, making it a tall task for Florida to close out.
ABOUT MISSOURI:
The Tigers are coming to Greenville off a 95-70 loss to Mississippi State in their final game of the regular season on Sunday. Missouri had four players in double digits for scoring but were led overall by Hayley Frank with 18-points and six rebounds. Ashton Judd followed with17-points and four rebounds.
Throughout the season Mizzou has three players averaging in double figures for scoring: Hayley Frank (17.7 ppg), Ashton Judd (13.4 ppg), and Grace Slaughter (11.5 ppg). On the boards, Mizzou is led by Judd and Frank, both averaging 6.6 rebounds a game. In total, Judd has grabbed 165 rebounds this season with 122 being defensive and the other 43 being snagged on offense. Frank has a total of 146 with 120 from the defensive end and the other 26 from offense.
QUICK HITS:
* Florida is undefeated in neutral locations for the 2023-24 season (3-0)
* Florida’s last meeting against Missouri in an SEC post-season tournament was Mar. 7, 2019
* The Gators fell 87-56
* The Gators defeated Mizzou in their most recent contest 86-70 (Feb. 22)
* In Florida’s last meeting two career highs were set for the Gators
* Matharu set a career high in scoring with 28 points
* Dut hit her career high on the boards with 11 rebounds
* Missouri is 44-33 all-time in conference tournaments
* The Tigers are tied for second in the conference with a 3-point percentage (35.5%) with an average of 8.2 per game
* Florida’s Leilani Correa leads the league in scoring for conference play with an average of 21.38
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