Florida at Missouri (Wednesday, 3 pm)

Florida at Missouri

* When: Wednesday, 3 p.m. ET
* Where: Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Mo.
* Records: Florida (13-8, 3-5); Missouri (8-12, 2-5)
* TV: SEC Network (Roy Philpott and Mark Wise)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)

Projected Starters

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Anthony Duruji	F	6-7 / 220	R-Senior	9.8 pts / 4.5 reb
Phlandrous Fleming Jr.	G	6-5 / 205	Graduate	10.6 pts / 3.7 reb
Kowacie Reeves	G	6-6 / 182	Freshman	5.3 pts / 1.3 reb
Brandon McKissic	G	6-3 / 185	Graduate	6.5 pts / 3.2 reb
Tyree Appleby	G	6-1 / 163	R-Senior	10.6 pts / 2.3 reb / 3.8 ast

Missouri	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Trevon Brazile	F	6-9 / 215	Freshman	5.3 pts / 3.3 reb
Kobe Brown	F	6-8 / 255	Junior	13.0 pts / 8.5 reb / 2.4 ast
DaJuan Gordon	G	6-3 / 185	Junior	8.8 pts / 4.4 reb
Jarron Coleman	G	6-5 / 210	Junior	10.1 pts / 3.8 reb / 3.1 ast
Javon Pickett	G	6-5 / 215	Senior	8.8 pts / 4.4 reb

The Breakdown

UF backup forward **Tuongthach Gatkek** (32) in action against Oklahoma State.

Setup / Series / Last Meeting

Florida snapped a two-game Southeastern Conference losing streak with Saturday's 81-72 home victory over Oklahoma State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, a game the Gators had to come from 16 points down in the first half (and 13 in the second) despite being shorthanded in the front court for a fifth consecutive outing. Missouri, meanwhile, was soundly beaten on the road by No. 23 Iowa State 67-50 in its SEC/Big 12 date. ... The Gators currently sit in 10th place in the SEC standings, one game ahead of the Tigers. ... UF leads the all-time series 7-4, but has lost the last two after winning the previous four. The Gators were absolutely throttled their last trip to Mizzou Arena, as the Tigers hit 61.5 percent overall, including 12-for-19 from the 3-point line (.632) in a 91-75 blowout. The two teams last met March 3, 2021 at Exactech Arena, in UF's home finale, when Missouri fifth-year senior guard Dru Smith, with the game-clock winding down, drove past UF guard Tre Mann, tight-roped the baseline and threw in a reverse layup between a trio of defenders with 0.7 seconds to steal a 72-70 win and ruin what would have been a tremendous come-from-behind effort for the home team. The Gators trailed by eight with two minutes to go, but UF scored eight straight, including two free throws by Colin Castleton with 18 seconds, to tie the game at 70. Then came Smith's killer bucket. He finished with 19 points, three rebounds, nine assists and six steals over 38 minutes. Mann led Florida with 17 points, but the Gators had 18 turnovers that led to 25 points the other way. ... Florida is 4-2 against Missouri under Coach Mike White, including 2-1 on the road.

Tale of the Tape

Florida	2021-22 Stats	Missouri
71.8	Scoring	66.2
.429	Field-goal percentage	.421
.299	3-point percentage	.276
64.2	Scoring defense	71.0
.438	Field-goal percentage defense	.438
.314	3-point percentage defense	.256
40th	KenPom.com overall ranking	138th
41st	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	184th
58th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	132nd
214th	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	239th
40th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	160th
48th	Overall strength of schedule ranking	23rd

Team Snapshots

The Gators

Their players and coaches talk constantly about the quest to put together a complete 40-minute game. It's an admirable goal, and one to which every team seeks to attain, but Florida's inconsistency the last few seasons has been one of its few consistencies. It could not have been any more evident than in Saturday's victory over Oklahoma State. To say it was a game of two

halves understates that cliche. Offensively, UF shot 34.5 percent overall and went 5-for-20 from the 3-point line (.250) in the first half. Defensively, they allowed the Cowboys to make 63.3 percent of their shots, including 7-for-10 from deep (OSU came into the ranked dead-last in the Big 12 in 3-point shooting at 27.9 percent). In the second half, UF hit 50.0 percent of its shots and five of 11 from 3, while allowing just 29.2 percent and 1-for-8 from long-range, plus forced 12 turnovers. At intermission, White and his staff benched three starters and trotted out a trio of young, mostly unused players to throw at the Cowboys to open the period. Forward Tuongthach Gatkek and guards Niels Lane and Eli Kennedy completely altered the direction of the game, providing infectious energy that spilled to the rest of the team -- and the O'Dome -- and fueled the comeback. Why it took three players buried deep on the bench (including one in Lane who had not played in more than a month) is a question for the coaches, but don't be surprised to see those guys some more. Gatkek had a career-high eight points, three rebounds and three blocks over 22 minutes. Lane did not score, but was sensational on the defensive end with two blocks, a steal and with his all-around guarding. ... UF forward Colin Castleton, the team's leader in scoring (15.4 ppg), rebounding (9.1) and blocks (2.8 pg), will miss his sixth consecutive game with a left shoulder injury, but has been doing some non-contact work the last few days. Junior center Jason Jitoboh, of course, is out for the season following season-ending eye surgery. ... Point guard Tyree Appleby was terrific against OSU, with a UF career-high 21 points, plus four assists and three steals. He also was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line, which helped the Gators go a sterling 33-for-41 at the stripe (.805). ... Forward Anthony Duruji was at the center of the "small ball" lineup and tallied 10 points and five rebounds, while wing Phlandrous Fleming Jr., who started at the "4" spot, went for 14 points (6-for-6 from the line) and six rebounds. Both were aided big time by Gatkek, whose play allowed the Gators to work a little more conventionally than they had anticipated. ... Guard Brandon McKissic had another tough game shooting (one of seven, 1-for-5 from 3), but had eight points, went 5-for-6 from the line and picked up his defense off the bench in the second half. ... Kowacie Reeves scored 11 points, but only one of his three field goals was a 3-pointer. ... Backup guard Myreon Jones (8.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg) made only one of his four shots, but it was a biggie; a corner 3-ball to give the Gators the lead with about eight minutes to go. They never trailed again. He had eight points and three rebounds. ... Reserve forward CJ Felder (4.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg), who due to illness was a DNP in the loss at Ole Miss and managed just three minutes in the loss at Tennessee, was only on the court for 2:30 against OSU, but should be 100 percent and ready for more minutes against the Tigers.

The Tigers

They're in the fifth season under Cuonzo Martin, with a record of 74-68 overall and 32-45 in SEC play. Martin, on his fourth head-coaching stop (Missouri State, Tennessee, California, Mizzou), has a career mark of 266-189 and has guided the Tigers to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths, in 2018 and '21, but did not advance in either season. The calling card for Martin's

teams lie mostly in their work ethic. He hasn't been overly blessed with talent -- when the Tigers had No. 1 overall prospect Michael Porter Jr., he was injured in the first game of the '17-18 season and did not return until the last two games -- but sometimes his teams play over their heads, which is to Martin's credit. ... Mizzou's non-conferene schedule included games against SMU, Florida State, Wichita State, Kansas and Illinois; all teams currently in the KenPom Top 100. The Tigers went 1-4 in those games, with the lone will coming on a neutral floor against the Mustangs. They opened SEC play on the road at Kentucky with a 27-point loss. Three days later, they stunned No. 15 Alabama at home. Mizzou has lost five of six since, with a lone road win at Ole Miss, and are riding a three-game losing skid against ranked opponents into this game. Just last week, the Tigers gave No. 1 Auburn everything it wanted before losing 55-54 at home. ... Forward Kobe Brown will be a problem for the depleted UF front court. He's not shooting at a high percentage (.465) and is not much of a 3-point threat, but he will bang around inside and is a top-five rebounder in the conference. Brown, whose 30 steals are 11 more than anyone on the team, is the only starter back from the team that defeated UF at the O'Dome last season. He had 30 points, eight rebounds and went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line in the upset of Alabama. ... Guard Javon Pickett had a great game (17 points, 6 rebounds) in the scare the Tigers threw at Auburn. ... Of the Missouri 3-point shooters, only one is making better than 35 percent. That's forward Trevon Brazile, but he's only made six all season on 17 attempts. He does most of his work inside the arc, and is at 57 percent overall for the season. ... Backup guard Amari Davis, transfer from Wisconsin-Green Bay, is the team's second-leading scorer and gets his 10.5 points and 2.5 rebounds coming off the bench. ... Point guard Jarron Coleman can be sped up and get loose with the ball (55 assists, 49 turnovers). The Ball State transfer has made 29 buckets from 3, which are the most on the team, but at just 32.2 percent. ... Guard DaJuan Gordon, transfer from Kansas State, is next on the 3-point list with 20 and also can be a pest rebounding down. ... Backup win Ronnie DeGray III, a transfer from UMass, is second on the team in offensive rebounds with 44, compared to 55 on the defensive end.

Numbers of Note

**Chris Chiozza's** layup as time expired gave UF a two-point road victory in 2018.

* .01 — Seconds left when UF senior point guard Chris Chiozza's layup -- following his steal at the other end of the floor with just three seconds remaining -- fell through the basket and gave the Gators a stunning 77-75 victory over Missouri on Jan. 6, 2018, the last time the Gators UF won at Mizzou Arena.

* .016 — Combined winning percentage of the two teams in Quadrant-1 games, based on their 2-12 record. Florida is 1-5, with the lone win over Ohio State (NET No. 19) on a neutral floor, while Missouri is 1-7, with the lone win over Alabama (No. 22) at home.

* 3 — Consecutive games for the Gators ( at Missouri, then home against Ole Miss and Georgia) against teams currently seated in the bottom four spots of the SEC standings. That would suggest UF has a chance to make some hay in the win column, but the Gators have demonstrated that nothing can be assumed, having already lost at home to Texas Southern (a rare Q-4 defeat, for now) and last week's lopsided rout at Ole Miss (Q-2, for now).

* 4 — Quad-1 games remaining on the UF schedule, with back-to-back road dates at Kentucky (Net 12th) and Texas A&M (65th) looming, plus home dates against top-ranked Auburn (6th) and Kentucky in the home finale.

* 23 — Non-league wins for the Gators over power conference opponents since White arrived for the 2015-16 season. That's the most of any SEC program, with Kentucky the next-closest at 20.

Bottom Line

Nine games, starting with this one, to make a case to the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Frankly, it needs to be a better case than what is currently on the resume; and far more difficult games dot the remaining schedule. That can be good and bad.

Gators Calendar

Florida at Missouri (Wednesday, 3 pm)