Florida Gators

WHAT HAPPENED: Forward Colin Castleton scored 16 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, dished six assists and had three steals, while guard Will Richard tallied 18 points, dropping four 3-pointers, and the Florida Gators rallied from a double-digit deficit Saturday to beat 20th-ranked Missouri in their Southeastern Conference game at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. UF used a 9-1 run midway through the second half to take control of what became the team's third straight win of the season, again leaning on a defense that frustrated the the nation's No. 5-ranked team in offensive efficiency. The Tigers came in averaging 85.7 points and shooting 49.4 percent, but were held to 41.7 percent and tied their lowest-scoring output of the season. Florida led by six with a minute to go when fifth-year point guard Kyle Lofton hit a late shot clock step-back jumper. After Mizzou again cut the margin to six, another steady-handed fifth-year senior, Myreon Jones, hit two free throws with 37.5 seconds left and the Gators finished from there in a second half that they scored 45 points. Castleton went 7-for-11 from the floor on the way to his third double-double of the season. Richard went 4-for-8 from deep and made all six of his free throws. Jones came off the bench for eight points, four rebounds, five assists and just one turnover over a season-high 35 minutes. Freshman guard Riley Kugel equaled his career-high of 13 points and five-rebounds and was key to keeping the home team in a game during a first half that could have gotten out of hand. As has been their habit this season, the Gators got off to a poor start, falling behind 11-0 out of the gate. Remarkably, despite a reckless 13 first-half turnovers, they managed to claw back to take a brief one-point lead and went to the locker room tied at 25 after holding the Tigers to 33-percent shooting and managing the damage on those turnovers to just eight Mizzou points. The two teams went back and forth into the second period when the Gators, down 47-45, got a 3-pointer from Jones and layup from Castleton on great high-low feed over the defense from Jones to for a lead they never gave back. UF shot 47.1 percent for the game, including 51.7 after halftime, and limited its turnovers to just five after intermission. The Tigers were led by forward Kobe Brown's game-high 21 points and six rebounds, but they made just three of 18 from the 3-point line versus 10-for-23 for the Gators in one of their best long-range efforts of the season.  WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators have their first three-game winning streak of the season (and Coach Todd Golden his first UF win over a ranked opponent), with each coming against Top 100 KenPom.com teams. That's significant, considering UF's best win as of a week ago was against No. 153 Ohio U. As for the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), the Gators now have a second "Quadrant 2" victory (Missouri came in at No. 44), but still is seeking a first big-time resume-builder (of which they'll need several). UF had its streak of consecutive games holding teams under 40-percent shooting snapped at six, but still held the Tigers 8 percent below their season average. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Terrific offensive game from Richard, who appears to have snapped out of that cold spell earlier this season when he went four straight games without a 3-pointer (0-for-12). 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: In three of their five SEC games, the Gators have fallen behind by at least 7-0 (at Auburn and at LSU), including Saturday's 11-0 deficit. In the two other league games (A&M and Georgia), the first-half deficits were eight and 13 points, respectively. Imagine if this team could start fast, instead of the reverse. 

UP NEXT: Florida (10-7, 3-2) gets its first rematch of the season, as the Gators take on Texas A&M (11-5, 3-0) Wednesday night at College Station. The Aggies, who play Saturday night at South Carolina, were in Gainesville just 10 days ago and won 66-63 in UF's home conference opener. The date with A&M, which has been one of the early surprise teams in the league with five straight wins, looks like it could be the Gators' seventh chance at a Q1 victory, pending the outcome of that road date against the Gamecocks,