Eight minutes into the SEC opener, it looked like all would be well for the Gators. Florida shot out to an early eight-point lead, was making some shots, and was defending well against Missouri. But then an all too familiar theme took hold as Florida could make a three-pointer to save their life, and allowed Missouri to pull away in the second half.
The Gators clawed back and even had a lead with under four minutes to go, but the continued inability to hit clutch shots haunted Florida once again as they lost 76-74 to Missouri to fall to 0-1 in SEC play.
Florida once again can’t shoot three
At this point, we should probably just copy and paste Florida’s shooting stats from three because it continues to not change from game to game. Florida was actually 5-12 (41%) in the first half, but they sank to 2-15 (13%) in the second half to finish the game 25% from three. If you are keeping score at home, Florida is now 346th in the country from three.
Todd Golden knows this is a copy-and-paste story, too:
“But the same story for us in terms of not being able to step up and make some shots, 2-for-15 from 3 in the second half. I think 10 or 11 of those looks were really good looks. To win on the road, you've got to be able to set up and make some shots.”
Xaivian Lee was 3-7 from three, and Thomas Haugh was 2-6, but it was Boogie Fland going 0-6 from three that was the major albatross on the night. Dating back to the UConn game, Fland is now two for his last twenty attempts from three. As much as Golden was starting to experiment with some options off the bench towards the end of the non-conference slate, Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown both got 10 minutes, and that was it for guards rotating in.
Florida will take on Georgia and the Fighting Mike White’s at home on Tuesday.