Gators Get Payback Over Missouri to Advance to SEC Tournament Semifinals

The Florida Gators go into Nashville and start off tournament play with a payback win over Missouri

The Gators avenge the regular-season loss / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Nashville, Tenn. – The No. 2 seed Florida Gators dominated the No. 7 seed Missouri Tigers Friday night in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament to advance to the semifinals, winning 95-81. Florida avenges their early season loss to Missouri, responding to it with a 14-point win. 

The Gators had four players score at least 15 points. Leading the way was Walter Clayton Jr. with 18 points. Will Richard and Alijah Martin were right behind him with 17 each. 

While the Gators held the lead throughout, Missouri put up a fight at times. However, the Gators kept answering. The biggest of those answers came late in this contest when they went on a dagger of a run, outscoring their opponents 18-5 from the 7:02 mark to the 2:07 mark of the second half. 

Florida will face the winner of Alabama and Kentucky in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. 

Clayton Jr. Dominates the First Half

It was a much better start for the Gators in the rematch. They started on a 10-0 run to begin and stretched it to a 15-2 run within the first three and a half minutes. The standout player during this opening portion was Richard, who scored eight of the first 10 points. 

In addition to the 3-pointers made during this run, the Gators knocked down two more to begin the game a perfect 5-for-5 from deep against the Tigers. It was capped off by a Clayton Jr. 3-point make, and resulted in a 25-11 advantage for the Gators with 11:47 left in the half. 

The Tigers responded with an 11-2 run of their own. The Tigers were able to speed up the Gators during this stretch and really throw them off their game. Fortunately for Florida, Richard calmed things down with a triple in transition that gave his team a nine-point lead. 

Clayton had the highlight play of the first half. Following a Richard steal, Clayton Jr. sprinted ahead of the pack and found himself on the end of an alley-oop slam that put the Gators up 11. 

jaw dropped. 🤯

📺SECN
Gators 37 | 26 pic.twitter.com/kvyKylsU4h

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 14, 2025

By the end of the half, the Gators were in front 50-37. It was a great two-way performance from the orange and blue. Offensively, they finished the first 20 shooting 63% from the field and 50% from deep. As a team, they were also 9-for-11 from the free-throw line. Defensively, the Gators held their opponents to just 42.9% from the field and 18.2% from three. 

However, the Gators did struggle with turnovers. They had 10 in the first half, handing Missouri 12 points. 

Clayton ended the first half with 17 points, four assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block. Helping out Clayton was Richard, who finished with 13 points. These two combined for 30 of the team’s 50 points.

Late Run Closes for the Gators

The turnover problem persisted for Florida at the start of the second half. They had three in the opening five minutes, giving Missouri six free points. Florida was able to deal with the mistakes and put themselves up by 14 points. 

But Missouri wouldn’t go down without a fight. Behind persistence and their physicality on both ends, the Tigers clawed all the way back to a four-point deficit with 13 minutes remaining. 

Florida managed to collect itself, refortifying their lead back up to 10 points with roughly nine minutes left in the game after an alley-oop slam from Alijah Martin. 

Missouri fought back again, bringing it to a five-point game with seven minutes left. However, an 18-5 run by Florida put the game out of reach. 

Up Next

In the next round of the tournament, Florida will take on either Alabama or Kentucky. That game will take place on Saturday and will tip roughly 25 minutes after the conclusion of Auburn vs Tennessee.

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