Live Blog: Updates from Missouri's SEC Tournament Quarterfinal vs. Florida

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–– Missouri Tigers on SI has made it to Bridgstone Arena where No. 21 Missouri (21-10, 10-8 SEC) looks to advance to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament but must first outlast No. 4 Florida (27-4, 14-4 SEC).

The Tigers are the 7-seed in the SEC Tournament while the Gators are the 2-seed. Missouri received a single bye and defeated 10-seed Mississippi State 85-73 on Thursday while Florida had a double and tonight will be their first matchup of the week.

The winner of this matchup will face 2-seed Florida in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

FOLLOW ALONG FOR UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE GAME ON THE LIVE BLOG ON MISSOURI TIGERS ON SI.

Live Blog

(latest updates at the top)

Final: Florida 95, Missouri 81

Missouri vs. Florida SEC Tournament Quarterfinal Final Score | StatBroadcast

Second Half

0:30: Florida's student section started chanting "Start the buses" and then both teams took their starters out.

TIMEOUT MISSOURI (1:19 2H): Florida leads 95-79. It looks like this could be it for Mizzou until the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are struggling to score and the Gators are struggling to miss.

3:19 Florida's Elijah Martin hits a big three on the left wing to go up 89-75. The Tigers are officially running very low on time.

5:15: Mizzou crowd is not a fan of the personal foul called on Dylan Crews. Florida proceeded to hit both shots from the free-throw line. Florida big man Alex Condon increased the lead to 11 less than a minute later.

MEDIA TIMEOUT (7:45 2H): Florida leads 74-66; Missouri has been the better team this half by a slight 29-24 margin. But it must start to really attack and defend consistently to complete the comeback.

10:50: Nice pull-up jumper by Robinson to cut it within six.

MEDIA TIMEOUT (11:42 2H: Florida leads 67-60. Missouri has slowly but surely come back a bit in this one as they previously cut the deficit to four. Grill and Perkins made big plays during the run.

Still fighting 💪👊@nlmbpeyton // #MIZ 🐯 pic.twitter.com/8iGQ2f5Uxa
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) March 15, 2025

14:00: Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. went to the locker room after what looked to be a leg injury as he limped off the floor quickly and under his own power.

MEDIA TIMEOUT (14:58 2H): Florida leads 62-51. Missouri's offense has been great to start the second half but the same could equally be said for the Gators. The Tigers have pulled within single digits several times in the last few minutes, but they can't stop Florida.

18:19 Nice and-1 jumpshot by Bates early in the second half to bring it back down to single digits.

Halftime: Florida 50, Missouri 37

Missouri vs. Florida SEC Tournament Quarterfinal Halftime Score | StatBroadcast

First Half

1:56: Clayton simply cannot be stopped as he's up to 17 point on 6 of 7, including 3-for-3 from downtown. He also leads the Gators in assists with four and steals with two and also has a block to his name.

5:31: Momentum may have gone further in Florida's direction after a high-flying alley-oop slam by Clayton to go back up by double digits.

jaw dropped. 🤯

📺SECN
Gators 37 | 26 pic.twitter.com/kvyKylsU4h
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 14, 2025

6:53: Really nice jumper by Missouri's T.O. Barrett. Hopefully this flips a switch.

TIMEOUT FLORIDA (7:21): Florida leads 33-24; The Tigers finally ignited the crowd with a couple of steals and finishes but there just hasn't been enough defensive stops as the Gators are 6 of their last 8. Mizzou is 10-for-24 so far.

Tigers making their move#MIZ 🐯 pic.twitter.com/8Hkx5OcR03
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) March 14, 2025

TIMEOUT (11:03): Florida leads 27-13; Things have gone from bad to worse for the Tigers as Florida All-SEC First Team guard Walter Clayton Jr. is up to 10 points while Will Richard has eight. The Gators are 9 of 12 from the field and a troubling 5-for-6 from deep.

MEDIA TIMEOUT (15:23): Florida leads 15-6; The Tigers have outscored the Gators 6-5 since their timeout but defense has been a big issue so far. Florida is 5 of 7 from the field and has made all three of its threes.

17:14: Trent Pierce finally gets Mizzou on the scoreboard with an angry and-1 dunk. However he missed the free-throw.

Get us going @trentpierce22 🤯#SCTop10 // #MIZ 🐯 pic.twitter.com/55ljVpdHqw
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) March 14, 2025

TIMEOUT MISSOURI (18:25): Florida leads 10-0. Nothing has gone right for the Tigers so far as they haven't even attempted a shot yet and have two turnovers.

19:13: Missouri center Josh Gray was assessed a flagrant foul.

Starting Lineups

Missouri	Florida
Anthony Robinson II	Walter Clayton Jr.
Tamar Bates	Will Richard
Tony Perkins	Alijah Martin
Trent Pierce	Rueben Chinyelu
Josh Gray	Alex Condon

Pregame

Missouri big man Mark Mitchell was warming up with the team but was declared out for this game by head coach Dennis Gates: "I have elected to not play Mark tonight in order to prevent further injury and allow his knee to fully recover and be 100 percent. He had a great walkthrough and workout earlier today and we look forward to him helping us during the rest of the postseason."

Fans entered Bridgestone arena without about 20 minutes until tipoff. Texas vs. Tennessee, the game prior, finished up on time but fans could not be admitted until the arena was clear.

Missouri came out for initial warmups with 45 minutes until tipoff but went back to the locker room after about 10 minutes. The Tigers and Florida then came out for warmups again with 23 minutes until tipoff but each headed back to the locker room with 10 minutes left.

How to Watch: No. 7-seed Missouri vs 2-seed Florida

Who: 7-seed Missouri Tigers (22-10, 10-8 SEC) vs. 2-seed Florida Gators (27-4, 14-4 SEC)

When: Friday, March 14 at 6:00 p.m. CT

Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee

TV: SEC Network

Radio: Tiger Radio Network

Sirius XM: 190 (Home and Away)

Series History: Florida leads 11-5

Last Time Out, Missouri: The Tigers knocked off the Bulldogs in the second round, 85-73. Though it was a back and forth contest for most of the night, Missouri pulled away in the closing minutes of the second half behind Bates and Perkins.

Last Time Out, Florida: The Gators lucked out with a double-bye, but pummeled the Ole Miss Rebels in a 90-71 win to close out the regular season. Walter Clayton Jr. recorded 23 points, five rebounds and eight assists on 9-of-17 shooting.