Gators Men’s Basketball in Desperate Need of First SEC Road Victory

The Florida Gators men’s basketball team has not gotten off to the start they were hoping for in Southeastern Conference play. The team has had multiple opportunities to stack Quadrant 1 victories, but they’ve failed to do so and will now have to scratch and claw their way to the NCAA tournament.

Florida will look to build positive momentum Saturday. It may be the perfect opportunity given the Missouri Tigers are 8-9 on the season and 0-4 in SEC play.

“We’ve got to do a better job in road games, Florida head coach Todd Golden said in a press conference Friday. “It all starts with our effort on the defensive end, especially on the road.”

Leavin' the Sunshine State 🛫 pic.twitter.com/1cpJNFo9kG

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 19, 2024

Slow Start to Conference Play

The matchup with Missouri is beginning to look like a must-win for Florida if the team wants to keep its postseason hopes alive. The Gators travel to Columbia with an 11-6 record on the season but only 1-3 in the SEC.

It may be a bit too early to start staring down the conference standings. However, the Gators find themselves in 10th place in the SEC with the Tigers in dead last. Golden isn’t looking past their next opponent given Florida’s recent struggles.

“Missouri is good,” Golden said. “We go into an 0-4 environment but that’s not the attitude or mentality that our team has.”

Missouri head coach Dennis Gates enters his second year at the helm. In Year 1 under Gates, the team made an unexpected appearance in the NCAA tournament. Missouri has had a difficult time building off of last season’s success. The Tigers suffered a quad-4 loss to Jackson State before narrowly defeating Loyola Maryland 78-70.

Scouting Missouri

The Tigers struggle to defend as they currently rank 152nd in defensive efficiency. Their offense hasn’t been able to pick up much of the slack, currently ranking 75th in the nation as a team.

Missouri is led by graduate student guard Sean East II. He enters Saturday’s contest as the Tigers’ leading scorer at 16.5 points per game and will be a focus point for the Gators defensively. Graduate student guard Nick Honor rounds out a talented backcourt for Missouri, averaging 10.8 points per game.

“Both those guys are really good playmakers and scorers,” Golden said. “We’ve got to stay consistent in terms of not letting them get to their strong hand and not letting them get the shots they want.”

Tip-off for Saturday’s matchup against Missouri will be at 8 p.m. in Columbia. The game will be aired on ESPNU.