Walter Clayton Jr. recorded 18 points and six assists to lead a balanced effort as second-seeded Florida notched a 95-81 victory over seventh-seeded Missouri on Friday night to reach the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Nashville.
Alijah Martin scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Will Richard also scored 17 points for the fourth-ranked Gators (28-4). Florida’s Thomas Haugh contributed 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Gators will face third-seeded Alabama in one semifinal on Saturday. Alabama crushed sixth-seeded Kentucky later on Friday.
Tamar Bates scored 16 points for No. 21 Missouri (22-11), which lost for the fourth time in five games. Tony Perkins and Anthony Robinson II added 13 points apiece, and Caleb Grill had 11.
The Tigers played without Mark Mitchell, who sustained a right knee injury in the team’s Thursday victory over Mississippi State.
Florida avenged an 83-82 home loss to Missouri on Jan. 14. The Gators never trailed in the Friday rematch.
Florida made a stellar 61.8 percent of its shots, including 9 of 24 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range, while winning its fourth straight game and 10th in its past 11.
Missouri sank 44.1 percent of its field-goal attempts and was 4 of 16 (25 percent) from behind the arc. The Tigers forced 16 turnovers and committed just nine.
A three-point play by Haugh gave the Gators a 60-46 lead with 16:27 remaining.
The Tigers answered with a 14-4 surge to move within 64-60 on a driving shot by Robinson with 13:14 to play.
Florida countered by scoring 10 of the next 14 points. Martin scored the last two baskets as the Gators held a 74-64 advantage with 9:02 remaining.
Missouri later got within 75-70 on Bates’ basket with 7:02 left before the Gators went on a 10-2 burst. Alex Condon scored the last two baskets to make it 85-72 with 3:55 to go.
A 3-pointer by Martin was followed by Richard’s run down the baseline for a dunk. Condon added a hook shot to make it 93-75 with 2:07 left as Florida finished it off.
Clayton scored 17 points and Richard added 13 as the Gators built a 50-37 lead entering the break. Bates had nine in the half for Missouri.
Richard scored eight points during Florida’s 10-0 game-opening run. The lead grew to 15-2 on Rueben Chinyelu’s basket with 16:19 left in the half, but Missouri later made a run that was punctuated by Grill’s dunk, cutting the deficit to 28-24 with 8:21 left.
–Field Level Media
