The Missouri basketball team came into Saturday night looking to break out of a funk and pick up its first win in the conference. The Tigers made sure that’s what happened with their offensive explosion against Florida.
Wow, that was big. If the Missouri basketball team can play like that for the rest of the season, the Tigers will be dangerous.
Mizzou dominated Florida at home with a 91-75 victory Saturday at Mizzou Arena. Mizzou’s win gives it a 9-6 record overall and 1-2 in the SEC, while Florida now is 10-5 and 2-1.
The Tigers grabbed the win behind the Smith triplets and Javon Pickett’s big performance off the bench. Not to mention a huge Xavier Pinson dunk early on that set the tone for the game. Pretty much, it was a great all-around performance. The team outplayed Florida throughout the contest, and that is huge for coach Cuonzo Martin moving forward.
Dru Smith had a game-high 22 points, while Mark Smith added 14, Mitchell Smith scored 10 and Pickett had 14. The Tigers, who have started slow in most of their games this season, broke out early for the big advantage.
Mark Smith hit a 3-pointer on the first attempt, 10 seconds into the game. Later on, Pinson took the ball on an awkward bounce and coasted down the middle of the floor to slam the ball down to go on top 13-5.
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The Tigers never trailed in Saturday’s win, and Pickett’s jumper at the 8:28 mark of the first half put Mizzou on top double digits for the first time at 29-18. The Tigers stretched their lead out from there, finishing the half with a Mark Smith dunk and two triples that paired with a Dru Smith swish from outside to lead 51-34.
The second half started just as the first did, with a 3-pointer. This time, it was forward Mitchell Smith who dropped in a trey 30 seconds into the game to make it a 54-36 lead for Mizzou.
Florida cut the lead to 10 points at 60-50 with 14:50 to play, but that was as close as they would get. Mizzou broke the game open from there, getting up to a 24-point lead multiple times over the next 10 minutes.
Reed Nikko, who will be starting going forward as the Tigers are playing without Jeremiah Tilmon, picked up five rebounds and seven points to help his team. As a team, Mizzou was 12 of 19 from outside with Pickett and the Smiths knocking down multiple shots. The Tigers also were 15-for-20 from the free-throw line and shot better than 60 percent from the field in the game.
The defense was good, too, forcing Florida to shoot worse than 40 percent for the game. Before the game, the Tigers announced reserve freshman guard Mario McKinney Jr. was suspended indefinitely. After the game, Martin said McKinney is not part of the team right now, and left it at that.
Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Mississippi State, which dropped a one-point game to LSU on Saturday, losing 60-59 to remain winless in the conference.