Columbia, MO — The beginning of the game between Missouri and Florida started out very back-and-forth with Missouri’s Tamar Bates (6’5” -G) leading his team consistently scoring. Throughout the first half, it would seem as if Florida was about to take control of the game but every time that happened Bates would make a play to keep the game close as he spent most of his time living in the mid-range area of the court. Neither team had anything more than a three-point lead and at the half, Bates led all scorers with 17 points, and the Tigers where down by three points 37–34.
Tyrese Samuel led the way for the Gators in the first half by being a consistent active screener to free guard Walter Clayton Jr. (6’2” -G) for consistent opportunities to score. Clayton Jr. was the Gator’s leading scorer at halftime with nine points. Samuel did a great job finishing around the basket and was Florida’s second-leading scorer with eight points. He did not take many shots but on the defensive side of the basketball, he provided a consistent presence down low that kept the Missouri bigs from being able to get in a rhythm.
In the second half, the Gators began to increase the lead and got as much as a 13-point lead towards the end of the game. Florida came out with the win 79 -67 with all five starters scoring in double figures. Samuel (6’10” -F) led Florida with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and went to the foul line 12 times, making seven. Although he ended the game with three rebounds the part that isn’t telling is all the deflections that he caused from being active around the rim. Micah Handlogten (7’1” -C) was the beneficiary of the deflections by being in the right position to grab them and led all players with 13 rebounds (4 offensive) that led to second chances points for him or other teammates. The difference in the game was that Florida shot 40.9% from the three-point line going 9-of-22 and Missouri ended up only shooting 18.8% going 3-of-16. Clayton Jr. led the team in three-point field goal percentage by taking the second most threes on the team with six and making three.
During the entire game, Missouri’s Bates was consistently putting his team on his back to keep them in the game with Nick Honor (5’10” -G) providing some timely threes. Honor ended the game as the second-leading scorer with 10 points. In the second half, Bates continued to keep pace with what he did in the first half by ending the game with a career-high of 36 points going 13-of-21 from the field and a perfect 9-of- 9 from the free line. Florida consistently tried different defenders on him but no one could stop him from getting to his spots in the mid-range and pulling up. He went 1-of-4 from the three-point line with that three-point shot coming in the first half with Missouri being down by two points to put them up by one.
This article was written by Chivas Miller, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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