SETUP

The quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament features the 2-seed Florida Gators against the 7-seed Missouri Tigers. Florida enters riding momentum, having won three straight and nine of its last ten, capped by a 90-71 victory over Ole Miss in the regular-season finale. Missouri, meanwhile, snapped a skid of three consecutive losses (and four of five overall) by defeating 10-seed Mississippi State in Thursday’s second-round matchup to earn its place in the quarters.

Series History

Florida holds an 11-5 advantage in the all-time series, though Missouri halted the Gators’ four-game winning streak earlier this season. On Jan. 14, the Tigers stunned Florida in Gainesville with an 83-82 win — the Gators’ only home defeat of the year. Despite the close final score, Missouri controlled much of the contest, shooting 55% overall, converting 14 of its first 22 attempts, and sinking seven of 14 from beyond the arc to build a 19-point first-half lead. Florida responded after halftime, shooting 55% and limiting Missouri to 33% in the second half, trimming the margin to three points on multiple occasions but never securing the stop needed to complete the comeback. Caleb Grill paced Missouri with 22 points, including six 3-pointers (a perfect 4-for-4 in the opening half), while Walter Clayton Jr. led Florida with 28 points.

Extra Notes

This marks only the second SEC Tournament meeting between the two programs since Missouri joined the conference in 2012-13. Their lone prior clash came in the 2014 quarterfinals, when Florida — then the regular-season champion — defeated Missouri 72-49 at the Georgia Dome en route to its most recent SEC Tournament title.

UF guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1)

Florida enters the SEC quarterfinals on a roll, having won three straight against KenPom top-30 opponents, including a road upset of seventh-ranked Alabama that secured the Gators the No. 2 seed—their highest since 2017. Nationally, UF is one of only three programs ranked in the top 10 for both offensive (No. 4) and defensive (No. 10) efficiency, joining Duke (No. 2 offense, No. 4 defense) and Houston (No. 10 offense, No. 2 defense). Whether Florida earns a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament may hinge on this matchup—or potentially a semifinal clash with Alabama if both advance. Last season, the Gators made a run from the 6-seed to the championship game, winning three contests in three days before falling to Auburn 86-67.

Team Strengths: Florida ranks fourth in effective field-goal percentage, second in two-point shooting (55.2%), and sixth from beyond the arc (35.8%). Their offensive rebounding is elite—second in the SEC and eighth nationally—providing crucial second-chance opportunities. Defensively, UF is third nationally in effective field-goal percentage, 10th against two-point attempts (45.2%), and eighth guarding the perimeter (29.6%). Under coach Todd Golden, the Gators are 67-33 across three seasons, giving him the highest winning percentage (.670) through 100 games in program history, surpassing Mike White (.650).

Standout Players:

• Walter Clayton Jr.: Recently named First-Team All-SEC and First-Team All-America by The Sporting News, Clayton ranks No. 7 in KenPom’s National Player of the Year standings—second-best in the SEC behind Auburn’s Johni Broome (No. 2) and just ahead of Alabama’s Mark Sears (No. 8). He’s shooting 54.3% on twos and 36.4% on threes, highlighted by five triples in the win over Ole Miss. Clayton joined Will Richard and Alijah Martin for an emotional “Senior Night” celebration, with the trio combining for more than 5,300 career points. Richard, despite a 2-for-10 showing from deep in his finale, remains at 37.5% from three in SEC play and leads the team at 68.5% on twos. Martin tops starters at 38.4% from long range in conference play.
• Alex Condon: Earned All-SEC third-team honors after averaging 22 points and 12.5 rebounds in two key wins. The athletic Australian forward has drawn NBA attention, though he’ll need to improve his free-throw shooting (57.1% in SEC play) to complement his strong rebounding—half of which come on the offensive glass.
• Rueben Chinyelu: The center posted 11 rebounds in the Alabama win and is shooting nearly 60% in SEC competition.
• Thomas Haugh: Since rejoining the starting lineup, the sophomore forward has contributed 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists across two games, while hitting all of his two-point attempts and three of seven from deep.
• Micah Handlogten: The 7-1 reserve center, returning from a broken leg suffered in last year’s title game, is rebounding at elite rates—21% defensively and 17.7% offensively—in limited minutes.
• Denzel Aberdeen: The junior guard averages 8.0 points per game and has a quirky stat line: Florida is 19-0 when he makes a three-pointer, but just 7-4 when he doesn’t.
• Urban Klavzar: The reserve guard has scored in all 10 games since joining the rotation, hitting a three in eight of them, and is shooting 46.2% from deep in SEC play.

Missouri guard Caleb Grill (31)

Coaching & Record: Now in his third year leading Missouri, Dennis Gates—once a protégé of Leonard Hamilton and a candidate for Florida’s coaching vacancy in 2022—has compiled a 54-44 record. That mark is skewed by last season’s 8-24 campaign, which included 19 losses against SEC opponents. Gates’ debut season was far stronger, with the Tigers finishing 25-10 and advancing to the NCAA Tournament’s second round. In 2025, Missouri opened SEC play with six wins in its first eight games (and eight of its first 11 overall), but stumbled late, dropping six of its final 10, including consecutive defeats to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.

Offensive & Defensive Profile: Despite the late-season skid, Missouri remains one of the league’s most potent offenses. The Tigers shoot 54.3% on two-point attempts (fifth in the SEC) and 37.9% from three (third), averaging 84.5 points per game—fourth-best in the conference. Their weakness lies on defense: opponents have averaged 94 points in Missouri’s last four losses, fueled by 59% shooting inside the arc. Overall, the Tigers rank 13th in the SEC in effective field-goal defense, 12th against twos (54.2%), and 10th against threes (34.1%).



Key Players:

• Mark Mitchell (Forward): Missouri’s top front-court presence, shooting 51% overall. Though his 13 made threes rank only eighth on the team, Mitchell excels at drawing contact, with 208 free-throw attempts—second-most in the SEC.
• Caleb Grill (Guard): The Iowa State transfer averages 14.8 points and 3.8 rebounds, earning SEC Sixth Man of the Year honors over UF’s Thomas Haugh and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford. Grill has hit nearly 50% of his shots and 42.3% from deep, with a team-leading 74 threes (eighth-most in the SEC).
• Tamar Bates (Guard): Shooting 50.9% overall and 39.7% from three, Bates has scored in double figures 21 times. He poured in 29 points in Missouri’s upset of then-No. 1 Kansas in December and tallied a career-high 38 against Florida last season in Columbia.
• Anthony Robinson (Point Guard): A Tallahassee native from Florida State High, Robinson drives Missouri’s fast-paced offense. He scores at all three levels, maintains a better than 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and is recognized as an all-league defender.
• Bench Contributors: Guard Marques Warrick (6.9 ppg), forward Trent Pierce (4.8 ppg), and forward Jacob Crews (5.6 ppg) each provide perimeter shooting depth, with all three surpassing 30 made threes this season.

• .476 — Florida’s all-time winning percentage in SEC Tournament play, reflecting a 49-54 record.
• 4 — Total SEC Tournament championships for the Gators (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014).
• 31 — Titles claimed by Kentucky, the most in league history. The Wildcats haven’t won since 2018. Alabama ranks second with eight. The tournament originally ran from 1933 to 1952, paused for 27 years, and resumed in 1979.
• 31 points — Scored by sophomore guard Kenyan Weaks in a 68-64 first-round win over Auburn in 1998, the highest single-game total by a Gator in the event. Tre Mann nearly matched it with 30 in a 2021 quarterfinal loss to Tennessee. The overall SEC Tournament single-game scoring record is 42, set by Kentucky’s Melvin Turpin against Georgia in 1984.
• 2014 — Florida’s most recent SEC Tournament crown. On March 16 at the Georgia Dome, the top-ranked Gators—fresh off a perfect 18-0 SEC season and a 25-game win streak—built a 15-point second-half lead over No. 25 Kentucky. The Wildcats mounted a furious rally, but Defensive Player of the Year Scottie Wilbekin forced a turnover in the final seconds, sealing a 61-60 victory.

Bottom Line: Survive & Advance, Part I.

Email Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu