Lingering Missouri basketball takeaways: How depth played a role in MU’s win at Florida

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The Tigers are bringing a rare type of win back to Columbia.

Missouri basketball defeated No. 5/4 Florida 83-82 on Tuesday evening in Gainesville, Florida, for its second win over a top-five team this season and its first road victory over a top-five team in more than a decade.

Mizzou (14-3, 3-1 SEC) has changed the scope of its season courtesy of the upset. Beating a previously one-loss team on its home floor will do that. The offense was electric in the first half, and the Tigers did enough to hold on to its lead and get across the line after the break.

Here are three takeaways from Missouri’s top-five road win at Florida that didn’t make our day-of coverage but are worth deeper discussion before the Tigers face Arkansas on Saturday in Columbia:

More: Scope of Missouri basketball’s season suddenly changed with top-5 win at Florida. Here’s how

More: Missouri basketball score: Mizzou offense explodes in first half as it stuns top-5 Florida

When Missouri basketball got in foul trouble, depth stepped up

First, Tony Perkins was ejected for a Flagrant-2 foul assessed for a swinging elbow to … a very sensitive area on Florida forward Alijah Martin. Then, Caleb Grill was given a Flagrant-1 for a hook-and-hold. Anthony Robinson II picked up his fourth foul with 11 minutes, 18 seconds left in the game. Marcus Allen picked up his fourth with 10:57 to play. Mark Mitchell was assessed his fourth 8:42 remaining.

You could call that some foul trouble.

But Missouri’s depth was up to the task of holding down the fort when called upon. Mizzou used 12 players on its roster, which hasn’t been entirely abnormal for the Tigers this season as they run with some long rotations. But, the length of time of those bench minutes — and the crucial timing and performances — was a cut above MU’s other big games this season.

Allen, a true freshman, was on the court for a seven-minute period in the first half while MU extended its lead from five to 13 points.

Freshman point guard T.O. Barrett,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lingering-missouri-basketball-takeaways-depth-090658578.html

Author : Columbia Daily Tribune

Publish date : 2025-01-16 09:06:00

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