Jeremiah Tilmon was called for his fourth foul of the afternoon under the net as Jordan Geist hit a triple at the 17:01 mark of the second half. Missouri was leading Florida 40-28.
After the play was reviewed and the foul deemed flagrant, the sophomore forward was pulled from the game by coach Cuonzo Martin and stayed on the bench until there was 6:32 left to play.
In that eleven minute period, the Gators went on a 24-16 run to bring themselves within one possession of the Tigers.
Foul trouble plagued the Tigers yet another time this season as Missouri (12-14, 3-11) fell 64-60 to Florida (16-11, 8-6) on Saturday afternoon. Tilmon went on to foul out with 4:35 left in the game, following freshman Xavier Pinson who also went to the bench with five fouls at the 5:24 mark. Geist finished the game with four fouls, and the Missouri bench was called for a technical with 12:56 to go in the game.
The Gators upset No. 13 LSU on Wednesday night on the road in overtime, 82-77. Their win over the Tigers extended a four-game win streak.
Missouri struggled from behind the arc to start the game, only moving above the 0 percent mark after freshman guard Javon Pickett hit a triple with 11:33 to go in the first half. By the end of the first frame, the Tigers were shooting 40 percent from 3-point range and 42.9 percent as a whole.
The Tigers led for 16:32 of the first half, jump started by Tilmon, who scored the team’s first 6 points in just 10 minutes on the court.
Pickett and Geist led Missouri headed into halftime with 7 points apiece, as well as four rebounds and two steals for the freshman.
The Gators outshot Missouri in the second half 40-27, making up for the 9-point deficit they suffered at the half. Senior guard KeVaughn Allen only missed one field goal in the second frame and added 14 points. Florida finished the game shooting 42 percent – the same percentage as Missouri – after shooting 55 percent in the second half.
Florida led for just 6:20 seconds of the game.
Turnovers did little to sway the game in either direction, but Missouri’s 12 second-chance points off of nine offensive rebounds tripled that of Florida. The Tigers also finished with 20 defensive rebounds and eight steals.
The Tigers were once again without sophomore guard Mark Smith, who was on the bench and in street clothes. He finished with 0 points in 21 minutes on the court against Kentucky on Feb. 19 and was inactive for six games between Jan. 23 and Feb. 16.
Missouri stays on the road and travels to Starkville, Mississippi Tuesday to take on Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are on a three-game win streak after upsetting Georgia on the road Wednesday evening. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.
_Edited by Adam Cole | acole@themaneater.com_
