Things have been going great for top-ranked Florida, so naturally Billy Donovan worried, as coaches tend to do.
His list of concerns included coming down from the emotional high of a victory over Kentucky on Senior Day. Donovan also was uneasy about going nearly a week without a game before facing Missouri in the SEC tournament Friday.
In an effort to bring the top-ranked Gators back to earth, Donovan had them scrimmage in practice Monday and declared it “awful.” Donovan’s worries appeared further justified when Florida was tied with eighth-seeded Missouri after a sleepy first half.
It turned out there was little for Donovan to fret about. The first-seeded Gators buried the Tigers in the second half for a 72-49 victory and advanced to play Tennessee in the semifinals Saturday.
“Things were not going our way in the first half, and we looked a little bit pouty and cranky to me,” Donovan said. “In the second half we got past that and battled and fought and played more to our identity.”
The Gators (30-2) blew away Missouri with a 28-6 run in the second half that showed all their strengths. They created turnovers, limited Missouri’s open shots and second-chance points and had Scottie Wilbekin and Michael Frazier rain down 3-pointers.
The Gators made 12 of 21 3-point attempts for the game. Wilbekin and Frazier each made five, and Dorian Finney-Smith had two.
“They really share the ball,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said. “They are an experienced club. They play unselfish basketball, and they know where their shooters are. They move the ball, and they drive (on) you and because of that they force you to help and they get open looks.”
Florida’s defense was just as good while holding Missouri to 36 percent shooting and collecting nine steals.
All-SEC guards Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson combined for 29 points for the Tigers, but were 9-of-24 shooting, with misses on all nine of their 3-point tries. Earnest Ross scored nine points after he had 24 against Texas A&M on Friday.
The Gators used a zone defense in the second half to slow Missouri’s drives to the basket.
“I feel they play in tandem with each other well,” Brown said. “They always know where their teammates are going to be. When they play the zone, they are pretty long on the back end. They are a disciplined team.”
The Gators also can be explosive team, as they showed during a three-minute stretch of the second half.
The 12-0 run started when Kasey Hill fed Will Yeguete for a layup. Scottie Wilbekin stole Missouri’s inbound pass and, while falling out of bounds, threw it to Yeguete. Wilbekin recovered, and Yeguete gave it back to him for a corner 3-pointer and 45-36 Florida lead.
Missouri called timeout to regroup, but guard Jordan Clarkson lost the ball on the ensuing possession. Casey Prather drew a foul on a drive and made both free throws, and then Wilbekin followed a steal with another another 3-pointer.
Just like that the Gators were up 50-36 with seven minutes to play. The pace settled down from there, but Florida added four more points before the Tigers scored again and eventually the lead swelled to 68-44.
“It starts with getting stops because if we score and they score it won’t be a run,” said Wilbekin, the SEC player of the year. “If we can make shots it gets us separation but the key is getting stops.”
