Takeaways from Missouri Men's Basketball's Fifth Straight Loss in the SEC Against Florida
The morale for the Missouri Tigers remains low.
Saturday night brought yet another gut-punch to the team, falling to the Florida Gators 79-67 after an underwhelming second half. Although the spotlight shined bright on Tamar Bates and his 36-point performance, the rest of the roster failed to add much to help in the scoring department.
The Gators had a large advantage in both 3-point shooting and the free-throw line, which became difficult for the Tigers to overcome in the end. They knocked down 9-of-22 3-pointers compared to Missouri's weak 3-of-16, while converting 20-of-29 free throw attempts to its 18-of-21.
As the losses keep piling up, the hope for the rest of the season continues to dwindle away. An 0-5 hole in the SEC will be tough to claw out of, especially with some formidable opponents still on the horizon.
Here are three takeaway's from the 12-point loss:
Jan 20, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Tamar Bates (2) shoots against Florida Gators center Micah Handlogten (3) during the first half at Mizzou Arena.
© Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Tamar Bates Deserves the No. 1 Option Label
Although Sean East II was the true leader for the Tigers for most of the early half of the season, Bates has emerged in recent weeks as the true No. 1 scoring option on the roster.
In his last five games — all during SEC play — Bates is averaging 20 points per game on 60% shooting from the field. Not only is he scoring at a high rate, but he's taking control of the Missouri offense at an efficient level.
The confidence has skyrocketed for the junior, and amidst the frustrations and bleak atmosphere of the Tigers season, he's been one of their few bright spots. He's flourished in head coach Dennis Gates' system that allows him to play his game comfortably, a distinction between Missouri and Bates' former school in Indiana.
It wasn't an easy transition at first, with most of Missouri's pre-Seton Hall games resulting in low scoring totals or little playing time for Bates. Ever since that night in Kansas City, he's been sensational.
"I kind of knew with time I was going to be able to play better," Bates said following the Florida loss. "It's just a product of constant work, constant communication with my teammates and coaches."
The glaring potential of Bates has been unlocked by Gates already, and it's very likely that he is and will continue to perform as the best player on the Tiger roster for the remainder of the season.
Losing the Free Throw Battle
A constant trend for Missouri all season long has been its struggles from the free-throw line, and that carried into the loss to Florida.
Missouri's line of 18-of-21 doesn't look bad on paper, but compared to Florida's 20-of-29, the issues become apparent. While it shot more efficiently, it got to the line far fewer times and allowed more second opportunities than it should have.
"I don't care what percentage we shoot, when you have 21 attempts and they have made 20...that is a lopsided stat," Gates said. It is what it is at the end of the day, but you cannot win basketball games shooting or attempting the same or less than your opponent makes. It's just that simple."
Missouri saw a five free throw make difference to Alabama in its previous loss, shot just 12-of-18 in a two-point loss to South Carolina and allowed a whopping 27-of-32 attempts to Kentucky.
It is causing substantial problems that keeps the Tigers from closing out games, and in order to start winning games once again, they'll have to start narrowing the gap in free throw disparities.
Closing Time
Although the Tigers' 0-5 record in the SEC looks jarring, most of its losses have come in considerably close games for most of their duration.
The result against Florida may have been 12 points, but Missouri found itself within six in the final nine minutes of the second half. It collapsed shortly after, but if a few things had swung differently, it could have been a different game.
Saying "could" and creating hypotheticals doesn't change the outcome of the game, but the takeaway from that is the Tigers have all of the tools to win these games. They only lost by two points to South Carolina and seven points to Georgia, staying within reaching distance until the final minute.
"It's not like we're out here getting blown out," Nick Honor said. "The SEC plays quick turnarounds, we just got to move on to the next one and try to be 1-0 every game."
Coming so close to a win but not being able to bring it home sometimes stings worse than a blowout loss, but hope remains within the Tigers because of how close they've been.
All it takes is a few adjustments or different decisions to start closing out games, and if Missouri had done that previously, it could have a couple wins in the SEC up to this point.
The Tigers will travel on the road to Texas A&M Tuesday, with another opportunity to break the winless streak in conference play.
