Florida overcomes 36 points from Tamar Bates, downs Missouri

Tyrese Samuel scored 17 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 15 to help Florida post a 79-67 victory over Missouri on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play at Columbia, Mo.

Will Richard scored 13 points and Zyon Pullin added 11 as the Gators (12-6, 2-3 SEC) won for just the second time in five games. Micah Handlogten produced 10 points and 13 rebounds for Florida.

Tamar Bates scored a career-best 36 points on 13-of-21 shooting and was 9 of 9 from the free-throw line for Missouri (8-10, 0-5), which has lost five straight games and eight of its past nine. It is the third time this season Bates has topped 20 points.

Nick Honor added 10 points for the Tigers, who connected on 43.4 percent of their field-goal attempts and were 3 of 16 from behind the arc. Bates was 1 of 4 from 3-point range.

Florida held a 40-27 rebounding edge while notching its first true road victory in four attempts this season.

The Gators shot 44.6 percent from the field while going 9 of 22 from 3-point range. Clayton made three treys.

Bates hit a jumper to give Missouri a 43-42 lead with 16:55 remaining before Florida took over with an 8-0 run to open up a seven-point advantage.

The Tigers were within 58-52 after Aidan Shaw split two free throws with 9:22 left before the Gators tallied the next seven points. Clayton hit four three throws and Riley Kugel nailed a 3-pointer during that run to give Florida a 65-52 lead with 6:23 to go.

Richard buried a 3-pointer with 1:23 left to boost the Gators' lead to 77-63, and Florida finished off the victory.

Florida led 37-34 at halftime despite Bates scoring 17 points for the Tigers.

The Gators led 22-20 after Clayton's 3-pointer with 6:51 left in the first half. Bates later buried a trey to give Missouri a 29-28 edge with 4:10 remaining before Florida finished the half strong.