GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – UPDATE 1/21/2024: The University of Florida men’s basketball team scored its first road win of the season 79-67 over the University of Missouri.
ORIGINAL 1/19/2024: The Gators are headed to Columbia to take on Mizzou after a tough loss at Tennessee Tuesday.
It’s their fifth conference game of the season and facing tough competition within the Southeastern Conference (SEC), they’ve only been able to secure one win against Arkansas so far.
The Gators are currently 11-6 overall with three of those being SEC losses and are looking to redeem themselves against the Tigers who are currently 8-9 overall and haven’t won a conference game yet.
They’re coming off an 85-66 loss against the Volunteers, who are currently 3-1 in conference play, making it their third loss since SEC play started.
What do the Gators need to do to get them on track and be in good standing leading up to the tournament in March?
Florida head coach Todd Golden says his team has to do a better job with communication and executing the basics, especially with road games in “hostile environments.” He added that they’ve used the rest of this week to make those necessary adjustments since Tuesday’s loss.
“We’ve spent the last couple days, you know, leading up to this game; working on a couple things that I think will give us a better chance against Missouri,” shared Golden in a press conference Friday afternoon. “It all starts with our effort on the defensive end, especially on the road, if we want to give ourselves a good chance to win.”
According to ESPN, with their 1-3 SEC record, the Gators are currently ranked nine in the conference along with Arkansas (1-3) who they beat on January 13.
Golden says that he is not too focused on his team’s record and believes that despite their losses, they’re in an exceptional place.
“I think we’re pretty good, you know. We’re pretty mentally tough, you know. We’ve had some moments where we haven’t been at our best, but we haven’t let it bleed into the next game,” shared Golden. “As you all know, this league’s really tough. There’s a lot of good teams that are 1-3 right now.”
He says he is more focused on how his team performs Saturday and acknowledges that Mizzou is a hard environment in which to play. Golden says despite the Tigers having no conference wins, they’ve had some pretty reasonable losses.
“They’re a team that could easily be 2-2 right now. So, you know, we go into an 0-4 environment, you know, but that’s not the attitude or mentality that our team has. You know, we have a lot of respect for how they operate and what they do, and we know we have to play really well to win tomorrow night,” said Golden.
He says the way his team has practiced this week, in addition to their mentality and approach, will give them the best chance at winning Saturday’s game.
The two will face off at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in Mizzou Arena. If you’d like to watch the game, you can catch it on ESPNU.
Click here to see the entire list of SEC standings.