Missouri took down No. 22 Florida 76-74 on Saturday evening, and while the Tigers deserve plenty of credit for earning a huge win, the defending national champions must heap most of the blame on themselves.
During the Gators’ loss — which drops them to 9-5 on the season and 0-1 in Southeastern Conference play — their Achilles’ heel was fully present inside Mizzou Arena.
The Gators simply can’t shoot the three.
Going into Saturday’s SEC opener, Florida was shooting at a paltry 28.2 percent clip from beyond the arc. Against Missouri, it was only 7-27 from three — a mark of just 26 percent.
No help coming through the door for Florida
Florida’s three-point shooting issues aren’t going to be an easy fix going forward, especially amid the grind of the SEC schedule.
The Gators have three games against ranked opponents — No. 23 Georgia, No. 19 Tennessee and No. 11 Vanderbilt — over the next two weeks and aren’t likely to magically find their touch from the outside.
Going into Saturday’s game, Urban Klavzar was Florida’s best three-point shooter of those who have played in 10 or more games at 35.8 percent. Thomas Haugh (33.3 percent) is the only other Gator who has played in 10 or more games shooting the three over 30 percent.
The Gators are likely chomping at the bit to fix their shooting issues, but every team in the SEC has to smell blood in the water in Gainesville.
