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Missouri holds off No. 22 Florida 76-74 in SEC opener

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Anthony Robinson II had 19 points and eight rebounds as Missouri held off No. 22 Florida 76-74 on Saturday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Mark Mitchell added 14 points, Jacob Crews had 13 and Trent Pierce scored 10 off the bench in his first game this season for the Tigers (11-3, 1-0). Jayden Stone scored Missouri’s first eight points and finished with nine after missing the previous seven games with a hand injury.

Thomas Haugh had 24 points and seven rebounds for the Gators (9-5, 0-1). Alex Condon added 14 points, six assists and five boards.

Pierce made a layup that put the Tigers ahead for good, 66-65, with 2:45 remaining, and his 3-pointer extended the lead to four 40 seconds later.

Robinson banked in a 3 to give the Tigers a 74-69 advantage with 21 seconds left, and they still led by five with under 10 seconds to play. But then Haugh converted a three-point play and Mitchell missed two free throws at the other end with 4.3 seconds remaining. That gave the Gators one last chance, but Boogie Fland missed a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

The Tigers have won two straight regular-season games against Florida after beating the 2025 national champions 83-82 on Jan. 4 last year in Gainesville.

Haugh hit a 3 with 3:37 remaining to cap an 11-0 run that pushed Florida ahead 65-64 for its only lead of the second half.

Both teams grabbed 37 rebounds after Florida entered leading the nation in rebounding margin at plus-17.2.

Missouri shot 45.4% from the field, becoming the second team to shoot better than 45% against the Gators this season.

The Tigers opened the second half on a 6-0 run after 7-foot-5 redshirt freshman Trent Burns made his first career 3 for Missouri as time expired in the first half to tie the game at 39.

Up next

Florida hosts No. 23 Georgia on Wednesday night.

Missouri visits Kentucky on Wednesday night.

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Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
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