Early into the Missouri Tigers’ matchup with the No. 5 Florida Gators, a potential upset watch was on high alert. Behind a strong first half and offensive performance, that became a reality in Gainesville, Fla.

Missouri notched its first road win since Nov. 28, 2023 — where it defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers 71-64 — by taking down Florida 83-82. Despite a comeback in the second half from the Gators and questionable foul trouble, the Tigers were able to fend off a death roll and escape to improve their record to 14-3.

Four players finished in double-digit points for Missouri, but it was Caleb Grill who was the true standout. A hot stretch of made 3-pointers in the first half catapulted it to a huge lead, and his final statline of 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting gave it a huge offensive boost off the bench.

Walter Clayton Jr. was a constant struggle to defend for the Tigers throughout the night, however, finishing with 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Whenever it looked like they could gain a big enough lead to hit the dagger, the guard responded with a bucket.

Missouri had an immense amount of things working against it between Clayton, the ejection of Tony Perkins and high foul totals for a couple of its starters, but it was able to close out the game regardless. The win marked its first over a top-five opponent on true road games since Feb. 25, 2012 against the No. 3 Baylor Bears.

The Tigers got off to quick start in the first four minutes of action, as Tamar Bates added five points and forced two Gators turnovers. Clayton matched Bates with five points of his own during that time — a preview of what was to come during the rest of the night.

Immediately after the break, Bates converted an and-one opportunity off a steal from Caleb Grill to give Missouri a 12-7 lead at the 12-7. From there, it turned into the Grill show.

Between the 12:10 to 11:15 minute mark of the first half, Grill knocked down three-straight 3-pointers to bring his total to 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from behind the arc. He was a figurative man on fire, torching Florida and forcing a timeout to cool off his rhythm. At that time, the Tigers led 30-17.

Though for the rest of the half, the Gators started to work their way back into the game. Missouri still led 50-34 at halftime, but Clayton at his lonesome scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting and carried a large portion of their offense.

The second half became more of a back and forth battle. Each team traded buckets early on, including a monster two-handed dunk over multiple defenders by Trent Pierce at the 16:20 mark that might be seen on SportsCenter Top 10.

Will Richard began to pick up some momentum for Florida though, scoring eight points between the 16:03 and 13:30 minute mark, which included two 3-pointers. That helped it only trail 58-51, leaving plenty of room for an upset to be held off.

Foul trouble also started to become an issue for the Tigers. Tony Perkins received a flagrant 2 call thanks to an elbow shot in the groin area of Alijah Martin, while Anthony Robinson II and Mark Mitchell each had four fouls of their own with 8:42 still remaining. Though, some calls might’ve been questionable.

That helped the Gators bring it to a 65-62 game at the 7:56 mark, and Missouri was now in serious jeopardy of a loss. However, it continued to make strong defensive plays and knock down efficient shots to hold a lead down the stretch.

Keeping a 79-75 lead with 1:22 remaining, Grill found his way to the free-throw line but was unable to successfully convert either attempt. Luckily for the Tigers, Mitchell sealed the deal at the line with 28 seconds remaining — along with Grill making up for his misses — to complete a hard-fought victory even with a last-second triple from Martin.

Missouri will look to carry another big upset win to its matchup with the Arkansas Razorbacks at 5 p.m. Saturday in Mizzou Arena.