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After a pair of Florida free throws tied the game at 70 with 18 seconds to go, Missouri guard Dru Smith received the ball at the wing with one last chance to lift the Tigers to victory before overtime.

In Florida’s final home game, Smith kept fans on the edge of their seats until the clock read four seconds. He drove baseline on his defender, guard Tre Mann, in hopes of getting the hoop and draining Florida’s second-half momentum. A quick first step allowed the redshirt senior guard to sneak past Mann and sink a reverse layup with 0.7 seconds left to clinch Missouri’s first ever win in Gainesville.

“I saw [Colin] Castleton step up and obviously he’s big guy, . . . so I decided to go to the other side and just hope [Anthony] Duruji didn’t get it,” Smith said.

Smith, who averages 14 points and four assists, led the Tigers with 17 and nine in 37 playing minutes.

After the game, Florida head coach Mike White called Smith a “really good player, . . . really smart, really crafty, tough as nails.”

Despite outshooting the Tigers by 12% from the floor and 19% from the line, Florida failed to make up for its costly turnovers. 15 first-half turnovers led to 20 of Missouri’s 36 first-half points and granted Mizzou a seven-point advantage at halftime. Florida guard Tyree Appleby committed five turnovers for the fourth time in his past five games.

“It’s hard to overcome when you have 15 [turnovers] in the first half,” Florida guard Tre Mann said. “We’ve just got to clean that stuff up.” Taking care of the basketball is a recurring issue for the Gators as they rank outside the top-250 in the nation turnovers per game (14.7).

Missouri capitalized on timely threes in the opening half. The Tigers, who shoot just 32% from three-point range, shot 5-10 from beyond the arc in the first half after junior guard Xavier Pinson hit back-to-back threes just before halftime.

“We all struggled covering the terrific spacing that they execute,” White said. “They really had us rotating and working. . . . I’m sure they got to our legs to a certain extent.”

White mentioned how fouls continue to haunt Florida, explaining how the Gators lacked foul discipline and jumped at too many shot fakes around the rim. “We’ve got to mature and there’s not a lot of time left,” White said. We’ve got to play with emotion but not be emotional.”

Mann, who was named SEC Player of the Week Monday, shot over 80% from the field en route to a season-high nine baskets. The sophomore Gainesville native led the Gators with his second-straight 21-point outing. “Tre [Mann] played with great activity,” White said. “He went 9-11 against a team that’s a great defensive program.”

The Gators will head to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a pivotal regular season-finale Saturday against the Vols. The winner of the matchup will clinch a two-round bye in the SEC Tournament. “We’re tough mentally and physically, but we’ve got to finish games better if we want to make a big run in March,” Mann said. Tip-off at Thompson-Boling Arena is scheduled for noon and will air on ESPNU.