Florida vs Missouri Prediction 1/14/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Missouri Tigers and the Florida Gators meet Tuesday in college basketball action from O’Connell Center. Here’s a Florida vs Missouri prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Florida vs Missouri pick.

Missouri Tigers Betting Preview

The Tigers got off to a nice start over their first 11 games this year, but they’ve had some tougher matchups in a choppy run lately. Missouri fell to Memphis in their opener, then bounced back with a winning streak over Howard, Eastern Washington, Mississippi Valley State, Pacific, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Lindenwood, California, Kansas, Long Island University, and Jacksonville State. A 1-2 stretch commenced after that with losses to Illinois and Auburn around a win versus Alabama State. The Tigers have picked up a couple of wins in their last pair however, taking out LSU and Vanderbilt on the way to a 13-3 overall record so far.

Back on Saturday in the Vanderbilt game, the Tigers came out of the break looking up at a 41-32 advantage on the scoreboard. Missouri closed on a 34-34 run in the second half and picked up a solid win 75-66 in the end. Mark Mitchell was the leading team contributor with 19 points, seven rebounds, and one assist. Anthony Robinson added 15 points with eight assists and three steals, while Caleb Grill came off the bench to contribute 13 points, five rebounds, two steals, and one assist in 28 minutes of action on the floor.

Florida Gators Betting Preview

Over on the Gators’ side, they opened up the 2024-25 season on a stellar run before finally taking their first loss. Florida has picked it back up with a couple of wins since then. In that opening 13-0 run, the Gators powered out wins over South Florida, Jacksonville, Grambling, Florida State, Florida A&M, Southern Illinois, Wake Forest, Wichita State, Virginia, Arizona State, North Carolina, North Florida, and Stetson in succession. Following their first (and only, so far) loss of the year versus Kentucky on January 4, the Gators have since dispatched Tennessee and Arkansas in their last two outings for a 15-1 overall run so far this year.

Matched up against Arkansas in their Saturday game, the Gators entered the locker room holding a slim three-point lead 28-25. Florida didn’t end up falling any further behind than that, posting a 43-38 advantage in the second half on the way to a nice win 71-63. Alijah Martin was the team’s top scorer with 14 points, four boards, one assist, and one steal. Alex Condon doubled on 12 points with 10 boards and four assists. Both Will Richard (eight rebounds) and Walter Clayton (five assists) posted 12 points apiece in the road victory as well.

Why the Florida Gators will win

• Florida has won each of its last 19 games at Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Missouri has lost each of its last eight night games against Top 5 AP-ranked opponents.
• Florida has won the first half in each of its last 19 games at Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Why the Missouri Tigers will win

• Missouri has won each of its last nine night games.
• Missouri has won the first half in nine of its last 10 night games.

Florida vs Missouri Prediction

I’m sticking with Florida, even though the line’s a little hefty. The Gators didn’t suffer that proverbial “big-win hangover” in their latest matchup with Arkansas, riding a 49-39 rebounding edge to an eight-point road victory. The shooting wasn’t that great (39.1 percent), but Florida was a menace on defense. The Gators held Arkansas to just 30 percent shooting from the floor on the other side. Florida is cooking on offense this year. They’ve hit 71 or more points in all 16 games so far and should notch another solid total here as well.

As for Missouri, they didn’t have too many issues with Vanderbilt in their latest win, posting 49 percent shooting with a 33-29 rebounding advantage. The Tigers did cough up 14 turnovers though, and if they’re careless with the ball here the Gators will make them pay for it. Missouri has scored very well all year themselves, posting 68 or more points in all 16 games so far. I like this one to be another sizable total on both sides, with Florida asserting their dominance in an eventual cover. Should be a fun matchup, though. It’ll be a good one to watch.