Missouri started hot and ended a different kind of hot.

The start was in shooting terms as the Tigers connected on all the shots they wanted to build an early lead at No. 5 Florida. The finish was the angry kind of hot as that lead shrank under the fervor of high-stakes officiating reviews that led to a Mizzou player being ejected and more frustrations from the visiting team.

But thanks to clutch-time execution, the Tigers held on to an eroding lead just long enough for an 83-82 road upset of the Gators, considered one of the best teams in the nation.

“It takes guts,” MU assistant coach Kyle Smithpeters said before the game, of what it takes to win away from home in this year’s SEC. “It’s just that simple … It takes habits, it takes instincts.”

Missouri (14-3, 3-1 SEC) made a habit of making shots and stuck to its usual mix of instinctual defense against the Gators (15-2, 2-2), shooting 50% from 3 in the first half and playing combatively on the glass — and around the rest of the floor — as the game wore on.

Guard Caleb Grill scored 22 points on a highly productive night from range. Forward Mark Mitchell scored 13 points with eight rebounds. Both made clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the game.

UF was led by guard Walter Clayton Jr., who scored 28 points.

Mizzou’s last away win over a top 5 team was in 2012, when MU beat No. 3 Baylor in Waco, Texas. The Tigers now have two top 5 wins this season, having toppled then-No. 1 Kansas in December.

Outside of a historical context and relevant to the unfolding Southeastern Conference season, Missouri has an unexpected but valuable win in its league record and resume for a possible NCAA Tournament bid.

MU’s path to March Madness requires the program to steal a win from an SEC foe during the next eight weeks, and the Tigers just might have done that Tuesday night in Gainesville, Fla. It’s still early in league play, of course, but Mizzou sitting at 3-1 in the SEC for the first time in team history sure is a solid way to start.

Tuesday was third-year Missouri coach Dennis Gates’ first win against Florida and just the second time that the Tigers have beat the Gators on the road.

Missouri took a 9-7 lead early with five quick points for guard Tamar Bates and two UF turnovers. Out of the game’s first media timeout, the Tigers set up to defend a baseline out-of-bounds play in a zone, generating a steal for Grill and a transition and-one for Bates to put the visitors up 12-7.

Grill, coming off the bench, was a jolt of a substitute in the first half with made three 3-pointers in one 45-second stretch of game time, a quick nine-point burst that had the Tigers in front 33-18 with 10:30 to go in the half. His last make from beyond the arc in that sequence was deep and over a solid Florida contest.

Anthony Robinson II hit a 3 of his own off an assist from Marques Warrick, the 11th Missouri player to enter the game as Gates used depth early, then followed it up with a physical push shot to put the Tigers up by 19 points. Robinson, juiced by the hot start, lowered his palm to the floor in the universal “too small” sign after that bucket.

Florida settled down closer to halftime, springing an 11-2 run to keep Mizzou from running away with a win in the first half.

A timely effort from point guard Tony Perkins gave the visitors a bit of momentum just before the break when he rebounded a missed Robinson free throw, tipped it in, drew a foul and made his free throw to give MU a four-point possession.

The Tigers led 50-34 at halftime, marking the first time they'd scored 50 points in the first half of a road game since a 2009 contest at Oklahoma State.

UF cut the lead to single digits on a steal and layup with 15 minutes and change to go — only for Robinson to answer a woken-up arena by hitting a contested stepback 3 to keep the Gators at bay.

They started circling again with about 13 minutes left, hitting a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound. MU center Josh Gray was whistled for an illegal screen, and that bonus possession for Florida turned into more second chance points with a tip-in.

That quick run cut the Tigers’ advantage to 58-51 and prompted Gates to call timeout.

UF followed up a missed layup with yet another pair of second-chance points out of the timeout to make it a five-point game.

Perkins was ejected for a flagrant II foul with nine minutes to go after elbowing a Florida player squarely in the groin while trying to make space. The UF recipient seemed to over-embellish the blow, however, making it a surprise review and call from the officiating crew.

Another review by the referees reversed a call that would have fouled out a Gators player and instead pinned it on Grill as another flagrant foul. Out of that flip, UF hit a jumper to cut the lead to three points — 65-62 with just under eight minutes to play.

Those two flagrant fouls led directly to Perkins’ ejection and eight points for the home team.

Clayton hunted down a 3-pointer and found one from the left wing to get Florida within one possession with 3:41 to go. MU forward Trent Pierce responded with a 3 on the other end to keep the Tigers barely ahead.

Grill hit his sixth 3 of the game with 2:23 to go — another well-timed make that maintained the lead. He missed a pair of free throws with 80 seconds to go, keeping the Gators around.

With 38 seconds to go, Florida's Alijah Martin got a floating hook shot to drop to cut the visitors' lead to 79-77.

Unable to get cross halfcourt as the Gators pressed, trapped and got their hands on the ball, Gates called a timeout with 29 seconds to go. When the Tigers did get the ball into the proper half, UF promptly fouled Mitchell intentionally. Despite MU entering that possession 5 for 14 from the charity stripe in the second half, he made both free throws.

Down four points, Florida missed one 3-pointer but got another try when the rebound was knocked out of bounds, getting instead an open layup.

Back at two-point margin, the Gators intentionally fouled Grill, and he made both of his free throws. UF hit a 3 after but had no timeouts to try for a miracle.

MU hosts Arkansas (11-6, 0-4 SEC) on Saturday. The Razorbacks have had a rough go of things under John Calipari and lost to Louisiana State on Tuesday.

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