junior wing Will Richard As a junior guard, he poured in a game-high 21 points and tied his career-high with five 3-pointers. walter clayton jr. He also scored 19 points, leading his team to their eighth win in their last 10 games.graduate student Tyrese Samuel He recorded 15 points and 7 rebounds. The Gators (19-9, 9-5) never trailed, building a 15-point lead at halftime, shooting nearly 47 percent and assisting on 17-of-28 field goals against the Commodores. (7-20, 2-12)) shot less than 36 percent of the game, making just 5 of 22 from the 3-point line (22.7 percent).
All in all, this was a much-needed and welcome bounce back from Wednesday's overtime loss at SEC favorite Alabama.
And this time, unlike the previous game against LSU (down 20, tied), there was no absurd comeback by the visiting team. Or the game before that against Georgia (down 21, tied). Or Mississippi State (16 wins, 6 losses) and Kentucky (11 wins, 2 losses) in January.
“We need to further increase our mental strength as a team.” [by] We were able to get back up, maintain the lead, and maintain that lead to finish the game,” Clayton said. [doing so] It means a lot. ”
Richard shot 28 percent from deep in the SEC, 7 percent below his career average, but made 5 of 9 from long range, 7 of 13 overall and free throws. He made two successful hits and also grabbed four rebounds, leaving a good performance. He had three assists in 31 minutes. Creighton fell one point short of becoming the first UF player to score at least 20 points in five consecutive games since Dwayne Schnitzius in 1989, but he was 7-of-12 shooting and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. The book was a success.
Playing at home as a top-ranked team for the first time since December 2021, the University of Florida trailed by as many as 22 points in the second half, but Vandy scored the final seven points of the game in the final two minutes to improve the final score. (Courtesy) After the Gators emptied their bench, they committed four turnovers while enduring full-court pressure.
“This week gave us things to work on and areas we can improve on,'' Florida coach said. tod golden Said.
The Gators may also work on rebounding after falling behind for the second straight game on the glass, one of this team's biggest strengths. Vanderbilt outrebounded UF 38-37, including 12-10 on offense.
“We're not being proactive enough,” Samuel said.
That's all for Monday's conversation. All the while, the Gators did what they had to do to protect their home floor (UF is 12-1 this season at Odome) and remain in a tough spot in the No. 5 spot in the SEC standings. The goal is to earn a top-four seed and a double-bye in the conference tournament next month in Nashville, Tennessee.
Florida scored the first five points of the game and made its first five shots, including two threes by Clayton and Richard, taking a 12-4 lead after just three minutes. The Gators built their margin to 10 points within the first eight minutes of play in the period. They then scored as many as 15 points in time for the break and headed to the locker room with a 35-20 lead.
Vandy's point total was his lowest in the first half of the season.
Speaking of low total points, transfer points from University of Florida graduates. John Poulin He made only 1-of-8 shots and finished with a season-low two points, but it was the first game in which he scored in double digits as a Gator. But in the 34 minutes leading up to Cardding, he had three rebounds, six assists, one steal, and only one turnover. His plus-25 rating was the highest of any UF player in an SEC game this season.
“He's a man [who’s] Even if he only scores double digits, we can still get close to 80 because he was a dependable player who scored over double digits every game and got baskets multiple times throughout the season. [points]“It was really good to see,” Golden said of the productive offense with Poulin at the helm. “I don't know how many point guards there are in America right now. The way he runs the team and controls the game, he's so good with the ball.”
The Gators handled the ball mostly well in the second half, building a 19-point advantage in just over three minutes, but the Commodores made five consecutive shots during a 14-4 run and cut the lead to 10 points within 14 minutes. Ta. The fans in attendance were no doubt thinking about recent home games.
However, with eight minutes remaining, the Gators made six of eight shots, the last one being a 3 by Richard, to easily come back up 65-43. From there, the host team made good on the sub-team's mistakes in the second half and went home.
“We could have done better in rebounding…but we needed to get back to our identity,” Creighton said of his team's stated goal of returning to their first home game in 11 days. “I got my juices back and I’m back to normal.”
