Florida Gators come up short in 82-76 loss at South Carolina

No. 24 Florida saw another double-digit lead erased Saturday at South Carolina, failing to close out the No. 18 Gamecocks in an 82-76 loss in Columbia. The Gators fell to 2-5 against top-25 teams and 3-8 in Quad 1 games.

UF built a 10-point advantage in the second half, but the Gamecocks went on a 16-5 run over a six-minute stretch and pulled ahead, 65-63, on a layup by Meechie Johnson.

The Gators tied the game at 74 on a trey by Walter Clayton Jr., who made six 3-pointers for the third time this season and finished with a team-high 20, his 11th 20-point game.

But South Carolina regained the lead on a dagger 3 by Johnson, who had 21 of his career-high 25 points in the second half, and outscored Florida 8-2 in the last minute.

“He made some shots,” UF coach Todd Golden said of Johnson. “Walter is one of the best shooters in college basketball. He has the ability to beat a defense even if they play really good coverages and execute what they’re trying to do. I think he did that for a majority of the night and took the air out of the gym with some of the 3s that he hit.”

Clayton missed his last two 3-point attempts, although Collin Murray-Boyles appeared to foul him on his blocked shot with five seconds left, down 80-76, but it was not called.

USC switched a 1-3-1 zone in the second half and gave the Gators fits, forcing them into eight turnovers. They also had zero offensive rebounds after the break until the 0:21 mark and turned it over.

“I thought it was obviously a good move, just to try to change the pace for them a little bit. We just weren’t aggressive enough attacking it,” Golden said of South Carolina’s zone defense. “We were trying to kind of knife our way through the zone a little bit, and they’re long, they’re active. We just weren’t playing well in those tight spaces, and that led to most of those turnovers.”

Golden was also frustrated by the free throw disparity in the second half.

“It’s been an issue for us on the road for us going back to A&M. They shot 31 free throws tonight, we shoot 15. It’s going to be really hard to beat a Top-25 team on the road with that disparity,” Golden said. “I think both teams were really physical trying to get downhill and in the paint. But they shot 22 free throws in the second half, we shot 10. That’s just a really big delta to try and close. I have to do a better job teaching my guys to defend without fouling.”

After a lethargic start in the first half, Florida caught fire with a 14-0 run and led by as many as eight after a 3-pointer by Thomas Haugh, who led the team with 9 points at halftime on 4-for-4 shooting.

South Carolina regained the lead, 28-27, with 3:25 left, but the Gators closed out the first half with a 10-3 run and two late 3-pointers by Clayton for his first points of the game.

Three more Gators scored in double figures, along with Zyon Pullin (18 points and a team-high seven assists), Tyrese Samuel (13 points) and Riley Kugel (10 points). Murray-Boyles finished with 15 points for South Carolina (24-5, 12-4 SEC) and Jacobi Wright added 16 points.

The Gators (20-9, 10-6 SEC) return to the O’Dome on Tuesday for a rematch against No. 14 Alabama (20-8, 12-3), which defeated them 98-93 in overtime on Feb. 21. The Tide take on No. 4 Tennessee (22-6, 12-3) on Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPN in a battle for first place in the SEC standings.