Gators blast Bama in final home game of the season
No. 16 Alabama arrived in Gainesvile as the country’s highest-scoring team. But it was the Florida offense that shined Tuesday night and the Tide left for home after taking one on the chin at Exactech Arena.
Final score: Gators 105, Alabama 87
Florida improved to 21-9 overall, 11-6 in the SEC. Alabama falls to 20-10, 12-5.
The Tide beat the Gators 98-93 in overtime two weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In that game, Florida blew a double-digit edge in the second half.
Tuesday, the Gators built a big lead — and kept the foot on the gas.
Five Florida players scored in double-figures: Guard Will Richard (23), guard Walter Clayton (22), guard Zyon Pullin (19), forward Tyrese Samuel (19) and forward Alex Condon (10).
Guard Mark Sears led the Tide with 33.
The teams played each other to a near standstill for about the first 15 minutes before Florida used a 10-2 run to get some separation. The Gators led 44-35 at the half.
Florida then dominated for much of the final 20 minutes. A 3-pointer by Condon with 13:56 left put the Gators ahead 63-48. Two Clayton free throws with 12:27 remaining pushed the lead to 17 and it wasn’t much of a contest after that.
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Florida led by as much as 23.
Richard’s 23 points matched his season high, which he also produced in a January win over Mississippi State. He entered this game shooting 39% from the field for the season but made 8 of 12 shots and was 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Key numbers from Tuesday’s game
-Florida began the game 1 of 10 from the floor and finished a respectable 29 of 62 — 46.8%.
-Alabama averaged shooting 32 3-pointers a game before Tuesday. The Tide attempted 23 in this game and made only five. At one point, Alabama was 0-for-9 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Florida made seven 3-pointers on 19 attempts.
-Both teams finished with 40 rebounds.
-Alabama turned the ball over 13 times — four more than the Gators.
-The Gators (23) and Tide (30) combined for 53 fouls. Florida was a stellar 40 of 46 from the line (87%); Alabama finished 20 of 25.
-This was the third time this season Florida has scored 100-plus points in a game. The Gators also did it in wins over Michigan (106) and Georgia (102).
-With Tuesday’s win, Florida now trails the all-time series with Alabama 77-71. The Gators are 40-20 at home vs. the Tide.
-The Gators now are 4-8 vs. Quad-1 opponents in the NCAA Net Rankings this season. This was their second win over a top in the top 10 of the Net Ranking. The other came Feb. 10 vs. Auburn.
What’s next for the Gators?
Florida closes regular-season play at Vanderbilt this Saturday. Tip-off is at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Gators beat the Commodores 77-64 two weeks ago in Gainesville.
