Will Richard scored a game-high 25 points Saturday night and canned six of Florida’s 14 3-pointers as the third-ranked Gators bounced back from an upset loss Tuesday night at Georgia, bouncing No. 12 Texas A&M 89-70 in Gainesville, Fla.
Thomas Haugh added 17 points for Florida (25-4, 12-4), which tied Alabama for second place in the Southeastern Conference going into the regular season’s final week. Alijah Martin tallied 14 points, making four 3-pointers, and Walter Clayton Jr. chipped in 10.
Zhuric Phelps scored 16 points and Pharrel Payne added 14 for the Aggies (20-9, 9-7), who have lost four straight games. Wade Taylor IV added 11 but made only 3 of 11 shots as Texas A&M converted just 39 percent of its field goal attempts.
The Aggies had other problems besides poor 3-point defense, an issue of late, and subpar accuracy. They managed just three assists and turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 16 points for the Gators.
Ahead by 11 at halftime, Florida surged to a 51-34 advantage early in the second half, highlighted by Richard’s consecutive 3-pointers. Texas A&M worked its way back into contention, drawing to within 65-59 on Taylor’s 3-pointer with 8:09 remaining, but Richard canned two more 3-pointers during a 13-5 burst that upped the lead to 78-64 at the 4:52 mark.
The Gators also got a good game off the bench from forward Alex Condon, who finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists. In stark contrast to the Aggies’ lack of ball movement, Florida drew 21 assists on 32 made buckets.
Texas A&M got off to a strong start, opening up a 16-10 lead six minutes into the game when Solomon Washington drained a long 2-pointer from the wing. Then the Gators ripped off a 15-3 run that Denzel Aberdeen capped with a layup for a 25-19 advantage at the 9:45 mark.
Martin’s 3-pointer built a 37-26 cushion with 3:56 left and Florida went to the break with a 45-34 lead.
–Field Level Media
