Alijah Martin scored 22 points as No. 5 Florida was at its best in the second half on the way to an 84-60 victory over Texas on Saturday afternoon in a Southeastern Conference clash in Gainesville, Fla.
The Gators (16-2, 3-2 SEC) led by seven at halftime and never let Texas get any closer in the second half, using a 15-2 run that started with a Walter Clayton Jr. 3-pointer with eight minutes to play that ended up being the decisive span of the game. Texas went more than a five-minute stretch without a field goal in that surge.
Clayton added 19 points and Alex Condon had 11 points and 12 rebounds as the Gators bounced back from a loss to Missouri at home on Tuesday. Florida shot 58.1 percent from the floor in the second half.
Tre Johnson led the Longhorns (12-6, 1-4) with 16 points while Ze’Rik Onyema racked up 12 points and 10 rebounds, Tramon Mark added 12 points and Arthur Kaluma finished with 10 points and 10 boards. It was Texas’ third game in the past two weeks against a team ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll.
The Longhorns led by as many as six points in the early going and were up 18-13 after a layup by Onyema with 12:10 left in the first half. Florida answered with a 15-0 run over there ensuing 6 1/2 minutes, with the run capped by a layup by Denzel Aberdeen with 6:18 to play in the half.
Texas slowly trimmed its deficit, drawing back to within five points after a three-point play by Pope with 49 seconds left in the half. Clayton’s layup on the ensuing possession, along with a block by Will Richard on the Longhorns’ shot with five seconds left, granted Florida a 37-30 lead at the break.
Clayton led all scorers with 12 points before halftime while Johnson paced Texas attack with 11 points.
The Gators controlled the first nine minutes of the second half, producing their largest lead of the game to that point when Clayton hit a pair of free throws to expand the score to 57-45.
–Field Level Media
