COLUMBIA, South Carolina – Basically, they spent 30 minutes struggling and failing to execute the top three keys to success. Florida wanted to match (preferably surpass) South Carolina’s physicality from the point. The Gators wanted to prevent standout forward Collin Murray-Boyles from accessing and parking on the block. And they wanted to eliminate the Gamecocks’ nifty weak cuts to the basket.
So when none of that worked — and everything else had seemingly failed — UF coach Todd Dore attacked a double-digit deficit with an aggressive full-court press and mixed in a little man pressure to keep the home team off-balance.
The Gators pulled off a steal. Then another. And another. A total of nine in the final 10 minutes, putting the fifth-ranked team in the country, especially the senior guard Richardable to steal a remarkable 70-69 victory Wednesday night against the stunned and disappointed Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena.
Richard attacked the lane (and USC guard Morris Ugusuk) for a high-flying layup with 4.8 seconds left to put his team ahead by one. Gamecocks keep Jacobi Wright’s 30-foot desperation attempt at 3-pointer – with UF Alijah Martin in competition — bounced off the rim and sent the Gators (17-2, 4-2) coming off the bench to celebrate after tying the best 19-game start in program history.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Richard said of his game-winning goal.
The same could have been said for his coach and teammates after they used their pressure defense to erase 14 deficits with 12 minutes remaining, 13 in nine minutes, nine with just over six to play and five with 1:05 to play.
“The press definitely bothered them,” Golden said after his team finished with 13 steals, a 22-5 advantage in points off turnovers and a 22-0 margin in transition points. “A lot of those turnovers were live turnovers that allowed us to get layups and 3s. Honestly, I probably should have gone a little bit earlier. (It’s) not something we “We’re doing a lot, but again, our guys were able to execute out of a timeout, and we held on for the rest of the game.”
THE GATORS WIN!!!!
📺SECN pic.twitter.com/do17QzQJ74
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 23, 2025
Once again, it was UF’s three-headed guard monster that did the damage, with Richard finishing with 22 points on nine-of-14 shooting and 3-of-5 from the 3-point line. Senior playmaker Walter Clayton Jr. had 16 points and seven assists, while Martin added 14 points. Richard and Martin each made three interceptions, as did the striker Alex Condon (5 points, 7 rebounds).
Florida shot just 42.4 percent for the game, while giving up 49.1 percent to a USC team that entered the game shooting 39.1 in five SEC outings. When the Gamecocks (10-9, 0-5) took care of the ball, they got some good shots, but all those ultimately empty possessions (mostly forced by the Gators) allowed UF to erase a 52-38 deficit with 12 to play and outscoring the home team 32-17 for the rest of the game.
“This one stings,” USC coach Lamont Paris said after losing his sixth SEC game in as many tries. “There were some plays we couldn’t make down the stretch, so it’s tough when guys play well enough to win but come away with a loss.”
And, on the other hand, it’s invigorating to come away with such a thrilling victory after playing the first three quarters poorly enough to lose.
“We were just waiting for them to make some mistakes and for us to make some plays,” said Clayton, who dropped two 3-pointers, giving him at least one in 42 straight games, breaking the record by 41 shots. held with Michael Frazier II (2012-15). “It ended up being what it was, with the (1-2-2 zone). You could say we got some energy back after that and went for a run.”
The Gamecocks (10-9, 0-6) were the more physical team from the start, scoring the first five points of the game, with Murray-Boyles (14 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists) and the transfer of the Alabama Nick Pringle (8 points, 0-6). 7 rebounds, 3 assists) establish themselves in the post against the greats of UF. When Murray-Boyles and Pringle weren’t blasting their way to layups, they were finding open teammates on the perimeter and USC was making shots; 50 percent in the first half to go to the locker room with a 41-33 lead, UF’s lowest scoring second half of the season.
The first 10 minutes after intermission weren’t much different.
“I thought we started playing better in the second half,” Golden said. “We just weren’t making any shots.”
South Carolina always was. The lead was 13 when UF fell into its full-court press and got steals and layups (two from Richard) on three straight possessions to lead 58-51 and force Paris to call a timeout dead.
“Defense leads to offense,” Condon said. “Once we got that out of the way, that was the key for us. Thanks to all our guys. They pushed really hard and I did my best to pick off the long pass. Everything went pretty well .”
The Gamecocks, however, appeared to have settled down when Morris Ugusuk (9 points, 6 rebounds) hit a corner 3 to go up nine with 6:34 to play. But Martin answered Ugusuk’s shot with a 3 and, after a stop, Clayton made two free throws to tie the game at four. Boyles-Murray made one of two free throws, but Martin got an old-fashioned 3-point play on the UF side to make it 62-60.
Ugusuk came back with another 3-ball, which Clayton canceled with his second to make it 65-63 in two minutes. On the Gamecocks side, the Gators defended well enough to force a late 3 from Zachary Davis, who led his team with 22 points. Davis made the shot and blew the roof off the arena, giving the home team a five-up lead with 1:14 left, as UF called a timeout.
In his group, Golden made a play that allowed Richard to open the corner in front of the UF bench, where he nailed a 3 to close his team to 68-66 with 1:04 to play. Another timeout, Gators.
This time, UF forward Thomas Haugh slipped the ensuing inbounds pass, threw the ball to Martin who drove the paint and committed a foul that yielded two clutch free throws and a tie score at 68.
On the South Carolina side, Davis fouled driving to the basket and drove to the line for two free throws with 17.3 seconds left. He missed the first, made the second, but left the door open for the Gators, now down by one point, 69-68.
Golden walked around the timeout and waved Clayton off.
“We just had to make a good shot,” Clayton said
Clayton thought he might be the one taking that shot until he saw the 6-9 Pringle up high and cover up. Richard was guarded by the smaller Ugusuk and made a loop around the key. Clayton threw him the ball. Richard attacked from the left side of the paint, got a huge liberating bucket in the post from Condon and launched the ball with his left hand off the glass and through the cup.
“I saw (the defender’s) fence a little difficult and I went for it,” Richard said. “Condon did a great job dodging and I just had to do a great job finishing him off.”
The basket gave Richard 1,000 career points as a Gator, the 56th player in Florida history to reach that milestone.
Oh, and it was also Florida’s only lead in the game after South Carolina controlled the scoreboard for 38 minutes and 33 seconds.
“We needed a spark,” said Richard, who scored 14 goals and made all three of his interceptions in the second half. “It was a good win, a resilient win.”
A rather improbable situation as well.
Email a senior editor Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
