What Happened

COLLEGE STATION, Texas  – The battle for first place in the Southeastern Conference wasn’t much of a battle at all. 

Five Florida players reached double-figure scoring, but it was the defensive number the 17th-ranked UF put on Texas A&M that determined the outcome Saturday night in an 86-67 throttling by the Gators at sold-out Reed Arena. 

Forward Thomas Haugh scored all but one of his game-high 22 points in the second half and also pulled down seven rebounds. Center Rueben Chinyelu had his league-leading 14th double-double with 10 points and 15 boards. Backup guard Isaiah Brown came off the bench to score 12 points, with reserve guard Urban Klavzar adding 11 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Guard Xaivian Lee had 10 points. 

The game was never close, thanks to the combination of sensational defense by Florida and horrendous shooting by A&M, which came into the game ranked second in the SEC in scoring at 92.0 per game and first in 3-point shooting at 37.6. The Aggies made just six of 35 shots in the first half, including one of 14 from the 3-point line, and trailed 30-19 at the half. 

The Gators opened the second half with a 22-5 run, making eight consecutive shots to go ahead 52-24 with 14 minutes remaining and coast home with a fourth consecutive road win for the first time since the 2017 season.

UF shot 45.6% for the game, out-rebounded A&M 50-43 and only turned the ball over only nine times against the Aggies’ full-court pressure defense, while outscoring them 48-24 in paint points and 21-7 in transition. A&M finished just 30.6% for the game and went 9-for-34 from distance (26.5%). Their 67 points were a season-low in SEC play.

Turning Point 

The Aggies must have gone to the locker room feeling fortunate to be within 11 points after such a horrific shooting display, but any good feels didn’t last. Not with that 22-5 run by the Gators after intermission and eventual 28-point deficit on their home floor.
 

Staggering Statistic

Got to go with (and this is truly “staggering”) 23 consecutive missed shots by a team that can score with anybody. Well, apparently not anybody. 
 

Up Next

Florida (17-6, 8-2) is back on the SEC road with a Wednesday night rematch at rival Georgia (17-6, 5-5), which won at LSU 83-71 earlier Saturday. The Gators defeated the Bulldogs 92-77 on Jan. 6 at Gainesville. UF has beaten UGA in 13 of their last 14 meetings, but the Bulldogs handed the Gators an 88-83, court-storming defeat last Feb. 25 at Athens that marked Florida’s last loss before winning the final 12 games of the season on the way to the national championship.   

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.