Records: Florida 32-4, 14-4 SEC; UConn 24-11, 14-6 Big East
Next Up: Thursday, March 27, San Francisco, Time/TV TBA, vs. Maryland or Colorado State
Notable
* Florida rallied from a six-point deficit with nine minutes remaining, outscoring the Huskies 31-23 from that point on. Walter Clayton Jr. scored 13 of his game-high 23 points during the final nine minutes.
* Florida used a 14-3 run out of the final media timeout to take its first lead of the second half.
* Will Richard scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
* Alijah Martin scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half, going 6-for-9 from the field and 2-for-3 from 3-point range.
* Note
* In his five postseason games this season spanning the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, Clayton has shot 22-for-43 (.512) from 3-point range.
* The Gators return to the Sweet 16 for the 11th time and the first since 2017.
* Florida has won eight games in a row and 14 of its last 15. The Gators are 8-0 in the month of March and averaging 91.9 points per game.
* Florida improves to 11-6 in NCAA Tournament second-round games, snapping a three-game skid in the round.
* Clayton extended his streak to 58 straight appearances with a 3-pointer. He has averaged 26.3 points in three NCAA Tournament games as a Gator.
* Florida improved to 2-5 all-time against UConn but 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament. Today’s win snapped a five-game series losing streak and UConn’s 13-game NCAA Tournament winning streak.
* Florida overcame 12 turnovers and 14 UConn offensive rebounds that caused UF to take 14 fewer field goals and 10 fewer 3-point attempts. The Gators outshot UConn from the field (.460 vs. .375) and from 3-point range (.474 vs. .276).
* Clayton (1,258) and Richard (1,229) now rank #1 and #2 in career scoring among Florida transfers, with Richard passing Dorian Finney-Smith (1,220) today. They rate #32 and #35 overall respectively among Gators all-time.
* Florida’s 3,076 points this season are the team’s fourth-most in program history.
