#3 Florida 88, South Carolina 67
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 22-3, 9-3 SEC; South Carolina 10-15, 0-12 SEC
Next Up: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., Oklahoma, ESPN2
Notable
* Denzel Aberdeen (22 points) and Thomas Haugh (20 points) both had career-high scoring nights, and Micah Handlogten dished a career-high five assists as he returned to action for the first time since suffering a leg injury in the SEC Tournament championship game March 17, 2024.
* Florida used a 12-1 run out of halftime to open up a double-digit lead. Florida has had massive runs out of the halftime break in back-to-back games, with a 17-0 run on Tuesday at Mississippi State and tonight’s 12-1 run.
* Florida held South Carolina without a field goal for a 12:20 span on the clock. SC hit a shot at the 8:04 mark of the first half and did not make another field goal until 15:44 remained in the second. In both games, a Denzel Aberdeen corner 3-pointer got the run started.
* Florida had five players in double figures for the third straight game, as Alijah Martin scored 11 and Walter Clayton Jr. and Rueben Chinyelu added 10 points each. Clayton also handed out eight assists.
* Haugh made his first start of the season, third career, moving into the lineup in the absence of Alex Condon. After using the same starting five for the first 21 games of the season, the Gators have had three new lineups over the last four games.
* Aberdeen started his fourth straight game and is averaging a team-high 16.3 points per game over that stretch, scoring in double figures every game.
* During the Gators’ four-game winning streak, they are shooting .432 from 3-point range with 12.8 made 3-pointers per game and averaging 21.3 assists per game.
* Clayton extended his UF-record streak to 47 consecutive appearances with a 3-point field goal.
* The win was the Gators’ 18th this season by double digits, matching the team’s most wins by 10+ points in a season over the last decade (2016-17).
* Four of the Gators’ nine SEC wins have been by 20+ points.
* With tonight’s win, the Gators’ regular season SEC record improves to 699-694. It marks the first time in Florida history the team has been five or more games above .500 all-time in SEC play.
* The Gators held a 13-9 record on Jan. 4, 1936, lost five straight to fall below .500 and did not return to .500 until hitting a 689-689 all-time record on Feb. 28, 2024.
* Florida fell as many as 132 games below .500 (279-411) on Jan. 7, 1984.
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening statement…
“Just another really good effort by our group. Really happy with the final result. I thought the first half was a little up and down. Just when you have some guys that are out and you’re trying to get some guys back into the lineup and deal with rotations, you know, I didn’t think I did a great job in the first half getting guys comfortable. But I thought in the second half we played a little harder. I thought our energy and our effort was a little better. Denzel [Aberdeen] got us off to a great start in the second half, but collectively we just played much better. We were able to get that lead up to 25 [points] with about six minutes to go and just really play some high-level basketball. So, overall, really pleased with the victory tonight and excited to get back after it tomorrow and get ready for Tuesday.”
On the impact of Denzel Aberdeen and Thomas Haugh while shorthanded…
“They’ve been incredible, you know. I think one of the biggest strengths of our team is our depth, and we’ve talked about them a lot over the course of the season, as up until Vanderbilt we had been able to start the same group every game, that those two guys specifically were starter level players. They just weren’t in the starting lineup, but there were some games where Denzel finished for us. There were a lot of games where Tommy’s [Haugh] finishing games for us. It just so happens that’s the way our rotation worked out and obviously things have been going pretty good, so we didn’t want to do too much to change that. But over the last four games, dating back to Vanderbilt, we haven’t been 100 percent healthy in terms of our roster, and it’s just been great to see other guys step up when given the opportunity. It’s one thing to get your number called, it’s another to be ready to take advantage of that opportunity when you do. And to a man I think our guys, from Denzel, to Tommy, Urbie [Klavzar] and Micah [Handlogten] tonight, they stepped up and gave us great minutes to help us win.”
On the emotions of Micah Handlogten being able to check into the game…
“Obviously it’s been difficult not having him out there playing, but he’s been an elite teammate all the way. And you know, we talk about Tommy’s unselfishness, how about Micah’s unselfishness, right? Like, it could be very easy for him to say, ‘You know, I only got this many games left, I don’t want to waste it.’ And he’s like, ‘Dude, I have a chance to go play with my buddies and compete to go try to win a lot of games down the stretch.’ And it’s been a long journey for him, obviously, and all of us, but him specifically. He’s living it. And I just can’t imagine how joyful he feels to be able to go out there and play 20 minutes tonight and got a bucket. A nice little and-1. He had five assists, one turnover, two blocks and two steals, he was impactful. He made winning plays, and it’s great to have him back out there.”
Junior G Denzel Aberdeen
On having his second straight 20-point game…
“Just being ready when my name is called. It felt good in warmups today and my teammates put me in great position, hitting me with wide open shots and all I just had to do was knock it down.”
Junior C Micah Handlogten
On how it felt to get back out there…
“I mean, it felt really good. Definitely a little bit out of shape, I got kind of tired, but I’m just glad we could go out there and get the dub. That’s what we came here for, that’s why I came back. I wanted to win, we got it today.”
Sophomore F Thomas Haugh
On where his confidence level is right now…
“I feel pretty confident, but that’s just credit to the coaches, you know. They believed in me this whole summer. Last year, too, playing me while I was a freshman and stuff like that, so I just finally started to get more confidence this season.”
