Winning games in March is about being able to survive and advance. That’s the exact opportunity presented to Florida on Thursday.
Sophomore guard Riley Kugel stood at the free throw line with seconds remaining in the game while the Gators held a one possession lead. A make would put the game out of reach, but a miss would give the Bulldogs a chance to send the game to overtime.
Despite the up-and-down season that Kugel had, the sophomore calmly stepped to the line and buried two game-clinching free throws, proving to be the difference.
Florida (22-10, 12-7 SEC) survived the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament defeating the Georgia Bulldogs (16-16, 6-13 SEC) 85-80 in Nashville, Thursday.
The Gators arrived in Nashville for the second time in six days to begin a new chapter of their season. Florida seeked to have a more successful road trip this time around after suffering a surprising road loss to Vanderbilt Saturday.
This postseason matchup had Florida faced with the tall task of arriving at the SEC Tournament to defeat a rival opponent for the third time in less than two months.
Junior guard Will Richard has had streaky shooting performances from deep throughout the season. Though, he has shown the ability to get hot quickly, and that’s exactly what he did to open the contest against the Bulldogs.
Richard knocked down three of his first four attempts from deep and surpassed his season average of 11.2 points per game just 10 minutes into the contest.
Florida used Richard’s hot start to grab its largest lead of the first half at 21-12 at the 10:05 mark.
The Gators’ backcourt has been sensational this season. Junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. and graduate student guard Zyon Pullin have led the Gators in scoring and have been key facilitators for the offense.
However, the Bulldogs switched to a zone defense midway through the first half which Florida has struggled scoring on this year. The defensive switch made life difficult for the Gators’ All-SEC guards who combined for 13 points in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Georgia’s zone completely switched the momentum of the game in the Bulldogs’ favor. UGA exploded on an 18-3 run while the Gators mustered just one field goal in six minutes.
Despite Florida being the leading rebounding team in the SEC in the 2024 campaign, it was Georgia that was the more physical team on the boards. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Gators both offensively and defensively heading into halftime.
Florida’s starting frontcourt was held to just three points in the first half. Graduate student forward Tyrese Samuel came into the matchup making 12 straight free throw attempts but made just 1-of-8 attempts against the Bulldogs.
Freshman forward Alex Condon picked up the slow start from the Florida big men. He finished with 10 points in the game and provided a much-needed spark for the UF frontcourt off of the bench.
It was far from Florida’s best 20 minutes of basketball, but a 6-0 run capped off by a driving layup by Pullin cut the Georgia lead to 37-36 at halftime.
The Gators came out of the locker room with aggressiveness and a sense of urgency that was nowhere to be found in the first half. They attacked the glass on both offense and defense and looked much more like the rebounding team that Gator fans had been accustomed to seeing.
They used their momentum to generate a 12-2 run over 4:30 while knocking down six-of-eight shot attempts to grab a 51-48 lead midway through the second half. After a quiet first half, Clayton Jr. got it going in the second.
UF’s leading scorer scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the final 20 minutes of the game and made timely shots as UF looked to hold off a late Georgia comeback. One of which was a timely 3-pointer that halted a 10-2 Bulldogs run.
Samuel stepped up his play tremendously down the stretch as well. He scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the second half and shot 8-for-15 from the charity stripe.
Pullin fouled out of the game with just over 10 minutes to go, but the stellar play of Clayton Jr. and Samuel carried the Gators down the stretch. Five players finished with double-digit scoring marks with Clayton Jr. leading the way with Richard and Samuel each posting 17 apiece.
Kugel was efficient from the free-throw line to seal the deal for Florida. The sophomore knocked down six straight at the line to eventually secure the victory for UF.
Florida will be right back in action Friday in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals. The Gators will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at approximately 9:30 p.m. in Nashville. Bama comes into the matchup as the No. 3 seed in the SEC after a 21-10 record on the season.
Contact Max at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a junior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time. Max will be covering the Gators Golf teams this Fall for The Alligator.
