Florida secured a 76-62 win over South Carolina on Tuesday night at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville. The Gators, ranked No. 12/11, improved their season record to 20-6 overall and 11-2 in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play. This marks Florida’s sixth consecutive victory and their 12th win in 13 home games this season.
Alex Condon led Florida with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Rueben Chinyelu contributed a double-double as well, finishing with 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the year. Thomas Haugh added another 10 points for the Gators.
The Gamecocks, now holding an overall record of 11-14 and standing at 2-11 in SEC competition, managed to cut Florida’s lead to six late in the first half. However, the Gators responded quickly to establish a double-digit margin by halftime, leading South Carolina 39-29 at the break.
South Carolina narrowed the deficit to nine early in the second half after a basket from Kobe Knox but could not close the gap further. Florida extended its lead to as many as sixteen points and maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game.
Meechie Johnson led South Carolina with a game-high 22 points in just 30 minutes of play. “Redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson finished with a game-high 22 points, his ninth game this season with 20 or more (seventh in SEC play). He was a perfect nine-for-nine at the free throw line and added a team-high three steals,” according to South Carolina officials. “The Cleveland, Ohio native now has twelve consecutive games in double figures after tonight. He’s scored ten or more a team-leading twenty times this season.” The statement also noted that Johnson “now has twenty-three games in college with twenty or more points, all while wearing Garnet and Black.”
Elijah Strong was South Carolina’s only other player scoring in double figures, recording ten points on five-for-eight shooting from the field during his sixteen minutes on court. Senior guard Mike Sharavjamts led South Carolina with six rebounds across twenty-seven minutes played.
A key factor in Florida’s win was rebounding; they outperformed South Carolina by holding a commanding edge of forty-seven rebounds to thirty. This advantage helped generate twenty-seven second chance points for Florida.
South Carolina will return home for their next matchup against Mississippi State on Saturday at Colonial Life Arena.
