Denzel Aberdeen scored 13 of his career-high 22 points after halftime Saturday night in Gainesville, Fla., as No. 3 Florida pulled away for an 88-67 victory over South Carolina, which remains winless in Southeastern Conference play.
After matching his career high of 20 at No. 22 Mississippi State on Tuesday, when he started in place of Alijah Martin, Aberdeen made 8 of 12 shots to help Florida (22-3, 9-3 SEC) earn its fourth straight win. Martin returned Saturday after missing two games due to a hip pointer and Aberdeen finished with his third career 20-point game.
Thomas Haugh added a career-high 20 points in his third career start as he replaced Alex Condon (ankle), who will miss one to two weeks after injuring his ankle 30 seconds into Tuesday’s win.
Aberdeen and Valentine combined to shoot 14 of 22 from the field and hit eight 3-pointers. The Gators shot a sizzling 60.4 percent and hit 14 threes, marking the fourth straight time they have hit at least 10 triples.
Martin added 11 points in his return from injury. Walter Clayton Jr. contributed 10 and had eight of Florida’s 24 assists while Rueben Chinyelu also finished with 10 points.
South Carolina (10-15, 0-12) faded after a quick start. The Gamecocks made 12 of their first 17 shots and shot 44 percent (22 of 50) for the game.
Jacobi Wright led South Carolina with 13 points, while Nick Pringle and Collin Murray-Boyles added 12 apiece.
Florida made its first six shots and raced to a 15-6 lead on Aberdeen’s second 3 with 15:27 left. South Carolina weathered the early deficit and ripped off a 17-3 run of its own for a 23-18 lead on a dunk by Murray-Boyles with 10:46 left.
The Gamecocks held a 29-28 lead on a basket by Wright with 8:04 left, but missed their final five shots of the half and committed six turnovers as Florida held a 37-33 lead by halftime. Florida opened a 10-point lead less than two minutes into the second when Haugh sank a 3 from the top of the key then took a 49-34 lead on Will Richard’s spinning jumper with 16:38 left.
South Carolina’s field goal drought ended at nine when Morris Ugusuk made a three with 15:44 remaining, but two 3-pointers by Aberdeen in 25 seconds extended Florida’s lead to 61-40 with 12:24 left. Florida kept pulling away and took a trio of 25-point leads to finish off its latest win.
–Field Level Media
