Thomas Haugh had 21 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks to help Florida run away from visiting No. 18 Georgia 92-77 in Southeastern Conference play on Tuesday in Gainesville, Fla.
Alex Condon finished with 21 points and eight rebounds for Florida (10-5, 1-1 SEC), which rebounded from its two-point loss at Missouri in the conference opener on Saturday. Urban Klavzar scored 11 points, while Rueben Chinyelu added 10 for the Gators, who outrebounded Georgia 56-35 and outscored the Bulldogs 58-38 in the paint. Reserve Micah Handlogten pulled down 11 rebounds in the win.
Marcus Millender led Georgia (13-2, 1-1) with 18 points off the bench, followed by Dylan James’ 16. Jordan Ross scored 13 and Kanon Catchings had 12 for the Bulldogs, who had their seven-game winning streak come to an end.
Florida’s one-point halftime lead ballooned to eight on Chinyelu’s layup with 16:47 left after a 6-0 run. Just over two minutes later, the Gators took their first double-digit lead on Handlogten’s layup as part of another 6-0 run.
After Millender’s mid-range jumper pulled Georgia within 10, Chinyelu’s layup and Xaivian Lee’s 3-pointer gave Florida a 69-54 lead, forcing a Bulldogs timeout with 7:59 remaining. The lead was pushed to 21 on Klavzar’s triple with 6:24 left.
Georgia pieced together a mini rally as James’ layup cut the deficit to 13 before Condon’s dunk sealed the win, giving Florida an 80-65 lead with 2:55 left.
Condon’s fastbreak dunk in the final minute put the Gators ahead by 17, punctuating Florida’s much-needed victory.
As Blue Cain’s floater trimmed the Bulldogs’ deficit to a point with 10:14 left in the first half, Georgia’s leading rebounder Somto Cyril was ejected for swinging a forearm at Chinyelu.
From there, Chinyelu and Haugh’s dunk stamped an 8-0 run to give Florida a 30-21 lead. After Handlogten’s putback layup gave the Gators a 32-23 edge, Millender scored seven points of Georgia’s 13-3 run.
Following Condon’s back-to-back baskets, Kareem Stagg’s putback dunk trimmed Georgia’s halftime-deficit to 41-40. Haugh led all scorers with 15 first-half points, while Millender’s 11 paced the Bulldogs.
–Field Level Media
