Florida was forced to lean into its depth for two road wins over ranked teams, and the abundance of options may be a factor again.
The third-ranked Gators are content with their deep roster and believe it can help them beat scuffling South Carolina on Saturday night in Gainesville, Fla., if Alijah Martin and Alex Condon are unavailable.
Seeking its fourth straight win, Florida (21-3, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) is beginning a stretch of four straight games against teams with losing conference records. The Gators beat then-No. 1 Auburn last Saturday and No. 22 Mississippi State on Tuesday without Martin (hip pointer), their second-leading scorer behind Walter Clayton Jr. (17.5 ppg).
Martin, averaging 15.3 points, was injured in Florida’s win over Vanderbilt and practiced before their 81-68 victory at Mississippi State. Denzel Aberdeen, the team’s sixth-leading scorer (8.0 points), replaced Martin and scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half when the Gators shot 54.8 percent, made 8 of 16 3s and outscored Mississippi State 48-34.
Aberdeen’s big game saw him score seven points in Florida’s 17-0 run to start the second half. It occurred after the Gators lost Condon to a low ankle sprain 30 seconds into the contest when he was trying to gain possession of a loose ball on a sequence Florida coach Todd Golden believed was a “dirty play.”
Thomas Haugh replaced Condon and scored 16 points for the second straight game to supplement 19 from Clayton, who missed the win over Vanderbilt with an ankle injury.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team,” Golden said. “Our team has continued to show a great next-man-up mentality. We’ve got to keep it going. It’s not going to be easy, but this team has shown great resolve over the last week and a half.”
Five of Florida’s conference wins are by double digits, but their biggest resolve appeared in their visit to South Carolina on Jan. 22 when Will Richard hit the game-winning layup with 4.8 seconds left in a 70-69 win.
South Carolina (11-14, 0-11) allowed 22 points off turnovers and held the lead for over 38 minutes in the previous meeting. The loss to Florida is among six defeats by six points or fewer in SEC games, though five of those were at home.
The latest instance was a 72-68 loss to No. 19 Ole Miss on Wednesday night when South Carolina nearly erased a 13-point deficit. The Gamecocks held a two-point lead twice in the final 3:59 and held Ole Miss to 31.3 percent in the second half after allowing 65.2 percent in the first half
Collin Murray-Boyles scored 20 points but committed a costly turnover with 50 seconds left and missed a layup with 10 seconds left. Boyles, who leads the Gamecocks with 15.6 ppg, scored 20 for the third time in SEC play and seventh time overall.
“It’s difficult to know what to say to the guys to connect to them, because now it’s frustrating for me,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said. “But more than frustration, I feel a sense of empathy for them and what they’re going through. And for young people, it’s not that easy sometimes to bounce back and be as chipper as you need to be in order to go out and win another game.”
Paris has rarely discussed a close loss on the road as his team’s average margin of defeats away from home in SEC games is 18.4 points, including last week’s 23-point loss at Kentucky.
–Field Level Media
