Gators Complete Comeback Over Gamecocks, Richard Nails Game-Winner

Gainesville, Fla. – The No. 5 Florida Gators men’s basketball team finished off a second-half comeback in Columbia SC., to take down the South Carolina Gamecocks, 70-69, on Wednesday night. This win from the Gators gets them to 17-2 on the year and 4-2 in the conference. This is tied for their best 19-game start in program history.

The hero of this game for the Gators was Will Richard. Despite starting the day on the Gators availability report, he found his way onto the court and ended the night with a team-high 22 points and hit the game-winning shot for his team with five seconds left.

WILL RICHARD WINS IT FOR @GatorsMBK 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yxoxHqdtio
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 23, 2025

Moreover, by adding these 22 points to his tally, he has passed the 1,000-point mark as a member of the Gators.

SECURED THE DUB FOR HIS 1K POINT WEARING THE ORANGE AND BLUE. pic.twitter.com/zg8RD8wQiz
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 23, 2025

Along with Rochard’s big night, Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 16 points and seven assists while Alijah Martin logged 14 points and three steals.

The Gators put on a strong defensive showing in the second half to help mount the comeback. There were 10 steals from the Gators defense. Four players had two or more second-half steals.

The most impactful of the bunch came from Martin late in the game. With a minute to go, Martin forced a steal that eventually resulted in two free throws for himself. These two points tied the game at 68 and gave his team a chance to win it, which they did.

Gamecocks Dominate First Half

It was a rough start for the visitors Wednesday night, as they trailed 5-0 to begin. However, the Gators did respond to this by bringing their opponent's advantage back to two points, with the Gamecocks leading 11-9.

But, once again, the host began to build momentum. South Carolina manufactured a seven-point lead with around 12 minutes left in the half.

Florida did counter this with a run of their own, though. After going down seven, Alex Condon and Richard ran off seven straight points to tie the score at 16 all with nine minutes to go in the first half.

From here, it became a back-and-forth battle for control and it ultimately gave way to the Gamecocks. With 6:37 left in the half, the Gamecocks were up 23-22 over the Gators. By the 4:05 mark, they would extend it to a 10-point lead over the Gators. For the Gators, it was poor shots, relaxed effort on defense and just a lack of effort all around that put them this far in the hole.

Luckily, it didn’t get any worse from there by halftime. Entering the locker room after the first 20 minutes, Florida trailed South Carolina 36-29.

For the Gamecocks, they had a solid first half. They were 50% from the field and knocked down four 3’s. They also hit both of their free-throw attempts. The leader in their clubhouse, Collin Murray-Boyles, was probably their most dominant player. He finished the first 20 with 11 points (5-for-6) and five assists.

As for the Gators, they were 44.8% from the field and hit three 3-pointers. And, their leading scorer was Richard, who ended with eight first-half points.

Richard Comes Up Big Late

One positive did occur in this early portion of the second half and it came from a Clayton Jr. 3-pointer. Upon hitting a wing 3, Clayton Jr. broke the school record for consecutive games hitting at least one 3, which he is now at 43 straight games.

However, it didn’t change their fortunes right away. South Carolina continued to roll, finding themselves up 58-45.

Then, Florida finally landed a punch of their own. Fueled by multiple turnovers from South Carolina, Florida would go on a 7-0 run to bring the game to a more manageable situation, as they now only trailed by six with eight minutes remaining.

Florida would even bring it to just a one-possession game with 3:38 left in the game, trailing 62-60.

Unfortunately for the Gators, Davis would come up with one more big shot for his team. Having to hoist up a heavily contested 3, Davis managed to get the ball over Clayton Jr.’s hands and bank in a 3-pointer to put his team in front 68-63.

Behind a Richard 3-pointer of his own and two free throws from Martin after forcing a steal on the inbounds pass, the Gators were able to tie it 68 a piece.

Then, on the other end, Richard had the game-winning layup with five seconds left that put his team ahead 70-69 for the win. South Carolina missed their shot at the buzzer to end it.

Florida is back at home on Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs. Tip off is set for 3:30 pm and will be televised on SEC Network.