Gators Dominate Texas, 84-60, in Bounce-Back Effort

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The No. 5 Florida Gators needed a massive bounce-back performance on Saturday after a tough one-point loss earlier in the week at home to unranked Missouri.

They got that and then some in an 84-60 win over the Texas Longhorns in front of 11,107 of the Florida faithful, which was the first matchup between the two programs as SEC foes and the first overall since 1997.

"Just really happy and proud of our team. I thought our players did a great job tonight answering the challenge," head coach Todd Golden said. "You know, we talked a lot about it after the game yesterday that I didn't think our mentality was where it needed to be on Tuesday night against a really good Missouri team that came in here and took advantage of it.

The win also comes days after another serious allegation against a member of the program was with assistant coach Taurean Green being accused of sexual assault, according to a report by ESPN published Thursday evening.

Golden, who himself is the subject of an ongoing Title IX investigation, did not speak on the newest controversial report about his program after discussing it on Friday. Instead, he chose to commend his team for a bounce-back effort after a rough showing earlier in the week against Missouri.

"And, you know, we talked a lot about it over the last 48 hours that, you know, with this opportunity on Saturday, we just cannot allow it to happen where a team comes in here and plays harder than us," he said. "To the credit of our players and our staff, I thought we played incredibly hard."

Shooting came with difficulty early with both teams combining to shoot 3-for-18 through the first four minutes of action before a long scoring run gave Florida a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

The Gators would go on a 15-0 run to take a 28-18 lead, during which they kept Texas scoreless for over six minutes.

Walter Clayton Jr., who finished with 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting, tied Michael Frazier II for most consecutive games with a 3-pointer made (41) during the run. His last game without a 3-pointer made came on Dec. 30, 2023 in a 97-72 win over Quinnipiac.

Clayton Jr. scored seven of his 12 first-half points during the run, leading the Gators to a 37-30 advantage into the halftime break.

"I know to have my name with some of those other guys up there, they were great players obviously being a part of the Gators tradition but getting a win, I’m happy about that," Clayton Jr. said. "Just getting a win that’s all that matters.”

Florida would keep its foot on the gas in the second half with a posterizing dunk from Will Richard followed immediately by a 3-pointer from Martin, who scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half.

Buckets from Rueben Chinyelu and Clayton Jr. plus a 3-pointer from Richard kept the Gators at a double-digit lead before Alex Condon drilled his own 3-pointer just past the 12-minute mark making the score 55-45 in favor of Florida.

Condon, who had been held scoreless to that point, would finish with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, giving him his third double-double in his last four games and fourth overall of the season. He also led the game with four steals.

"We lost the rebounds by a lot against Missouri, and it was an emphasis for the bigs at least," Condon said, "We thought we could beat these guys on the rebounds with our physicality and that was really my mindset today."

OH OK

will's way to start the second half 🤯#GoGators | 📺ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/N1Z5atgZnz
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 18, 2025

Florida ended the game on a 23-6 run over the last five minutes, thanks in part to a put-back from Thomas Haugh with 3:30 left to extend the lead to 20 along with a pair of dunks from Martin and Condon to ice the game.

Meanwhile, Texas experienced a field goal drought lasting over five minutes until a bucket from Jayson Kent with 3:15 left made the score 76-58. f

amart 🚀#GoGators | 📺ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/uAhUZBlXfD
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 18, 2025

Next Up

The Gators (16-2, 3-2 SEC) hit the road for a midweek matchup on Wednesday at South Carolina, which has yet to win a conference game (0-5) after a 10-3 start to the season. Tip off in Columbia is at 7 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.