Gators Stay Put at No. 5 in Newest AP Poll

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The newest AP Top 25 poll released on Monday and the Florida Gators men’s basketball team stayed put at No. 5.

It’s not all too surprising given the team's record last week, which began with a nail-biting loss to then-unranked Missouri Tigers on Tuesday, losing 83-82. Missouri, it should be noted, is ranked No. 22.

In Florida's loss, the Tigers carried a 16-point lead over the Gators heading into halftime. The Gators did manage to mount a comeback in the second half climbing all the way back to a one-point deficit, but their first-half performance, along with a few statistical shortcomings, was too much to overcome.

“We didn't match the physicality and we just allowed them to come into our building to get comfortable, which just doesn't happen very often,” Gators head coach Todd Golden said after the loss.

This loss also snapped a 16-game win streak on their homecourt and four-game streak over the Tigers.

But the Gators didn’t dwell on this defeat for too long as Florida dominated Texas in its next outing from start to finish, coming out on top 84-60. Dominate efforts from Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Alex Condon paved the way in the bounce-back win.

Martin finished with a game-high 22 points against the Longhorns. Clayton ended with 19 points himself while tying a program record of consecutive games with at least one three made alive at 41. As for Condon logged his third double-double in the last four games, ending with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Another player who had a solid game against Texas was Will Richard. Richard only had nine points and five rebounds. However, he was tasked with being the primary defender on Tre Johnson and did a heck of a job doing so. He held Johnson to 6-for-15 shooting and 1-5 from behind the arc.

“And, you know, I’d throw Will in that group as well, from a standpoint of just providing just some really big winning efforts, you know,” Golden said following their win over Texas. “...his 33 minutes, we had him on Tre Johnson today…He did a wonderful job, you know, I'll pick on him with a few contested or fouls on the jump shots. But he made everything really, really hard for Tre tonight.”

Florida’s next matchup will be against the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, SC. This game will take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network.