No. 6 Florida Sparked by Richard's 21, Condon's Near-Double Double

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- No. 6 Florida Gators on Tuesday needed an offensive hero against the Vanderbilt Commodores with star guard Walter Clayton Jr. injured, and Will Richard stepped up to the plate with 21 total points in a slugfest inside Exactech Arena.

Richard, who scored 16 points in the second half, hit three 3-pointers in the first nine minutes of the second half of Tuesday's contest, which saw 12 total lead changes and 11 ties. It wouldn't be until late in the second half that the Gators took a comfortable lead.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Richard and Sam Alexis gave Florida a 55-50 lead, which was tied for its largest lead of the game before Urban Klavzar added a pair of his own, and Alijah Martin hit a jumper to make it 65-54 with 7:41 left in the game.

Richard added another five minutes later to effectively ice the game with the Gators up 79-65.

As a whole, the Gators shot 10-for-21 from deep despite missing its 3-point leader in Clayton Jr.

That doesn't mean the Gators didn't have its fair share of struggles in Clayton Jr.'s absence. Without its starting point guard, Florida turned the ball over 10 times, including five times from Martin. Florida, however, did find success at different points in its other guards.

In his first-career start, guard Denzel Aberdeen scored 13 points, nine of which came in the first half.

That first half saw the Gators in a slugfest due to its turnover issues. By the under-12-minute media timeout, Florida turned the ball over six times and trailed 17-13 before a pair of free throws from Thomas Haugh and a bucket from Isaiah Brown tied the game.

That Brown bucket came after an injury to Martin, who eventually left the game for Florida's locker room with an apparent injury to his side after chasing after a loose ball. He would later return in the first half and finished with eight points.

Aberdeen, meanwhile, sparked the Gators with back-to-back buckets including a 3-pointer to give Florida a 22-19 lead. The team's would trade buckets for most of the game as the Gators found consistent success from Alex Condon, who had 19 points and nine rebounds, alongside Aberdeen's first half and Richard's second half performances.

condo cleaning it up with a 2-hand slam #GoGators | 📺SECN pic.twitter.com/F7DIAcaYgE
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 5, 2025

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, was sparked by a team-high 20 points from Jason Edwards alongside 15 points from Jaylen Carey off the bench.

Up Next

The Gators (19-3, 6-3 SEC) hit the road on Saturday for a matchup at No. 1 Auburn (20-1, 8-0 SEC). Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. with television coverage on ESPN.