White Gets Revenge as No. 3 Florida Falls on the Road

The Florida Gators have fallen to rival Georgia for the first time under head coach Todd Golden in an 88-83 loss.

Feb 25, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden reacts against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga.-- Todd Golden's undefeated mark against his predecessor has come to an end.

The No. 3 Florida Gators on Tuesday fell on the road to rival Georgia, 88-83, despite erasing a 26-point deficit to give former UF head coach Mike White his first win against his previous school.

Will Richard, behind a career-high 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting, gave a valiant effort for Florida, which held an 80-78 lead with 1:08 left before Georgia scored eight-straight points to seal the win. Additionally, Florida couldn't take advantage of 29 points off 17 turnovers from Georgia as the Gators missed nine free throws.

Five Bulldogs scored in double-figures with guard Silas Demary Jr. leading the way with 21 points, 14 of which came in the first half. In that frame, the Bulldogs nearly surpassed its 59-point total from the teams' previous matchup by taking a 51-35 lead into the locker room.

Demary Jr. had 10 points himself by the under-12 timeout, matching Florida's total as the Gators trailed 29-10. He hit a 3-pointer four minutes into the game to extend Georgia's lead to double-digits, which also began a streak of six-straight made field goals for the Bulldogs.

Georgia eventually extended its lead to 26 points behind another 3-pointer from Demary Jr. before Florida finally found some momentum with a 3-pointer from Will Richard to answer, making the score 39-16 in favor of the Bulldogs with 7:37 left in the half.

Richard continued to spark Florida offensively late in the first by bringing the deficit back under 20 points with 3:40 left in the first half. Down 39-13, he scored 18 of Florida's 23 points to cut Georgia's lead to 16 points into the break. He finished the half with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting with three 3-pointers.

He continued to lead the Gator offense by scoring seven of UF's first 11 points in the second half, and the Gators continued to chip away.

Down 66-49 with 12:59 left, the Gators scored six-straight points with a free throw from Alijah Martin making it 66-57 game before Georgia found answers.

The Bulldogs got a dunk from RJ Godfrey, UF missed a one-and-one, Georgia got a bucket from Dakota Leffew and Florida was called for a shot-clock violation as UGA extended its lead back to 13 points with under nine minutes left.

Florida, once again, cut the deficit back to under single digits with buckets from Micah Handlogten and Richard, who hit a 3-pointer with 6:19 left to make it a seven-point game. Alex Condon, making his first appearance in four games, eventually made it a six-point game after a pair of free throws with three minutes left.

Clayton Jr. drilled a 3-pointer on the next possession to make the score 78-75 with 2:15 left before Condon hit back-to-back free throws and Thomas Haugh hit a layup to take its first lead with 1:19 left. Georgia was held off the scoreboard for the previous 3:48.

The Bulldogs ended its scoring drought with a 3-pointer from Blue Cain to take an 81-80 lead with under a minute left before a slew of free throws sealed the win.

Next Up

Florida on Saturday returns home for a top 12 matchup against Texas A&M after playing host to ESPN's College GameDay that morning. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.