Texas Longhorns Go Cold Late in Tough Loss to No. 7 Florida

The Texas Longhorns fell short of a major opportunity to essentially secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Alex Condon scored 23 points and had four blocks as No. 7 Florida won its eighth straight game Wednesday night at the Moody Center, using a late surge to put away Texas in an 84-71 win.

The Longhorns led 64-61 with 7:27 left but Florida ended the game on a 23-7 run while holding Texas without a field goal during that stretch. Dailyn Swain had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Longhorns go along with three steals.

Texas Longhorns Run Out of Gas in Loss to Florida

Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Pope celebrates a three point basket during the first half against the Florida Gators at Moody Center. | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

"I would tell you that our inability to get a key stop in crunch time is a significant thing for us, and we're gonna have to pass that test here over these next couple of weeks," Texas head coach Sean Miller said.

Florida lost the rebounding battle (30-29) for the first time since its season-opening loss to Arizona but the Longhorns were unable to use that to their advantage.

“They are not a team that I would want to see in March," Florida head coach Todd Golden said of Texas.

Florida's leading scorer Thomas Haugh had a quiet game (five points) but guards Boogie Fland (22 points) and Xaivian Lee (12 points) helped the Gators run away from Texas in the second half.

Urban Klavzar had eight points off the bench while Isaiah Brown added nine points and eight rebounds. Florida center Rueben Chinyelu had five points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Texas finished with a season-low two assists. The Longhorns also got double-digit scoring efforts from Jordan Pope (14 points) Tramon Mark (15 points) and Matas Vokietaitis (12 points).

Florida Gators guard Boogie Fland looks to pass the ball against Texas Longhorns guard Tramon Mark during the second half at Moody Center. | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Texas' defense held steady during the opening minutes while the offense got off to a nice start. Pope and Mark both connected on a pair of triples while Vokietaitis scored twice as well to give the Longhorns a 10-6 lead.

Florida responded with buckets from Condon and Haugh but Texas punched back with multiple shots from Swain, Mark and Simeon Wilcher to spark an 8-0 run that built the lead to 20-12 at the 11-minute mark.

After a steal and fastbreak dunk from Swain, a contested triple from Mark put Texas up 25-19 but a 9-2 run from Florida gave the Gators their first lead of the game at 28-27 with 5:53 in the first half after a dunk from Condon.

Mark hit another triple in the defense's face to put Texas back in front while giving him 13 points in the first half. Nic Codie converted a three-point play to give the Longhorns a 36-31 edge but a fastbreak corner 3 from Fland tied the game up at 36.

Texas held Florida scoreless for the final 1:21 of the first half before heading into the locker room up 39-36.

The Gators began the first half with a triple from Condon before he and Lee added a pair of buckets in the paint to help Florida grab its largest lead up to that point of three at 45-42.

Swain answered back for Texas with two free throws before converting an and-one to tie the game back up at 47 with 15:50 to play.

Despite being neck-and-neck throughout, the Gators started to create some distance after getting hot from deep. Klavzar hit a pair of triples while Lee connected from behind the arc as well to put Florida up 61-55 with 9:52 left.

But Texas didn't go away. Pope sparked a 9-0 with a triple and another midrange jumper to give the Longhorns the lead back at 64-61 with 7:20 to play.

Florida punched right back with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 70-64 lead thanks to more paint production from Condon. This ballooned into a 14-1 run that helped seal the game for the Gators, who extended their win streak to eight with the victory.