At the Buzzer: Florida 65, South Carolina 41 (Instant Breakdown)

AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 65, SOUTH CAROLINA 39

WHAT HAPPENED: The Gators jumped the Gamecocks from the opening tip, never trailed and ran away with their most lopsided Southeastern Conference victory of the season. UF scored the game's first five points, then blitzed USC on the way to a 21-point halftime lead by shooting 52 percent, smashing the Gamecocks 22-10 on the glass and putting all 10 players who checked into the game in the scoring column before the break. The Gators, who were beaten by the Gamecocks at home just 17 days ago, were led by Chris Chiozza's 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists, with swingman Jalen Hudson adding 12 more points and grad-transfer Egor Koulechov good for nine points and seve boards. For the game, Florida shot 46.2 percent, allowed just 27.8 percent on the defensive end, maintained a huge edge on the glass (46-24) for the duration and matched its season high for blocked shots with 10. South Carolina, since that 77-72 win in Gainesville on Jan. 24, has lost five straight. UF held USC's tough-cover forward Chris Silva, who killed the Gators last time, to 10 points and five rebounds.

WHAT IT MEANS: After dropping three straight in league play, the Gators now have a two-game winning streak and picked up an important road victory by avenging the loss to the Gamecocks. Florida also prevented South Carolina from sweeping the regular-season series for the first time since 2006. At worst, UF will remain alone in third place in the SEC standings, behind second-place Tennessee (which plays at Alabama later Saturday) and first-place Auburn (at Georgia).

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Florida's bench. The unit that was outscored 29-1 by Alabama two games ago and 28-16 in the win over LSU three nights earlier, but tallied 23 points on the Gamecocks. Redshirt freshman Dontay Bassett had four points and seven rebounds, while freshman guard Deaundrae Ballard, who had not made a field goal the previous six games, had six points.

STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Gamecocks' 41 points marked the fewest allowed by the Gators in an SEC game during Coach Mike White's three seasons. The previous low came Feb. 17, 2017 in a 57-52 win at Mississippi State.

STAGGERING STATISTIC II: South Carolina grad-transfer guard Wesley Myers, who riddled the Gators in Gainesville for a season-high 22 points and made five of seven 3-point shots, did not score in 20 minutes. He has 16 points over the five games since that night in the O'Dome. The Gamecocks made 11 of 21 from deep last time. They made two of 13 this time.

UP NEXT: Florida (17-8, 8-4) is back home Wednesday night for the second of three consecutive rematches, this one against Georgia (13-10, 4-7), which is home Saturday afternoon to Auburn. The Bulldogs defeated the Gators 72-60 on Jan. 30 at Athens, a game when UF missed 20 of 21 shots (including 15 straight) during a brutal second-half stretch.

Gators Calendar

At the Buzzer: Florida 65, South Carolina 41 (Instant Breakdown)

Players Mentioned

Deaundrae Ballard

Dontay Bassett

Chris Chiozza

Jalen Hudson

Egor Koulechov

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