Florida Gators
Kent State
Tyus, Macklin Propel Gators to 65-52 Victory Against Kent State
Friday, December 10, 2010 | Men's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) scored a season-high 20 points and Vernon Macklin (Portsmouth, Va.) added 19 and eight rebounds to lead the Gators to a 65-52 victory over Kent State Thursday night at the O'Connell Center.
After a tight opening 16 minutes where neither team led by more than four points, Florida ended the first half with a 9-0 burst to carry a five-point advantage into intermission.
Florida quickly turned that five-point halftime lead into a 17-point margin by outscoring Kent State 16-4 in the second half's first seven minutes. Tyus and Macklin combined to score 12 of those points. Tyus had eight, including three dunks in that stretch.
The Golden Flashes briefly trimmed the deficit to nine, following Florida's run with an 8-0 spurt of its own, but the Gators responded immediately by scoring eight unanswered points to reclaim its 17-point edge and cruised the remainder of the way.
Tyus made 10-of-15 shots from the field and added five rebounds for the Gators (7-2). The 20 points were five shy of his career high, set against Missouri-Kansas City on Nov. 30, 2008. Macklin went 9-for-12 from the floor to finish in double figures in scoring for the third game in a row while also matching his career-high of three rejections. He is averaging a very efficient 17.0 points in 22.0 minutes in the last three contests and has made 24-of-32 (75 percent) from the field in that span.
Florida's defense continued to stifle opponents, holding the Golden Flashes to 52 points. Tonight marked the fourth-consecutive game that Florida has held its opponent under 57 points (52.0 avg.). After Kent State sank 5-of-7 from three-point range in the first half, the Gators limited them to 2-for-11 in the second half as they took control of the game.
Justin Greene and Carlton Guyton led Kent State (7-3) with 14 points each.
The Gators will next take the floor in Sunrise, Fla. as they play against the fifth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats in the Orange Bowl Classic at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 18.
