Florida Gators

SOUTH CAROLINA 77, No. 20 FLORIDA 72

WHAT HAPPENED: The Gamecocks, one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the Southeastern Conference, riddled the home team and its league-worst 3-point defense Wednesday night, and handed the 20th-ranked Gators a loss at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. Graduate-transfer guard Wesley Meyers had 22 points, nailing five of seven 3-point attempts and pacing a USC team to an 11-for-21 effort from deep (52.4 percent). That easily bested the long-distance numbers for UF, which came into the game ranked first in 3-point percentage in SEC play (.403), but went just 6-for-23 (26.1 percent). USC Junior forward Chris Silva was a punisher inside, finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds, plus hit eight of nine from the free-throw line. Florida got 16 points and eight rebounds from forward Egor Koulechov and 16 points off the bench from Jalen Hudson.

WHAT IT MEANS: UF, just four days removed from a rare victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena and back in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in five weeks, didn't handle prosperity very well. The Gators needed to be sharp, alert and on point against a rough-and-tumble physical bunch like the Gamecocks, but the visitors were the tougher team. South Carolina has now won four of the last five in the series, including the one in the NCAA East Region championship game last March 24 in New York. The loss could drop UF out of first place in the SEC, depending on how second-place Auburn, a half-game back in the standings, fares late Tuesday night at Missouri.
 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Meyers, the grad transfer from Maine, came into the game averaging 7.4 points and 36 percent from 3, with just 13 makes from deep -- and just seven in SEC play. His season-high was 17 points. His season-high for 3s in a game was 3. His makes seemingly came when the Gators were trying to take out a lead or in late shot-clock situations. They were daggers.
 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: South Carolina came into the game shooting just 32.7 percent from the 3-point line for the season and just 31.4 percent in SEC play. The Gamecocks nearly doubled their average of six converted 3s per game.

UP NEXT: The Gators (14-6, 6-2) will step out of league play (like nine of their conference brothers) and face Baylor (12-7, 2-6) in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, the ESPN cross-regional brainstorm that for the second year will be played in late-January. The Bears are not the powerhouse they were last season, when they reached the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed, but they're enormous up front and athletic enough to be a very tough out for the undersized UF.