Final: Texas Southern 69, Florida 54
Monday, December 6, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
TEXAS SOUTHERN 69, No. 20 FLORIDA 54
TEXAS SOUTHERN 69, No. 20 FLORIDA 54
WHAT HAPPENED: Guard PJ Henry scored 16 points, backup guard Joirdan Karl Nicholas hit all seven of his field goals and the previously winless Tigers beat the No. 20th-ranked Gators in every facet on the way to a huge upset at Exactech Arena. Texas Southern, out of the Southeastern Athletic Conference, came into the game with an 0-7 record, without having played a home game this season and coming off a 27-point loss at Louisiana Tech. No matter. TSU out-rebounded and thoroughly outplayed UF from the opening tip and led for nearly the final 30 minutes of the game. The Tigers shot 54.4 percent from the floor, grabbed 46 rebounds (to the Gators' 23), including 14 on the offensive end that led to 17 second-chance points. Florida, which got 15 points from Brandon McKissic, shot just 39.3 percent for the game and made only five of 24 attempts from the 3-point line (20.8 percent). The Tigers used a stretch when they made seven of eight from the floor midway through the first to begin to get into rhythm against a UF defense that came in ranked 13th nationally in overall efficiency. Their lead was just three inside two minutes to go when guard Jordan Gilliam hit a 3-pointer in transition and Henry hit the last two buckets of the period, including a pull-up jumper with one second left to head to the locker room up 35-25. They not only shot 57 percent through the first 20 minutes, but doubled the Gators on the glass, 22-11, and more than doubled them in paint points (22-10), all of it setting the tone. UF, meanwhile, shot 37 percent, including 2-for-11 from the 3-point line, basically picking up where it left off last week in going 4-for-24 from deep in the loss at Oklahoma. And then the second half repeated itself, with the Tigers scoring a wide open backdoor layup 11 seconds into the period and never looking back (despite committing 22 turnovers, no less). TSU made all the hustle plays, shot nearly 52 after the break and built a lead that grew to as many as 19. Florida came into the game 26-0 all-time against teams from the SWAC, but was never really in this one in the second half.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Texas Southern, no doubt, will get some national exposure Monday night ... at the Gators' expense, of course
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Take your pick. The Tigers' plus-23 on the glass. Tigers plus-16 in the paint. Tigers plus-10 on second chance opportunities. There's also the matter of Florida's shooting the last two games. Against the Sooners and Tigers combined, the Gators hit 39.8 percent from the floor and made only nine of 48 3-point attempts (18.3 percent), with guards Tyree Appleby (0 assists, 4 turnovers) and Myreon Jones a combined 0-for-10. And free-throw shooting? UF went seven for 16 (43.8 percent).
UP NEXT: Florida (6-2) has a quick turn-around, which obviously is a good thing, with a home game Wednesday night against North Florida (2-6), which lost by 35 Sunday at Florida Atlantic.
Players Mentioned
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