FINAL: Florida 81, Oregon State 68
Friday, November 25, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 81, OREGON STATE 68
FLORIDA 81, OREGON STATE 68
WHAT HAPPENED: The Gators didn't mess around Friday. They scored the game's first nine points, built a 23-point lead through the first 12 minutes and eventually left Moda Center with a win over the Beavers in their second-round assignment in the Phil Knight Legacy in Portland, Ore. Junior guard Trey Bonham, the Virginia Military Institute transfer, made his second start in a UF uniform and pretty much did what he did in his 23-point starting debut in the loss the night before against Xavier. Bonham scored a game-high 19 points, with 13 coming in a first half to set the tone. Guard Will Richard stayed perfect with his sixth double-figure scoring game in as many tries, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds. Fifth-year forward Colin Castleton had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks. UF, which was limited to just four of eight free throws against Xavier, equaled those makes in the first 75 seconds of this one. A layup by Castleton and 3-pointer by Richard made it 9-0 less than three minutes in. Backup freshman guard Riley Kugel (10 points) pitched in five points during a 13-2 run that helped the Gators build a 22-4 lead. And after OSU scored five straight, UF hit four straight 3s (three by Bonham, one from Myreon Jones) to go up 34-11 with seven minutes to go in the first half. The Beavers missed their first eight 3-point attempts, but made their last four of the half to close the period on a 16-6 run and cut the lead to 13, at 42-29, in time for intermission. The Gators scored the first seven points out of the locker room to go back up by 20. OSU chipped away late and got as close as 11 with 1:30 to go, but a layup by point guard Kyle Lofton and 3-pointer from reserve forward Alex Fudge iced the game. Florida shot 56.6 percent for the game, including 60.0 in the second half, while limiting Oregon State to 46.4 for the game. Bonham made seven of his 12 field-goal tries, went 3-for-6 from deep and hit both his free throws.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Bonham was averaging 1.0 point per game through the season's first three games. He's at 17.6 over the last three; 21.0 points and 27.5 minutes in these two tournament games.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Oregon State held Duke to 26.7 percent shooting the day before. Florida shot 29.9 percent better than that. Hey, it's college basketball.
UP NEXT: Florida (4-2) will play the winner of Friday's Legacy game matching West Virginia (4-1) against Portland State (2-3). The Mountaineers, out of the Big 12 Conference, lost Thursday night against No. 24 Purdue 80-68, while the the Vikings, from the Big Sky Conference, were smashed 102-78 by No. 6 Gonzaga in their tournament opener.
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