Florida Gators

What Happened

Junior guard Will Richard equaled his career-best of five 3-pointers for a second straight game, bombing his way to 22 points and leading the Florida Gators to a 97-72 rout of Quinnipiac Saturday afternoon at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center in the team's final game before starting Southeastern Conference play. Richard, the 6-foot-4 wing from Fairburn, Ga., finished eight of 13 from the floor and 5-for-9 from distance in just 20 minutes to pace five UF players into double-figure scoring. Grad-transfer point guard Zyon Pullin, making his second consecutive start, scored 16 points and made three of four of his attempts from the arc. Grad-transfer forward Tyrese Samuel, formerly of Seton Hall, posted his third straight double-double (and sixth of the season) with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while also eclipsing the 1,000-point milestone for his career. Junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. added 12 points and sophomore guard Riley Kugel, in his first game in a reserve role this season, scored 10. As a team, the Gators shot 51.5 percent for the game, including 38.5 from the 3-point line (10 of 26, though just 1-for-8 in the second half). The Bobcats, out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, stuck around in the first half, mostly by (surprisingly) out-rebounding the Gators, including an 11-6 edge on the offensive glass that led to 11 second-chance points. Florida led by eight, 33-25, with five minutes to go in the period when the Gators roared off for a 16-3 spree that helped open a 52-29 halftime advantage. The UF lead never sank below 17 after intermission and swelled to as many as 33. Quinnipiac, which got 15 points from guard Matt Balanc, shot just 33.3 for the game, only 5-for-22 from deep, and turned it over 14 times

What it Means

After the disappointing Nov. 29 loss at Wake Forest, the Florida players set a goal of going unbeaten in the month of December. Mission accomplished. The Gators finished 6-0 during the month and has 10 wins before the start of conference play for the first time in 10 years (since the 2013-14 squad won 11). That's a good base from which to enter the SEC slate, especially relative to last year when the Gators were 7-5 before playing their first league game. Twice since that '13-14 season (that ended in the Final Four) UF has taken nine wins into conference play ('16-17 and '21-22). 
 

In the Spotlight

After getting off to a slow offensive start, Richard has averaged 17.4 points over the last five games (he was at 8.3 through the first eight) on 52.5-percent from the floor and 43 from distance.
 

Staggering Statistic

UF's current six-game winning streak matches the program's longest of the last seven seasons. The Gators' only other string of a half-dozen consecutive victories came at the start of the '21-22 season. That team lost three of its next six, however, before entering SEC play. 
 

Up Next

Florida (10-3) will be back at the O'Dome in one week to open the SEC season against perennial league powerhouse and No. 8 Kentucky (10-2), which wrapped its non-conference slate Friday by drumming Illinois State 96-70. The Wildcats have beaten the Gators four straight and nine of the previous 10, including five in a row at Gainesville. UF's last home win over UK came in 2018.