ATHENS, Ga. — Will Richard got a quick pre-game glance Tuesday night at the family and friends who made the 90-minute trip from his hometown of Fairburn, Ga., to Stegeman Coliseum. The Florida sophomore acknowledge they were in the house than locked in on the assignment at hand.
For the next couple hours, Richard neither look their way nor heard their shrieks of approval as he bombed Georgia for a career-high 24 points, including five 3-pointers, in leading the Gators to a 77-67 road win against their Southeastern Conference rival. The hugs and high-fives came later, after UF (15-15, 8-9) had napped its three-game losing streak and won its first game since losing two-time All-SEC forward Colin Castleton to a season-ending broken hand on Feb. 15.
"His best game as a Gator," Coach Todd Golden said of Richard afterward.
It was one of Florida's best all-around offensive games of the season, thanks to nearly 54-percent shooting, with freshman guard Riley Kugel pitching in 19 points with his seventh straight double-figure scoring game and fifth-year senior Myreon Jones playing a fabulous all-around floor game with 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds (for the second double-double of his career, first as a Gator) to go with four assists, two steals and just one turnover.
Defensively, Florida walled up to hold Georgia (16-14, 6-11) to just 33 percent for the game, including 4-for-22 from the 3-point line (1 for 15 in the second half).
Freshman guard Riley Kugel (24), here on the attack, finished with 19 points.
"We didn't settle for 3s," said Jones, whose teammates were calling him "Myreon Rodman" due to rebound prowess in the post-game locker room. "We stayed aggressive and got into the paint, got some easy ones that got us some 3s. We were more in a rhythm because the defense was sucked in and trying to guard, so we kicked it out to the open shooters. We have confidence in our shooters."
They should have even more confidence in Richard now. The 6-foot-5 sophomore transfer from Belmont won the team's shooting competitions during the offseason and preseason and came to the arena Tuesday at 48.4 percent overall on the year, 39.6 from distance and 87.3 at the free-throw line. Richard, however, had attempted just 11 3s over the previous five games and no free throws the previous two.
In the run-up to this one, he huddled for some extra tape-watching with assistants Carlin Hartman and Kevin Hovde with the sole purpose of figuring out how to get more shots.
Answer: Get more open. Will Richard
"A lot of times, when [teammates] are driving, guys can't see me," said Richard, who hit eight of 11 for the game, five of eight from deep and grabbed five rebounds over 32 minutes. "It's up to me to find those open spaces and get behind defenders."
Added Golden: "There are a lot of good coaches in this league who know how to take away what guys want to do. I thought Will did a good job of finding those shots; looking for penetrations first, then making his decision. Again, he knocked them down. It's one thing to get them, but he knocked them down."
He started early. Georgia scored the game's first five points, but UF answered with a run of nine in a row, with Richard along the way dropping a 3 on his first attempt. By the end of the half he had 15 points (just three shy of his season high) and four 3s, including one from the corner in front of the UGA bench that sent Florida to the locker room up 43-33 after banging 56 percent overall and six of 11 from the arc (54.5 percent).
UF took the lead to a dozen to start the second half, but Georgia stuck around and began whittling away at the margin. When backup guard Justin Hill (16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) hit two free throws with 7:20 to play, the Gators' lead was down to just two, 57-55, and the Dogs had the momentum.
Then came a 3 by Richard to start a mini-run of 7-2 for a seven-point cushion. The margin was five when Richard drove the right side of the lane for a layup to go up seven and the UF defense mostly walled up the rest of the way.
A post-up bank shot by 6-11 center Braelen Bridges (10 points, 8 rebounds) made it a five-point game, 64-59, with 5:41 left, but Georgia made just one field goal the rest of the way. It came after a turnover against UGA full-court pressure and a 3-pointer by Jabri Abdur-Rahim with 42.7 seconds to go. That made it a six-point game. Out of a timeout, Florida beat the Bulldogs' pressure, with Jones hoisting a pass over the defense to Kugel, who finished with a slam dunk with 35 seconds to go.
"One of those nights, for us, an odd game," said Georgia coach Mike White, who fell to 0-2 against the program he coached the previous seven seasons in Gainesville. "Credit to Florida. They came here and did what they needed to do, shot it well and executed, and held on, on the road, despite a pretty good effort, I'd call it, from our guys. It felt like there was a lid on the rim for us."
UF fifth-year guard Myreon Jones(0) floats in two of his 14 points on the way to his first double-double as a Gator. true offensive post presence, with perimeters players scoring 65 of the team's 77 points.
When it was over, Florida had shot a sterling 63 percent from the 2-point area (22 of 33), despite the lack of a true offensive post presence, with perimeters players scoring 65 of the team's 77 points.
"In the second half, when they made a little run, we finally got rebounds, some stops, stayed aggressive and got the lead back up again," Jones said.
And closed.
With the win, the eighth straight against Georgia, the Gators assured themselves of avoiding a first-ever spot in the Wednesday night, two-game first round of next week's SEC Tournament at Nashville, Tenn. If they can close out the regular season with a home win Saturday against LSU on "Senior Night" that will mean avoiding the program's first losing season since 2015 and likely receiving a bid to the NIT.
That, of course, was not the goal of Golden in his first season, but circumstances happened (yes, including some disappointing losses, but especially with regard to Castleton) that have the Gators in this predicament.
Now, the season is all about what they make of it.
"We talk about competing," Golden said. "We know we've been through a tough time losing Colin and having to change our team, but my message to the guys is it's all about effort, energy and competitiveness. Do that and stay the course. When we weren't doing those things and not winning it challenges your belief. But our guys did a great job tonight of finishing the job."
