FINAL: No. 18 Florida 75, Wake Forest 58

What Happened

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead a quartet of Florida players into double-figure scoring and the 18th-ranked Gators to a 75-58 first-round victory Thursday over Wake Forest in the ESPN Events Invitational at State Farm Arena.

Clayton didn't have a great shooting night (just 6 of 18 from the floor, 4 of 13 from deep), but the points he did score were timely. Like the consecutive 3s to start the second half, a short jumper in the paint after the Demon Deacons had closed a 15-point lead to seven, and then four straight free throws with 2:42 remaining after Wake coach Steve Forbes was hit with two technical fouls and ejected.

Fifth-year guard Alijah Martin had 16 points (12 in the second half), senior wing Will Richard had 14 points and six rebounds, and sophomore forward Alex Condon finished with 12 points and eight boards to give the Gators a shot at their first holiday tournament championship in three years.

The first-half was an offensive eyesore, with both teams shooting below 36 percent. Wake started hot, however, and built a nine-point lead, 20-11 through 10 minutes before the Gators used a 12-2 run to surge in front (they never trailed thereafter) and take a 32-28 advantage into halftime.

Clayton started the second half with back-to-back 3s. Then Condon had a putback. Then Martin, on a baseline-out-of-bounds play under the Wake basket, intercepted a pass thrown to the midcourt, tipping the ball to himself and steam-rolling to a tomahawk slam-dunk to surge UF ahead by 14 with 17:21 to go and force Wake to take a timeout.

The UF lead swelled to 15, but the Deacons took advantage of a 1-for-8 UF drought to twice get as a close as seven, the last time on a driving and-one finish by guard Cameron Hildreth (15 points). The Gators, though, staved off the scare on an elbow jumper by Clayton, followed by a driving bank from Richard to take the lead back to 11. The margin was 12 when Forbes objected to a Wake foul and let the officials hear it.

Clayton went to the other end of the floor and hit four straight free throws to ice it.

Florida held Wake Forest to 37.5-percent shooting for the game and a dreadful 3-for-20 (15 percent) from the 3-point line and won the glass 44-30. UF held guard and leading scorer Hunter Sallis to 15 points on just 5-for-17 from the floor and one of five from deep. The Gators shot just 37.5 percent, but made eight 3s and went 21-for-27 from the free-throw line (77.8 percent).

Gators guard **Will Richard** (5) attacks the baseline for a first-half slam dunk Thursday against the Demon Deacons.

What it Means

Wake, though it began the day at No. 99 in KenPom.com rankings, is a talented team and figures to make some noise in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. And given the Demon Deacons defeated a 24-win Gators team last season, this victory was pretty satisfying and could look better down the line. UF now has a chance to win its first holiday tournament since 2021, when the Gators claimed the Fort Myers Tipoff title by defeating Ohio State 71-68 on Tyree Appleby's 35-foot buzzer-beater.

In the Spotlight

Martin made some huge plays, especially a corner 3 with just over nine minutes left while Wake was scrapping to fight back. This on the heels of his 32-point outburst in last week's' win over Southern Illinois. What a transfer portal add he's been.

Staggering Statistic

The Gators, with a win Friday, can start a season with eight straight wins for the first time since 2009.

Up Next

Florida (7-0) will play Wichita State (6-0) in a battle of unbeatens in Friday's tournament championship at 3:30 p.m. The Shockers defeated Minnesota 68-66 in the tournament opener. UF and WSU have played only twice before. The two programs had a home-and-home series in the early '90s, with UF sweeping both games. The Gators won 61-50 on the road on Dec. 7, 1991 and 83-58 the next season in Gainesville on Jan. 26, 1993.

* Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu

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