COLLEGE STATION, Texas – That it came down to the final possession was hardly a surprise. And given the recent outcomes between Florida and Texas A&M, the result of Saturday's latest meeting probably was no shock; just another painful reminder of the Aggies' late-game mastery of the Gators.
The latest in a frustrating and growing line.
Guard Tyrece Radford, who 24 hours earlier was sitting in a local jail cell, scored a game-high 26 points, including a short go-ahead jumper with 35 seconds to go, and the Aggies walled out defensively to finish off a 67-66 victory to the delight of a raucous Reed Arena crowd.
UF (15-7, 5-4) went scoreless with three turnovers over the final 3:04, including two missed shots – a driving jumper by guard Walter Clayton Jr., followed by a short and harried 3-pointer at the horn – inside the final 10 seconds, denying the Gators their quest for a fifth consecutive Southeastern Conference win, as well as a second straight Quadrant 1 road victory, per the NCAA Evaluation Tool, following Wednesday night's overtime upset of 10th-ranked Kentucky.
"Obviously, they're a tough team. They play a unique style," Gators coach Todd Golden said. "They're very physical and we didn't do a good enough job of attacking their switching man-to-man that they play. I thought we were a little stagnant offensively in the second half."
That stagnating allowed Texas A&M (13-9, 4-4) to rally from deficits of 13 in the first half and a dozen early in the second, as Florida shot just 38 percent after the break, including 3-for-13 from the 3-point line, and missed seven of its last eight shots over the final four minutes. The Gators, who scored just 26 points after halftime, also took only two free-throws in the second half, while the Aggies were shooting 20.
Yeah, that made a difference in one-point game.
And so did Radford, the 6-foot-2 sixth-year veteran who put in 10 of 16 shots, went 2-for-3 from the 3-point line, sank four of seven free throws, grabbed five rebounds, drew four fouls and had two assists and two blocks over a team-high 38-plus minutes. Pretty impressive considering early Friday morning Radford, 24, was arrested for his part in a local traffic stop in December.
A&M guard Tyrece "Boots" Radford (23) drives on the Gators on the way to a team-high 26 points. [Texas A&M photo]
Radford was charged early Friday with evading in a vehicle and held overnight in the Brazos County Jail with a bail of $8,000, but was in the arena for warm-ups Saturday night and proceeded to cook the Gators.
"He's been through a lot," Williams said of Radford. "I think the world of him [and] not because he's a good player. I thought how he responded was otherworldly. I'm thankful for the result."
Said Radford: "Buzz will be my guy for life, no matter what."
Apparently so.
Did Golden expect Radford to play?
"Absolutely," he said.
What the Florida coach didn't expect, however, was the minus-18 discrepancy at the line after intermission, especially after the teams combined to shoot just 13 free throws in the first half. Guard Will Richard hit one of two with 13:36 to play in the game and no Gator went back to the line the rest of the way, compared to six different Aggies with free throws in the second half.
"That, to me, is how the game changes," said Golden, adding his players didn't defend the A&M any differently in the second half then they did in the first. "We did a great job, I thought, going vertical both halves. Second half, those started becoming free throws and it allowed them to set up their press [and] kind of change the pace of the game."
To their liking.
The Aggies started the game fast, taking a 15-8 lead five minutes in until the Gators used a 14-2 run to go up 22-17, then a spree of 11 straight points for a 37-25 advantage. The margin was 13 when grad point guard Zyon Pullin, who led his team with 18 points and eight assists over 34 minutes, hit a jumper with 1:21 to play.
A&M, though, scored the final seven points of the period, with Radford bombing a logo 3-pointer at the buzzer to draw his team within 40-34 and steal the momentum.
Richard (12 points) had two early 3-balls to start the second half and take UF margin back out to 12. Slowly, though, back came the Aggies, with junior guard Wade Taylor IV (15 points) hitting two free throws and a step-back 3-pointer that gave the home team its first lead, 57-55, since midway through the first half.
"Our second half, we basically let them play their game. They want to make it physical," Richard said. "We weren't rebounding well and we sent them to the free-throw line too much. I feel like they put us out of rhythm on offense a bit. Every possession, it seemed, was late shot clock for us."
Yet, it was an early shot-clock possession, and a canned 3 by Richard, that eventually returned the lead to the Gators. They led 62-60 with 5:25 to go, then by four on a baseline hammer-slam by Riley Kugel (12 points) with 4:35 remaining.
Back came the Aggies to tie the game, but a drive and bucket by Pullin gave UF a 66-64 lead with three minutes to go.
The Gators didn't score again.
Radford hit one of two free throws at the 2:37 mark and the next five possessions (three by UF, two by A&M) were empty for both teams, leaving UF clinging to a 66-65 edge. That was until Radford, fresh out of the can, canned his go-ahead bucket.
"Our character showed today," Aggies forward Solomon Washington said.
Will Richard(5) had 12 points, including three 3-pointers, and shot the lone two free throws for the Gators in the second half.
Down by a point, UF still had three chances to take the lead. The first ended with a turnover, when Kugel was stripped driving to the basket. A loose ball and tie-up ensued, with the possession arrow to the Aggies with 20 seconds to go.
Taylor, though, walked the baseline on the in-bound play and was called for traveling, giving the ball back to the Gators and setting up, as it turned out, the final two misses; a driving jumper by Clayton (who struggled in going 2-for-8 from the floor after hitting seven 3s at Kentucky) and desperation, heavy-contested 3 by Pullin as time expired.
"It's a game we feel like we should have won," Pullin said.
And it was a fifth straight loss to the Aggies – all of them by a combined 10 points, believe it or not – with each coming down to the final possession and each ending in Florida disappointment.
"I don't know what it is with them," Richard said. "But it's every game."
With the same team on the winning side. This one, with so much at stake, seemed to sting the most.
