ATHENS, Ga. – It had been a while since an opposing team's fans stormed the court in celebration of beating Florida. It had been a while since Georgia had beaten Florida. And it had been even longer (much longer) since the Bulldogs beat a team ranked in the top three.
The confluence of those circumstances met Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, where the host Bulldogs rumbled to a seemingly insurmountable lead, managed to blow it, then made the plays late to upset the No. 3 Gators 88-83 for the UGA program's biggest victory in more than two decades.
Georgia guard Blue Cain hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 48 seconds left and the Bulldogs withstood a free-throw battle in the final seconds to secure a win -- their first against an opponent this high in the polls since upsetting rival and No. 3 Georgia Tech in 2004 -- that very likely put their basketball-starved program back in the NCAA Tournament conversation. It also came wildly close to being one of the worst losses in program history.
And the greatest comeback in Florida history.
"We put ourselves in too big a hole and [that made] us have to play perfect down the stretch," UF coach Todd Golden said after his team's six-game winning streak came to an end and its quest for a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed took a major hit. "We almost did it, but fell a little short."
That "hole" was more like a canyon. The Gators (24-4, 11-4), in losing for the first time since Feb. 1 at Tennessee, were pistol-whipped out of the box, as the Bulldogs (17-11, 5-10) hit 15 of their first 20 field-goal attempts -- that's 75 percent -- to take a 26-point lead with inside eight minutes to go in the first half at 39-13. UGA, one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the SEC, made seven of nine in the period, with sophomore point guard Silas Demary Jr. scoring 14 of his team-high 21 points before the break, including three 3s.
UF, meanwhile, shot just 36.4 percent through the first 20 minutes, but picked up its defense enough to force 10 UGA turnovers and cut the lead to 16 at the break at 51-35.
"It was our start. We started off too slow. They shot 68 percent in the first half. You can't let a team do that," said Gators senior guard Will Richard, the Fairburn, Ga., product who poured in a career-high 30 points and went 5-for-7 from distance in his homecoming. "You can't afford to get down by 26 to any team in the country."
Senior guardWill Richard(5) scored a career-high 30 points, hitting five 3-pointers along the way.
Yet, somehow, UF not only took an ax to the lead, but regained it behind 45-percent shooting in the second half, with six 3s, and a flurry of points off turnovers. Georgia still led by 16 with 15 minutes left, but the Gators got it to nine with 11 remaining, then seven with just over six left. The Bulldogs, after a Tyrin Lawrence (14 points) steal and run-out layup, led 78-67, inside five minutes to go.
Then Walter Clayton Jr. (18 points, 5 assists, 5 turnovers) hit a driving layup at the 3:27 mark. Then sophomore forward Alex Condon (9 points on 1-for-7 shooting, 3 rebounds over 21 minutes), in first game back after missing four with an ankle injury, hit two free throws. Then Clayton hit a 3 in transition. Then Condon forced a steal, was fouled on a run-out and hit both free throws to pull the Gators within 78-77.
On the next possession, Demary misfired on a 3, UF rebounded into transition and Clayton fed Thomas Haugh for layup and Florida's first lead of the game, with 1:20 remaining, capping a blitz of a dozen consecutive points in barely two minutes.
Out of a timeout, UF got yet another steal on the next possession, with fifth-year guard Alijah Martin hitting one of two free throws. The Florida lead was 80-78 with 1:08 remaining, but that miss proved significant.
Cain came open on the wing and drained his 3-pointer on Georgia's next possession.
"We needed one more stop and couldn't get it," Golden said.
From there, the Gators missed their last three field-goal tries, while Demary and freshman forward Asa Newell (15 points, 9 rebounds), the projected one-and-done NBA lottery pick this summer, combined to go 5-for-8 from the line over the final 35.9 seconds to seal the win and snap a run of 12 straight UF victories in the series, dating to 2020.
Florida beat Georgia by 30 last month in Gainesville.
"Big win, crazy game," UGA coach Mike said after his first triumph in seven cracks at the program he left in 2022 for the vacant Bulldogs post; but of greater significance, a gold-star, resume-building victory to add to wins over No. 10 St. John's and No. 17 Kentucky. "Credit to Florida for an incredible comeback. They hit huge shots and took the lead, and our response was phenomenal. Florida's really, really good, but it was a big win for us."
UGA finished 22-for-27 at the free-throw line (81.5 percent) versus UF's 18 of 29 (62.1 percent), with a few of those misses proving missed opportunities for the Gators on a night they had to make up so much ground.
And nearly did.
Walter Clayton Jr.(1) scored 15 of his 18 in the second half, when the Gators picked up the pressure and pace and rallied from 26 down to take a lead that lasted less than a minute.
"We were playing the last eight minutes with our hair on fire, taking a couple chances here and there," Golden said of the comeback. "Georgia was trying to protect the lead. It's usually a reverse situation for us, where we're trying to get to the finish line."
The role reversal, with the final horn, gave way to a sea of red and black pouring on the court, the first opponent to treat UF to the back-handed court-storm compliment since Vanderbilt in 2007. The Gators, meanwhile, were left to lament a comeback that could have been epic.
Instead, they'll do some processing and move on to the next challenge; one of many and each coming in rapid-fire succession, starting Saturday night against No. 12 Texas A&M on the first day of the basketball-mad month known as March.
"We'll respond real good," Richard said. "It was a wake-up call. Won't happen again."
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
