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Gators put in complete game against Miami

The Gators reel in their third win of the season, defeating Miami 78-58 in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic.

The overall takeaway from the game? The Gators are ‘Back in Blackshear.’

After losing Kerry Blackshear Jr. early in the second half in the Gators narrow win over Saint Joseph’s, his presence against Miami took Florida to the next level.

On top of that, UF’s freshmen stepped up and really gelled in this game, securing the ‘W’ for Mike White’s team.

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Check out GatorsTerritory's game recap below to see how the Gators pulled out this impressive win.

Back in Blackshear

Welcome back Mr. Blackshear, we’re happy to have you.

He led all scorers in the first half with 13 points. He was 5-6 from the field and 3-3 behind the arc. He tied for rebounds with four in the first half with freshman Scottie Lewis and came in second to Andrew Nembhard for assists with two.

In the second half he cooled off a little only scoring seven points, with five of those being free throws. However, he heated up in the rebound department securing seven for the Gators along with three assists over sixteen minutes of play time.

He scored more than any other player in the game and played for a total of 35 minutes, making the case that he is the MVP of this young Gators team.

Freshmen show out in the second half

Four freshmen made appearances on the court today for Florida, scoring 18 points in the second half of the game.

Scottie Lewis arguably had his best game of the season, scoring 13 and securing eight rebounds. He was in the game longer than any other Gator at 36 minutes.

Ques Glover also put up some good numbers, recording his best game as a Gator as well. He hit five of six shots from the field and one three-pointer, scoring a total of 11 points for Florida.

Jason Jitoboh saw play time late in the second half, adding two points to the Gators lead in his five minutes of play time.

Omar Payne filled in for fifteen minutes, hitting three of six baskets from the field. In the first half, he hit a jumper to shorten Miami’s early lead to four. About halfway through the first, he scored again for the Gators, this time in the paint, and score his final points of the game on a layup in the second half extending Florida’s handsome lead.

Sophomore slow down

After dominating the game against Saint Joseph’s, Florida’s sophomores were outshone in this game.

They missed on half of their shots from the field and more than half from behind the arc.

They only scored 26 points against Miami, when they put up 51 the day before against the Hawks. Keyontae Johnson was the top scorer for the sophomores in both of those games.

Andrew Nembhard cut his scoring in half between those two games but was still on the court for 32 minutes against Miami.

Gators showing signs of improvement

Between the win over Saint Joseph’s and the win over Miami, the Gators showed significant signs of improvement both offensively and defensively.

From the field, their shooting increased by ten percent and behind the arc they stepped it up by about 21 percent.

Florida also showed signs of improvement on the defensive side of the court.

In the first half, the Gators went on a 17-0 run against the Hurricanes, forcing a scoring drought that lasted over six minutes. They let that slip a little late in the first but came back in the second half extending their lead into double digits. In that second half they went on another run, this one only 8-0, but refused to let Miami score for over five minutes.

The Gators have now secured a spot in the Charleston Classic Championship, set to tip off on Nov. 24 at 8:30 PM. Florida will face the winner of the Xavier, UConn match up.

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