Instant Analysis: Allen shines as Florida exacts revenge on South Carolina
Behind sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen’s 26 points, No. 13 Florida (23-5, 13-2 SEC) avenged a January loss to South Carolina (20-8, 10-5 SEC) on Tuesday night, evening the score with an 81-66 victory in the O’Connell Center and earning a quality win for its NCAA Tournament resume in the process.
Florida now rides a nine-game winning streak entering its much-anticipated matchup with No. 11 Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington. With Tuesday’s victory, Florida head coach Mike White now has at least one win against every SEC team – except Vanderbilt – in less than two full seasons on the job.
Instant Analysis now takes a closer look at Florida’s big home victory.
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IT WAS OVER WHEN: In a contest that remained close for much of Tuesday night, Florida held onto a single-digit lead against South Carolina for much of the second half, as Sindarius Thornwell and the Gamecocks kept hanging around.
Eventually, the Gators built a lead that was too much for the Gamecocks to overcome. After Chris Chiozza and Thornwell traded free throws on each end, Devin Robinson gave Florida its largest lead of the game when he knocked down a three from the corner for a 73-59 advantage. After two more Thornwell free throws, Allen drew a foul on a three-point attempt and then converted on all three for a 76-61 advantage with 4:43 remaining.
After Chiozza scored on a long jumper and Kasey Hill took it to the rim for a layup, Florida held an 80-62 lead with 3:33 left.
THEY STOLE THE SHOW: Allen was aggressive and dominant offensively from the get-go Tuesday night, finishing with 26 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3-of-5 from three, 13-of-14 on free throws) to go along with a career-best seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Allen was responsible for 12 of Florida’s first 22 points of the contest, showing hustle from when the ball was tipped off to log six points and four rebounds in less than five minutes of action.
Robinson was also impressive Tuesday night. The junior forward recorded 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, making some timely threes en route to 3-of-6 shooting from downtown, while adding six rebounds.
THESE STATS DON'T LIE: After going 0-of-17 from three at South Carolina on Jan. 18, Florida went 9-of-19 (47.4%) from downtown on Tuesday while shooting 49% from the field. The Gators also made 22-of-27 (81.5%) free throws, behind Allen’s 13-of-14 clip. Meanwhile, South Carolina shot just 39.3% from the field and 3-of-14 (21.4%) from three.
Florida committed 12 turnovers in the first half, but just four in the second half as the Gators eventually pulled away.
With two assists Tuesday night, Hill moved to second place in assists in program history, passing Donnie Montgomery with 505 assists. Erving Walker is still No. 1 with 547.
WHAT A PLAY: Following a 17-2 South Carolina run, Florida responded with five quick points to close out the first half – and a key dunk by Allen with 20 seconds left played a part in that. After coming up with a steal on the defensive end, Allen was off to the races in the fastbreak and then heaved the ball over to Chris Chiozza down the floor. While in the air catching the pass, Chiozza dished it back over to Allen, who finished with a two-handed slam for the 35-33 Florida lead right before halftime.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Against one of the top defensive squads in the country, Florida managed to finish with efficient shooting numbers and hang 81 points while hitting nine threes – nine more than in both teams’ previous meeting on Jan. 18. It was an impressive effort by a banged-up Gators squad – and SEC coach of the year honors are looking more and more likely for White after this latest victory.
NEXT UP: No. 13 Florida and No. 11 Kentucky will square off on Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington in a 2 p.m. ET game that will air on CBS – a game that could end up determining the SEC regular-season champion. Kentucky (22-5, 12-2 SEC) squares off against Missouri tonight in a game that started at 9 p.m.
After Saturday’s contest, Florids will return home for Senior Night against Arkansas next Wednesday night and then will square off on the road against Vanderbilt on March 4 to close out the regular season.
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