Gator Country

Mike Rosario tied a team-high with 15 points in the Gators' blowout home win against South Carolina on Wednesday night. / Gator Country file photo by Sonny Kennedy

This is just getting boring.

After changing around a few names here and there, it’s entirely possible to use the same summary from the Gators’ last game — and the game before that, and the game before that — to describe what occurred Wednesday.

The Gators scored a lot and the other team didn’t as a result of Florida’s tremendous defense. What’s new?

With that said, the Gators beat — err, dismantled — the visiting South Carolina Gamecocks, drubbing first-year coach Frank Martin’s squad 75-36.

Although it took almost three minutes for the Gators to score their first basket of the game, it was clear soon after that Florida wouldn’t be challenged much for the rest of the evening.

The Gators opened the game on an 11-2 run before eventually pushing their lead to a 30-8 score. It looked like the Gators were going to hold the Gamecocks to single digits in the first half, but Florida fell victim to sloppy play, and despite having several easy tip-in opportunities on the offensive glass, the Gators left a plethora of points on the floor.

The Gators were aided in the first half by senior guard Mike Rosario, who poured in 10 straight points during a four-minute stretch. Kenny Boynton also got in the act in the first half, scoring seven points of his own on 2 of 5 shooting.

However, as usual, it was the Gators’ defense which was again the story of the half. The Gators limited the Gamecocks to a woeful 3 of 21 shooting from the field in the half, and took with them a 33-10 lead into the locker room.

It wasn’t all sunny for Florida in the first-half, as the Gators went a dreadful 7 of 16 from the charity stripe. In addition, Mike Rosario received a questionable technical foul call for hanging onto the rim after a fast break dunk, infuriating Gators coach Billy Donovan.

But just as it’s been all season, Florida’s minute gaffes were but a blip on the radar screen as UF put the game away early in the second half during “Mohawk Night” in the O’Connell Center.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this Gators team is that their excitement never waned despite building an insurmountable lead. The Gators continued to hunker down on defense, battle for loose balls and show enthusiasm after scoring long after the game was put out of reach.

Both Boynton and Rosario would finish with 15 points each on a combined 11 of 22 shooting. Freshman Michael Frazier II would pour in 12 points.

The game marked the 11th time this season the Gators held an opponent under 50 points.

Florida will return home on Saturday at 8 p.m. for a highly-anticipated showdown against Ole Miss.

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