Florida ends road woes at USC

Will Yeguete wasn’t going to take any chances Saturday night against the South Carolina Gamecocks (8-9, 0-3 SEC).

Gators coach Billy Donovan inserted the sophomore 6-foot-7 forward into the starting lineup because of an ankle injury to sophomore center Patric Young.

The Frenchman with his tenacious rebounding and effective shooting didn’t disappoint. Yeguete’s career high 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 of 6 shooting from the field highlighted the Gators 79-65 victory in Columbia, S.C.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Yeguete said. “Just trying to be focused and keep doing what I am doing — hard work. Don’t chance anything because I was in the starting five.”

No. 19 Florida (14-4, 2-1 SEC) hasn’t won a road game all season and has shot 30 percent from three-point range in its last three true road games.

The Gators put those ugly stats to rest for now.

Florida made 12 threes and shot 50 percent from long distance en route to the win, which had the Gators trailing 41-40 at halftime due to what Donovan called at halftime uncharacteristic shots from long distance by the Gamecocks.

It didn’t always look so bright for the Gators Saturday night in Columbia.

The Gamecocks matched the Gators blow for blow in the first half with six three pointers including two from backup guard Brenton Williams.

Fueled by hot shooting, the Gamecocks erased a nine-point Gators lead to enter halftime up by one.

The second half was a different story for the Gamecocks. Florida erupted for a 21-7 run to start the last 20 minutes.

Florida outscored South Carolina 39-24 in the second half.

Six Gators finished in double figures scoring, which included every starter and redshirt junior Mike Rosario.

Up next for Florida is a home matchup with LSU (11-5, 1-1 SEC) at 6 p.m. on Jan. 21 in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The week in between games will give dinged up players like Young to get healthy.

Although the win marked a first this season for Florida, Yeguete said the Gators still have work to do in order to improve.

“I think we can be really good,” Yeguete said. “We just have to stay focused and just be consistent. Work hard every game. Work hard every practice. We just have to keep our mind on the right track.”

Yeguete showed just that Saturday night.

Game Notes

-Yeguete in his sixth start of the season hit his first free throws of the season with three in the first half.

“I have been working on them a lot,” Yeguete said. “I have been working on them at practice and stuff like that. So just got to keep focusing, keep working hard and stay consistent.”

-The largest lead by the Gators was 17 and the largest lead held by the Gamecocks was four.

-In four road games, freshman guard Brad Beal had 22 turnovers. Beal registered no turnovers and added 14 points.

-The Gators finished with 25 field goals, 19 assists and 10 turnovers. By comparison, the Gamecocks had 23 field goals, seven assists and 12 turnovers.

-Florida made 17 of 21 free throws for an 81 percent clip.

-Junior guard Kenny Boynton led the Gators with 15 points.