Florida defeats Florida A&M 102 to 62 on Wednesday night

The Florida Gators got a much-needed blowout victory on Wednesday night after a disappointing outing in the Phil Knight Invitational over the weekend.

Florida A&M isn’t a good basketball team, in fact, they are one of the worst in the country. According to KenPom, the Rattlers are the 359th best team in the country–and that’s out of 363 teams.

Nonetheless, the Gators did what you are supposed to do against bad teams on your home court.

Florida was out two starters in tonight’s matchup as Will Richard (knee) and Kyle Lofton (back) were unable to go. Neither injury is particularly serious, and the staff is optimistic both will be available soon.

The Gators got off to fast start inside the O’Connell Center, missing their first shot nearly six minutes into the game as Florida jumped out to an early 19-2 lead.

Trey Bonham and Kowacie Reeves were the story of the first half. The duo combined for 32 points on 11/14 from the field and 8/10 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes of play.

Bonham finished the day with 23 points and 7 for 7 from behind the arc. He added two rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes of play.

Reeves finished with 19 points on 8 of 14 from the field, adding four rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes of play. If Reeves needed to give Golden a reason for more playing time, he may have.

The Gators led 50-31 at halftime, shooting 69% from the field and 66.7 from three (8-12). Florida A&M cut the lead to 13 towards the end of the half, but that was the closest the Rattlers would get to catching the Gators.

Florida didn’t skip a beat after halftime, outscoring the Rattlers 52 to 31 in the 2nd half.

Alex Fudge scored all 16 of his points in the 2nd half, connecting on 6 of his 12 shots, adding 10 rebounds in the contest. His double-double marks the first of his career.

Florida shot 62.1% from the field and 59.1 from three-point range. This was nice to see after a rough weekend shooting the ball in Portland.

The Rattlers shot just 34.5% from the field but were able to connect on 44.4% of their threes (8-18). Perimeter defense continues to be an issue for Florida. The Gators forced 19 turnovers in the contest.

Florida dominated inside the paint on Wednesday night, outscoring Florida A&M 54 to 18 inside. The Rattlers were completely outmatched in this one.

Todd Golden’s squad came out of the tunnel filled with energy and it stayed that way for 40 minutes. Florida didn’t take their foot off the gas, dominating the Rattlers for the entire game and hanging 102 points in the matchup.

Florida is set to take on Stetson on Sunday, December 4th at 2:00P.M.

 

Nick Marcinko
Nick is a recent graduate from the University of Florida with a degree in Telecommunications. He is passionate about all sports but specifically baseball and football. Nick interned at Inside the Gators and worked part time with Knights247 before joining the Gator Country family. Nick enjoys spending his free time golfing and at the beach.