Florida took an 11-point halftime lead and never looked back on Saturday afternoon in Oxford, rolling to a 94-75 victory over Ole Miss that strengthened its grip on the SEC standings.
It was the 12th-ranked Gators’ seventh straight victory, as they improved to 12-2 in the SEC to go with a 21-6 overall record. Florida came into Saturday with a 2-game lead in the SEC over a trio of teams, and it made sure that cushion wouldn’t be lessened with a dominant road performance that featured incredible shooting. Florida blazed away with 57% shooting from the field and a 50% clip from 3-point territory.
The Gators made 11 of their 22 attempts from long distance, with Boogie Fland going 3 for 6 and Urban Klavzar knocking down 4 of 5 from 3-point land. Klavzar gave Florida a big-time boost off the bench, scoring 15 points in 22 minutes. Fland finished with just 11 points, but he filled the stat sheet, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
The heavy lifting on Saturday was done by Alex Condon, who led the Gators with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Condon added 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Thomas Haugh added 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks, and Xaivian Lee chipped in 11 points and 10 assists as Florida steamrolled its way to yet another SEC victory.
Florida ambushed Ole Miss on the glass, outrebounding the Rebels, 39-24. The Gators also piled up 26 assists to just 12 for Ole Miss, which couldn’t take advantage of Florida’s 19 turnovers in the ugly home loss that dropped the Rebels to 11-16 overall and 3-11 in the SEC.
Malik Dia led Ole Miss with 24 points and 6 rebounds, but he couldn’t help the Rebels keep up with the Gators, who will go for 8 straight wins on Wednesday night at Texas. Tipoff for that SEC showdown is 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss’s losing streak stretched to 9 on Saturday, with the Rebels having another chance to end their misery on Wednesday night back at home against LSU. Tipoff is 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
