Richard gets a game-winner with a little help from an Alex Condon hip

Will Richard (5) hits the game-winning shot against South Carolina (UAA Photo)

Florida’s highly improbable come from behind win over South Carolina will be remembered for Will Richard’s drive down the left side of the lane in which he finished with a lefty bank high off the glass that put the Gators up, 70-69, with 4.8 seconds showing on the clock.

Perhaps unnoticed is the smartest play Alex Condon made on a night when he had one of the least productive games he’s had in recent weeks. Trailing 69-68 and the clock winding down, Richard popped out beyond the 3-point line where he took a pass from Walter Clayton Jr. over on the left wing. South Carolina’s Morris Ugusuk hesitated before rushing out to defend Richard, first ensuring Richard didn’t dump the ball down to Condon, who had a 3-inch height advantage on Collin Murray-Boyles. Richard squared up to the basket, then faked a pass to Tommy Haugh on the right wing, which caused Ugusuk to cross his legs. That was all the opening Richard needed.

Three bounces and Richard elevated. Condon got enough of a hip into Murray-Boyles that gave Richard just enough space to flip a shot off the glass with his left hand. Without Condon’s hip, Murray-Boyles might have gotten a piece of the ball. After all, he had already blocked three shots, but not this one. Not the one he desperately needed to reject for South Carolina (10-9, 0-6 SEC) to get its first Southeastern Conference win of the season.

Florida, ahead for the only time the entire game with 4.8 seconds left, 70. South Carolina, ahead for 39:55.2 but behind when it counted the most, 69.

The Gamecocks still had time to attempt a game-winner, but Jacobi Wright’s 30-footer as the horn sounded was straight out of Florida State football lore.

Wide right.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Richard said after his game-winner helped the Gators earn a most unlikely 70-69 win. “I knew we were down one. The play was to get me a little slip three or get Walt a layup, but I saw the [defender] close out a little hard and I went. Condon did a great job of ducking, and I just had to do a great job of finishing it.” 

It is the little things that matter most when teams score improbable wins, and this one was about as improbable as any Florida win this season. The 5th-ranked Gators (17-2, 4-2 SEC) played their worst half of basketball all season, in large part because South Carolina played perhaps its best half of the season. Florida trailed by as many as 10 before going into the halftime locker down 36-29.

The deficit in the first 20 minutes had everything to do with the Gators inability to muster any kind of defense in the paint. Murray-Boyles was near perfect on the inside. When the Gators collapsed to help out the big guys, Murray-Boyles passed to open shooters who seemed to be on radar lock. Murray-Boyles scored 11 first half points to go with five assists that accounted for another 10. South Carolina scored 20 points in the paint, many of the wide open variety against a Florida defense that over-shifted.

There was a measure of first half hangover in the first 7:14 of the second half when South Carolina stretched its lead to 14, 52-38, when Zachary Davis drilled a 3-pointer.

“We came out at halftime down seven and thought we were playing better in the second half, but we were not making many shots,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “We missed some that we normally make. I thought their physicality around the rim really, really bothered us. And even though we were playing better, the deficit was going the wrong way for us.”

It was 58-45 after a Davis dunk with 8:49 to go, but that’s when the Gators went to a full court press that began bothering the Gamecocks, allowing the game to begin turning in Florida’s favor. It started with 8:22 left when Haugh tipped in his own miss. A steal by Denzel Aberdeen led to a pass to Clayton who pushed it ahead to Richard for a layup that made it a 9-point game (58-49) with 8:08 to go.

Richard converted a steal into another layup that brought the Gators back within seven with 7:56 left (58-51). At the 7:03 mark, Richard made one of two free throws to bring Florida back within six (58-52), the closest it had been since it was 32-27 with 1:45 left in the first half.

After the trade of 3-pointers, Ugusuk for the Gamecocks, Martin for the Gators with 6:11 to go, Florida’s defensive intensity ratcheted up another level. Florida forced five turnovers in the final 5:01 which contributed to South Carolina managing only eight points the rest of the way.

Two free throws by Clayton cut the South Carolina lead to 61-57. After a Murray-Boyles free throw, Martin scored on a driving layup and drew the foul after an offensive rebound by Haugh. His free throw cut the South Carolina lead to 62-60.

The Gamecocks still had a couple of big shots left in them, one a Ugusuk 3-ball that put them up by five with 3:14 left and another by Davis with 1:16 to go for a 68-63 margin. Florida countered the Ugusuk three with one by Clayton on a pull-up on a fast break after a Condon steal. Richard also countered with a three of his own with 1:06 left to bring it back to 68-66.

Martin was fouled after a steal with 52 seconds to go. His free throws tied the score at 68-68.

Davis, who finished the game with a season-high 22 points, was fouled with 17 seconds left. He missed his first free throw, nailed the second, setting up the Gators for the dramatic finish.  

Golden credited the win to mature players who never panicked and who were willing to play the game one possession at a time.

“We just talked about one possession at a time,” Golden said. “We’re not going to get back in this game playing hero ball. We’re not going to get back in this game gambling and allowing them to get layups and dunks. The big thing that I thought we were able to do was, obviously bother them with the full-court press, but if they did break it we only gave up one or two cheap baskets out of it. We were able to get back and get our defense set and force them into some tougher possessions.”

This was not a night for Condon and his front court mates. The Gamecocks were the most physical team for most of the game. For only the fourth time all season, the Gators were outrebounded 36-31. Florida’s front court of Condon, Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Sam Alexis combined for nine points, 19 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

It was the four perimeter guys who were the difference makers.

Richard led the Gators with 22 points, four rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals. He hit 9-14 from the field overall and 3-5 from the 3-point line. His 22 points gave him an even 1,000 points for his three years in a Florida uniform.

Clayton scored 16 to go with four rebounds, seven assists and a steal. He hit 2-5 from the 3-point line. Clayton broke a tie with Michael Frazier II for the all-time Florida school record for most consecutive games with a 3-pointer (42 games).

Martin gave the Gators 14 points, two rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and three steals. Aberdeen scored nine off the bench to go with an assist and two steals.

“Listen, all three of those guys – Walt, Will and A-Mart – are gamers,” Golden said. “Those guys are confident dudes. They all want the ball in their own hands in big moments, and they’re not afraid to take the big shot. Will’s hammer three was huge, and then A-Mart’s and-one was huge. Walt made some great plays tonight, had seven assists, 16 points, four rebounds. It’s a luxury to have those three guys in the backcourt, and then Denzel I thought gave us some big minutes off the bench, had some steals in the second half [with] some offense created off that. But they’re very good players, and they stepped up in a game that we didn’t have our best.”

Certainly, it wasn’t Florida’s best game of the year, but the sloppy wins that are a struggle from bell to bell count the same as the beautiful wins in which everything goes right. And, it was a road win in an SEC where every road victory should be savored.

The Gators return home to the O-Dome Saturday to face Georgia (14-5, 2-4 SEC), a 68-65 loser to Arkansas (12-7, 1-5 SEC).

Game notes: The Gators outscored the Gamecocks 22-0 on fast break points, all of them off South Carolina turnovers. The Gators had 13 steals, their most in a game this season … The Gators hit only 28-66 shots from the field (42.4 percent) and 8-24 from the 3-point line … South Carolina made 28-57 from the field (49.1 percent) and 9-26 from the 3-point line (34.6 percent) … At 17-2, the Gators matched the best start through 19 games in school history. The last time was the 2013-14 season in which UF won the SEC championship and made it to the Final Four.

SEC BASKETBALL

Wednesday’s scores

No. 5 FLORIDA (17-2, 4-2 SEC) 70, South Carolina (10-9, 0-6 SEC) 69

No. 13 Texas A&M (15-4, 4-2 SEC) 63, No. 16 Ole Miss (15-4, 4-2 SEC) 62

Arkansas (12-7, 1-5 SEC) 68, Georgia (14-5, 2-4 SEC) 64

Saturday’s games

Georgia (14-5, 2-4 SEC) at No. 5 FLORIDA (17-2, 4-2 SEC)

No. 6 Tennessee (17-2, 4-2 SEC) at No. 1 Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC)

LSU (12-6, 1-4 SEC) at No. 4 Alabama (16-3, 5-1 SEC)

No. 8 Kentucky (14-4, 3-2 SEC) at Vanderbilt (15-4, 3-3 SEC)

No. 11 Texas A&M (15-4, 4-2 SEC) at Texas (13-6, 2-4 SEC)

No. 15 Mississippi State (15-4, 3-3 SEC) at South Carolina (10-9, 0-6 SEC)

No. 21 Ole Miss (15-4, 4-2 SEC) at Missouri (15-4, 4-2 SEC)

Oklahoma (14-4, 1-4 SEC) at Arkansas (12-7, 1-5 SEC)