Led by Xaivian Lee’s 18 points, No. 14 Florida put five players in double figures and rolled to an 86-66 win over Georgia on Wednesday in Athens, Ga.
Florida retained first place in the Southeastern Conference with its fourth straight victory. The Gators have won five straight road conference games, their longest-such streak since 2014.
The Gators swept the two-game season series, also winning 92-77 in Gainesville on Jan. 6. Florida has won 14 of the last 15 meetings with Georgia.
Lee was 7-for-14 from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and had seven assists. Florida (18-6, 9-2 SEC) also got 15 points from Boogie Fland, 12 points each from Isaiah Brown and Alex Condon, and 11 points from Thomas Haugh. Rueben Chinyelu had 20 rebounds, one shy of matching his season high.
Georgia (17-7, 5-6) got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Blue Cain for his second double-double of the season, 15 points from Marcus “Smurf” Millender and 11 points from Kanon Catchings.
The Bulldogs, who have lost four of their last five, were playing without leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.1 points), who was sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Florida, which came into the game last in 3-point percentage (28.8%), made 10 of 26 — its most in an SEC game.
The Bulldogs opted to start a larger lineup to offset Florida’s size advantage, but it didn’t help. Georgia missed its first eight shots and fell behind 10-0 behind three baskets by Fland before Catchings made a 3-pointer at nearly six minutes in..
The Gators used an 8-0 run to take a 17-point lead on a 3-pointer by Brown and led by as many as 20 points late in the first half. Georgia scored the final four points to cut Florida’s lead to 43-27 at the half.
Georgia scored the first seven points of the second half and cut the lead to nine, but Florida answered with back-to-back 3s from Haugh and Urban Klavzar to restore the 15-point lead.
The Bulldogs never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
