Will Richard totaled 20 points and seven rebounds to lead No. 21 Florida to a comfortable 84-60 victory over visiting Florida A&M on Tuesday night in Gainesville, Fla.
Richard led a great effort on the glass for the Gators (5-0) to keep them unbeaten and send the Rattlers (0-4) to another lopsided loss.
Walter Clayton Jr. also had his second consecutive prolific scoring game as he finished with 17 points, five assists and three rebounds. This came after Clayton scored 25 points in a win against rival Florida State last Friday. His efforts spearheaded a couple of big first-half runs for Florida, which never trailed in the game and used a 10-0 run to open up an early 19-7 lead.
After Florida A&M cut its deficit to 27-20 with 5:29 left in the first half, Florida closed the half on a 19-2 run and scored the first five points of the second half to completely break the game open with a 51-22 lead.
Sterling Young led the Rattlers with 12 points and two assists and was their lone double-figure scorer. Jamine Charles had nine points and 12 rebounds.
For the fourth consecutive game, however, Florida A&M struggled to protect the ball and an opponent took full advantage. The Rattlers committed 15 turnovers, which led to 20 Gators points.
Several of the miscues allowed Florida to open up its transition game as it finished with 30 fastbreak points to only four for the Rattlers.
The Gators also did a better job on the boards then they had in their previous game, which was a key that coach Todd Golden was looking to see from his team.
Five Florida players had at least seven rebounds. Alijah Martin posted 14 points and nine rebounds, Thomas Haugh provided 12 points and seven rebounds and Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu each added nine rebounds.
The Gators collected 19 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Rattlers 47-36 overall.
–Field Level Media
