Xaivian Lee continued his recent run of strong play with a game-high 19 points to lead No. 23 Florida to a 90-60 romp over Colgate on Sunday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla.
The shooting guard made 6 of 10 shots and all six free throws to lead his team in scoring for the fourth straight game.
Thomas Haugh scored 17 points, while Rueben Chinyelu (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Alex Condon (16 points, 10 boards) each produced double-doubles.
The Gators (8-4) shot 51.6% (32 of 62) from the floor and held a 48-16 edge in points in the paint.
The Raiders (6-6) made 11 of 17 (64.7%) from deep, but shot only 41.8% (23 of 55) from the field.
Kyle Carlesimo (4 of 5 from distance) and Sam Wright had 14 points apiece. Andrew Alekseyenko scored 12 points, and Jalen Cox added 10.
Florida and the visitors from the Patriot League traded three-pointers early, and the Raiders held a brief lead at 6-3 on Wright’s long ball just 1:08 into the matchup.
But the Gators began to pull away on Micah Handlogten’s layup and Boogie Fland’s trey for a six-point lead, 14-8, with 14:31 left as part of a 10-0 run that ended with Colgate’s Carlesimo knocking down a three from the wing at 11:21.
The latter portion of the half featured the defending national champs building their largest lead, 32-16, on big man Chenyelu’s layup with 5:27 left.
They headed to the locker room holding a 43-31 advantage and finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 53.1% (17 of 32 shots).
In the second half, the Raiders trimmed it to 45-36 on Wright’s third deep shot at 18:11, but Haugh got hot and swished a pair of three-pointers to push it to 55-39 nearly four minutes in.
The home side blew it open behind Lee’s offensive outburst, first nailing a deep ball and then throwing down a dunk at 13:53 for a 64-44 advantage.
Florida pulled away from Colgate and outscored the New York school 47-29 in the second half as the Gators posted their third straight win.
–Field Level Media
