Todd Golden’s Gators rout No. 18 Georgia to avoid 0-2 SEC start

Key Highlights

• No one was being selfish, just playing really together as a team.”The Gators faced a new challenge from the Bulldogs, losers of 12 of the past 13 meetings entering Tuesday. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGeorgia entered with a nation-leading average of 99.4 points — or 14.9 more per game than a Florida squad struggling mightily with outside shooting and backcourt playmaking. A reported crowd of 9,563 welcomed White with boos as the Bulldogs arrived as 9.5-point underdogs, but also in the top 25 against an unranked Florida team at home for the first time since 1996. Yet, the Bulldogs (13-2, 1-1 SEC) tied their season-low in points, including just two by leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson on 1-of-9 shooting, and could not contain the Gators’ frontcourt.
• Veteran forwards Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon each had 21 points and the Gators finished with 56-35 rebounding edge.“It’s how we’re built and who we are,” Golden said.
• “We were super physical tonight.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Bulldogs were not entirely themselves, either. Georgia played more than 30 minutes without 6-foot-11, 260-pound sophomore center Somoto Cyril, the Bulldogs’ leading rebounder and shot blocker, to further the Gators’ front-court advantage.
• Officials ejected Cyril with Florida leading 22-21 with 10:14 remaining in the first half after he elbowed the head of Florida center and fellow Nigerian Rueben Chinyelu after the two players became entangled chasing a rebound. With Cyril out, the Gators responded with a Condon layup, Chinyelu dunk and Haugh dunk before Wilkinson scored his only points on a falling floater to end an 8-0 UF run.“That was a big part of the game,” Condon said.
• “It’s just good Rueben kept his head.