FINAL: Florida 87, Richmond 76

What Happened

Florida junior guard Will Richard scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, while grad forward Tyrese Samuel tallied 18 points and 14 rebounds, as the Gators defeated Richmond 87-76 Saturday in the Orange Bowl Classic at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. The game was semi-tight about seven minutes into the second half when Richard banged three consecutive 3-pointers over an 81-second span to turn a seven-point UF lead into a 16-point advantage. The Spiders, out of the Atlantic 10 Conference, managed to creep back within seven, at 70-63, with just under seven minutes to go and had guard Dji Bailey at the line for a one-and-one to make things interesting. Bailey, though, missed the front end and UF scored six of the next nine points, including a big 3-ball from grad point guard Zyon Pullin, that got the margin back to double digits and gave the Gators some space and confidence to close. Richard, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, hit eight of 12 shots from the floor, despite missing all four of his 3s outside that sizzling stretch when UF seized control. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Samuel, the 6-foot-10 transfer from Seton Hall, was a monster in the post, going 6-for-10 from the floor (and banging one of his three 3 attempts) to go with 14 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Pullin had 14 points and three assists off the bench, with 7-1 center Micah Handlogten, back in the starting lineup for the first time in more than two weeks, finishing with eight points and 10 in 19 quality minutes. Florida shot 44.6 percent from the floor and only 9-for-29 from deep (31 percent), but was a solid 20 of 25 from the free-throw line, including 15-for-19 in the second half. UF also blasted Richmond on the glass 49-30. The Spiders were a torrid 11-for-22 from 3 (50 percent), but just 16 of 41 from the 2-point area. The Gators played tremendous defense against A-10 scoring leader Jordan King, who came into the game averaging nearly 21 per, but was was limited to 6-for-15 overall, 0-for-4 from 3 and just 14 points by the collective unit of Gator guards. Seven-foot center Neal Quinn and forward Isaiah Bigelow led Richmond with 17 points each.

What it Means

UF improved to 19-4 all-time in the Orange Bowl Classic. That’s nice, of course, but more…