Gators produce resounding victory over South Carolina, 81-60

Photo: Myreon Jones; Credit: Zach Goodall

Fifth Year Senior Guard Myreon Jones shined to post a near triple-double as Florida outscored SEC foe South Carolina 81-60.

Proving a catalyst to Florida’s recent success, Jones displayed his facilitator skills in his third straight start to jump-start the offense from its season-long struggles with eight assists and zero assists. His performance spanned that of UF as a whole on Wednesday night.

He added nine points, including an E-1 finishing off a dime from colin castleand a team-leading 10 rebounds in arguably the best outing of his career wearing orange and blue threads, catalyzing Florida’s success from start to finish.

Florida restrained a slow start that has plagued it in conference play for the second straight appearance.

After Castleton earned the tip, the starting point guard kyle lofton he brought the ball up the court looking to establish himself in the half-court offense. Faking a pick and roll at the top of the key, Lofton pressured the Gamecocks defense before presenting Castleton with a lob.

Florida’s big man caught the ball in the air and hit it on the inside to make an early statement.

That set the tone for how Florida would take the game to South Carolina in the first half, recording 34 points on 45.2% shooting from the ground in 20 minutes.

That aggressive mentality carried through the entire game.

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Late in the first half, Golden put his analytical expertise to good use as he rushed Lofton down the court with the clock ticking less than 50 seconds with the intention of earning a 2-for-1 scoring opportunity. The fifth year guard found an opportunity to jason jitoboh inside, who knocked down his shot attempt with 34.1 seconds left.

The Gators held their ground on the defensive end to regain possession with 4.6 seconds remaining in the half. Assistant Kevin Hovde engineered a play for Jones to run down with a clear view of the court. He found Reeves on the left wing for an open look from beyond the arc.

While Reeves couldn’t connect, he showed his intention to keep pushing.

That was evident when Florida shot 48% from the field in the second half, hovering around the 47% clip for the game. They continued to produce a flurry of points from inside and beyond the three-point line to outscore the Gamecocks 47 to 34 in the final 20 minutes.

Castleton (18), Reeves (15), Lofton, (10), Richard (10) and riley kugel (14) each dwarfed the double-digit point marks.

As a result, Todd Golden completes the win sweep against first-year head coaches in the SEC, going 5-0 after the win over the Lamont Paris Gamecocks. Rematches with Georgia’s Mike White and LSU’s Matt McMahon will come at the end of the regular season.

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