Gator Men’s Hoops holds off South Carolina in SEC opener

After missing four straight free throws in the final 39 seconds during Florida’s home loss to UConn last Saturday, the Gators made their free throw opportunities down the stretch to beat South Carolina 72-68 to open up the SEC season on Wednesday night.

The Gators improve their overall record to 8-6. The conference win is their 19th straight SEC regular season victory dating back to last year’s undefeated journey through the conference.

Dorian Finney-Smith stuffed the stat sheet in the win, dropping 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. The junior forward has proved to be a model of consistency over the past five games, averaging 18.8 points per game on 53% shooting.

Michael Frazier II contributed 17 points off the bench one season removed after posting a career-high 37 points in Columbia last year.

“We overcame a lot today and that was encouraging,” said Florida head coach Billy Donovan on the victory. “And they’re a great team that’s obviously coming off a great win against Iowa State so it was a tough place to play, good crowd, and (South Carolina head coach) Frank Martin has done a great job with his culture. I was just happy we stepped up to the challenge.”

Florida dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Gamecocks by 14 (37-to-23). The team also managed to limit South Carolina’s leading scorers Duane Notice and Sindarius Thornwell to five points each on 2-for-11 combined shooting.

“Well we got to the glass and that was a really big thing,” Donovan said. “Kasey Hill did not have one of his better games… that’s usually very difficult on the road to overcome so the fact that we could overcome that was good.”

The win is a breath of fresh air for the program as the team proved they are capable of hitting their free throws. The Gamecocks scored nine points on their final three possessions but the Gators were able to neutralize that effort by knocking down eight straight free-throws in the final 43 seconds to secure the win.

Florida was 25-for-30 (83.3%) at the charity stripe.

“I’m not saying we played great but we battled and fought for 40 minutes and we stayed together,” said Donovan. “And there’s been some times this year I felt (like at Kansas) we didn’t stay together… and what (my players) can’t do is this ‘now we’ve got it figured out.’ That’s an environment and a culture that has to be worked on every single day.”

Center Jon Horford and guard Zach Hodskins did not make the trip to Columbia as they were suspended for ‘conduct detrimental to the team.’ It is unclear whether the two will be available for the Gators’ next contest at home against Mississippi State on Saturday.

To listen to audio from the story, click below:

Billy Donovan talks about his team finishing the game strong

Billy Donovan talks about the challenges his team had to face and how they overcame

Billy Donovan says his team played a complete game cohesively

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