NO. 13 FLORIDA 81, SOUTH CAROLINA 66
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- KeVaughn Allen scored 26 points, a considerably better performance than his last game against South Carolina, and No. 13 Florida beat the Gamecocks 81-66 on Tuesday night.
Devin Robinson added 14 points for Florida, which won its ninth consecutive game and locked up one of the top four seeds in the upcoming SEC Tournament. Chris Chiozza and Kasey Hill chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
South Carolina (20-8, 10-5 SEC) dropped its third in a row and fourth in five games.
The Gators (23-5, 13-2) looked much more comfortable in their second game without center John Egbunu, who is out for the season with a torn ligament in his left knee. Sophomore Kevarrius Hayes finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Getting Allen going helped even more. The shooting guard made 5 of 7 shots, including 3 of 5 from three-point range. He also made 13 of 14 from the free-throw line and chipped in 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Allen missed all three shots and scored a single point in a 57-53 loss at South Carolina a month ago. An even bigger issue for the Gators that day was missing all 17 shots from three-point range, the first time they went scoreless from behind the arc since 1992.
Allen made sure it didn't happen again. He swished his first three of the game on Florida's opening possession.
South Carolina trailed by 12 points in the first half, but used a 17-2 run to take the lead. Coach Frank Martin gambled by putting leading scorer Sindarius Thornwell back in the game with two fouls.
Thornwell led the Gamecocks with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Duane Notice added 16 points.
Florida pulled away in the second half with a barrage of threes. It started with Allen's swish from the top of the key. Justin Leon hit two from the corner, and Robinson made two. The Gators finished 9 of 19 from behind the arc. They also hit 22 of 27 from the free-throw line.
In other games involving top 25 teams, Johnathan Motley had 21 points and 16 rebounds and No. 9 Baylor ended a two-game slide with a 60-54 victory over Oklahoma to remain in a tie for second place in the Big 12. Baylor (23-5, 10-5) almost blew all of a 15-point lead in the second half and held on even after not making a field goal in the last six minutes of the game. Kameron Mc-Gusty scored 13 points for Oklahoma (9-18, 3-12). … Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds as No. 11 Kentucky beat Missouri 72-62. The Wildcats (23-5, 13-2 SEC) held a 31-30 halftime lead despite shooting 1 for 8 from the field to close the half. Terrence Phillips led Missouri (7-20, 2-13) with a 22 points. … Ryan Cline scored six of his 11 points in overtime to lift No. 14 Purdue to a 74-70 victory over Penn State. Vincent Edwards added 14 points for the Boilermakers (23-5, 12-3 Big Ten). Tony Carr scored 21 points for Penn State (14-14, 6-9). … Shaq Morris had 18 points and No. 25 Wichita State whipped Evansville 109-83. Landry Shamet added 12 points for the Shockers (26-4, 16-1 Missouri Valley). Jaylon Brown had 25 points to lead Evansville (14-16, 5-12).
In games involving SEC teams, Ronnie Johnson scored 17 points and Auburn snapped a three-game skid with a 98-75 victory over reeling LSU. Danjel Purifoy and Bryce Brown each scored 15 points for the Tigers (17-11, 6-9). Antonio Blakeney led LSU (9-18, 1-14) with 29 points. ... Breein Tyree had 24 points as Mississippi outlasted Mississippi State 87-82 in overtime. Mississippi State’s I.J. Ready (Little Rock Parkview) scored with one second left in regulation to tie it at 67-67. The Rebels scored the first 10 points in overtime and held on from there. Terence Davis has 12 points and 10 rebounds and Deandre Burnett scored 10 for Ole Miss (17-11, 8-7). Ready led Mississippi State (14-13, 5-10) with 20 points.
Sports on 02/22/2017