Texas toast: Florida basketball unable to hold cushion in 1-point loss at Texas A&M
Florida basketball had its four-game win streak snapped, unable to hold a 12-point lead in the second half in a 67-66 loss on Saturday at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
Tyrese Radford put the Aggies up 67-66 on a short jumper in the lane with 35 seconds remaining. The Florida Gators (15-7, 5-4 SEC) had two chances to win the regulation, but a jumper by Walter Clayton Jr. with six seconds left hit the front iron. In a scrum, UF got the offensive rebound and found Zyon Pullin who was unable to sink a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining that would have given UF the win.
Pullin led three UF scorers in double figures with 18 points and 8 assists. But the Gators, who took a 40-34 lead into halftime, went cold in the second half, shooting just 37.9 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.
“Playing one of the better teams in the SEC, it’s a game we feel like we should have won," Pullin said. "They just made more plays than we did. We didn’t come out in the second half and execute well enough on both ends.”
Florida was held under 70 points for just the second time in 22 games this season. Will Richard and Riley Kugel added 12 points apiece for the Gators.
"They’re very physical, and we didn’t do a good enough job attacking their switching man-to-man that they play," Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said. "I thought we were a little stagnant offensively in the second half.”
Radford led Texas A&M (13-8. 4-4 SEC) with 26 points, playing a day after being arrested for evading police at a traffic stop. Wade Taylor IV added 15 points for the Aggies.
Big shot: Shooting star. Florida basketball guard Walter Clayton Jr. finding his stroke
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Florida led by as many as 13 points in the first half, going up 40-27 on a Pullin 3-pointer with 1:27 left in the half. But Texas A&M closed the half with a 7-0 run. Radford scored five of the points on a driving layup and 3-pointer at the first half buzzer, cutting UF's lead to 40-34 at hafltime.
The Gators shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half, while holding Texas A&M to 43.8 percent shooting.
Here are three takeaways from the Florida loss:
Texas A&M outscores Florida basketball in the paint
Texas A&M outscored Florida 34-18 in points in the paint as the Aggies were the more aggressive team attacking the basket throughout the game. UF's starting frontcourt of Tyrese Samuel and Micah Handlogten were held to a combined 8 points and attempted just 6 shots.
With Florida settling for too many 3-point attempts in the second half, there was a significant disparity at the free-throw line. Texas A&M made 24 trips to the free-throw line, compared to 11 for the Gators.
"The second half, they get 20 free throws to our two," Golden said. "That, to me, is how the game changes. We did a great job I thought going vertical both halves. Second half, those started becoming free throws and it allows them to set up their press, kind of change the pace of the game."
Turnovers doom UF basketball late
Florida turned the ball over 14 times, including two critical ones down the stretch when Richard stepped on the out of bounds line with 1:38 left and a shot clock violation when Samuel failed to hit the rim on a shot with 59 seconds remaining. Pullin had 3 turnovers as Texas A&M harassed UF's steady point guard with its on-ball pressure.
An off day for UF basketball guard Walter Clayton Jr.
Coming off a 23-point effort against Kentucky that included a game-tying shot in regulation, Clayton struggled shooting the ball at Reed Arena, going just 2 of 8 from the field and 2 of 6 from 3-point range. He also turned it over twice.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida Gators basketball win streak snapped at Texas A&M Aggies
