TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The No. 16/14 University of Florida men’s basketball team defeated in-state rival Florida State, 55-51, Sunday evening at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida’s triumph in the state capital was its first there since a 58-57 nail-biter on Dec. 6, 2002, while improving its all-time record to 40-22 against the Seminoles.
Florida bettered its mark to 5-1 on the young season, and in the process handed Florida State its first loss of the year (5-1). The game, which was within five points the last eight minutes of the contest, came down to free-throw shooting, with the Gators making all four of their attempts in the final two minutes. Florida shot 12-of-16 (.750) from the line in the second half, while the Seminoles sank just 4-of-7 (.571). The Gators ultimately made 11 more baskets from the charity stripe than their rivals (17-of-25 to 6-of-11).
Florida was led in scoring by sophomore guard Kenny Boynton (Pompano Beach, Fla.), who tallied 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore forward Erik Murphy (South Kingstown, R.I.) played clutch down the stretch, finishing with 10 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting, along with six rebounds. Junior guard Erving Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also chipped in with nine points, three rebounds and three assists.
With Florida clinging to a 53-51 advantage after a three-pointer by FSU’s Michael Snaer with 53 seconds left in the game, Murphy put back in a missed Boynton three-point attempt with 16 seconds left to give the game its final score of 55-51. The Orange and Blue built up the lead to 12 (41-28) with 14:30 left in the game, but FSU went on a 15-3 run over the next seven minutes to cut the Gators’ lead to just one at 44-43. The two schools traded baskets back and forth after that until Snaer’s three cut Florida’s lead to just a basket.
The Seminoles made their first three shots of the game to take an early 7-2 lead, but then missed 13 of their next 15 attempts as the Gators went on a 15-4 run to make the score 17-11 in favor of the Orange and Blue. Florida State cut the deficit to two at 19-17 with 6:24 remaining in the first half, but UF used an 11-4 run to close out the half with a 30-21 lead at the break. The two runs were due in part to UF shooting 47.3 percent from the field on 11-of-23 shooting in the first 20 minutes, while holding their rival to just 28.6 percent on 8-of-28 shooting.
Snaer led FSU with 15 points (5-of-8 FG), with all five baskets coming from beyond the arc (5-of-6 3FG).
Florida improved to 66-8 all-time under Billy Donovan in the month of November, including a 42-4 mark the last six years.
The Gators next travel to Orlando, Fla., to face Central Florida at the brand-new Amway Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game, which is the first collegiate basketball game in the history of the venue, will air on FSN/FS Florida.
