Florida Men’s Hoops Dominates Richmond, 76-56

In the fifth all-time meeting between Florida and Richmond, it was the Gators who came out victorious, winning 76-56 on Tuesday night. John Egbunu led all scorers in the game with 17 points on 77.8% shooting, and a personal game high 14 rebounds.

An 8-0 run to start the game for the Gators got the O’Dome pumping and set the team’s pace early. Domination would be the only way to describe the Gators’ first-half performance, out-rebounding the Spiders 31-15, outshooting Richmond 37.8% to 20.8% and outscoring their opponent 40-17. The Gators strong rebounding, including nine offensive boards, allowed them to score 13 second-chance points, along with 16 in the paint in the first half.

While Florida’s shooting percentage was low in the first half, they were able to put up 13 more shots than the Spiders off of only one more possession, and were far more efficient from the line. While Florida shot 8 of 9 from the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes, Richmond did not find the same success, going 4 of 12 for an abysmal 33.3%. Dorian Finney-Smith, Devin Robinson and John Egbunu led the Gators in the first half with Finney-Smith posting nine points, six rebounds, and five assists, Robinson putting up nine points and eight rebounds, and Egbunu bringing down nine boards and scoring six points on 75% shooting from the field. Richmond’s Marshall Wood led his team in the first half with only six points.

Richmond opened the second half on a 9-2 run, but Florida would quickly answer with an 11-0 run of its own. The Gators’ largest lead would come in the second half when they took a commanding 65-37 lead late.

Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith after the game discussed the team’ strategy against Richmond, saying his team came out on the same page with a mindset to shut down a very strong Richmond offensive team.

The Spiders’ downfall came from their complete inability to consistently hit shots from both the field and the free throw line. Richmond shot 33.9% from the field, and 35.0% from the charity stripe. While the Gators shot a mediocre 41.2% from the floor, their ability to outrebound the Spiders 57-36 in the game allowed them to put up six more shots than Richmond, and finish with 23 second chance points, as opposed to Richmond’s six.

UF center John Egbunu talked about how well the team rebounded and Florida head coach Mike White discussed the team’s rebounding more saying that he was very pleased with the way his team dominated the boards on both the offensive and defensive glass.  In fact, Florida had three players with 13 or more rebounds in this game, just the third major conference team in the last 20 seasons to accomplish that feat.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 2, 2015

Egbunu, Finney-Smith and Robinson were the Gators’ top performers as Egbunu led the team in scoring and rebounding with 17 points and 14 rebounds, Finney-Smith posted near triple double numbers with nine points, seven assists, 13 rebounds and even three blocks, and Robinson finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, despite briefly leaving in the second half with a left leg injury . The Gators never trailed the Spiders in this one, and with the win improved to 7-1 on the season. Richmond’s loss moved them to 3-4 on the season.

The Gators play next on the road on December 8^th, where they’ll travel to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes.