Will Richard knocked down five 3-pointers to headline a 22-point performance as host Florida beat Quinnipiac 97-72 on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla.
Richard made 8 of 13 shots overall as the Gators (10-3) rolled to their sixth straight victory. Zyon Pullin added 16 points, Walter Clayton Jr. supplied 12 and Tyrese Samuel paired 11 with nine boards to flirt with his third straight double-double.
Samuel reached 1,000 career points when he threw down an alley-oop dunk with 5:25 left in the game.
Florida scored at will, shooting 51.5 percent from the field (35 of 68) and 38.5 percent from deep (10 of 26).
Matt Balanc had a team-high 15 points for the Bobcats (9-4). Alexis Reyes chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds as Quinnipiac lost for just the second time in its past six games.
The Bobcats went 25-for-75 from the field (33.3 percent) and 5-for-22 from 3-point range (22.7 percent).
After Reyes converted a layup to cut Quinnipiac’s deficit to 33-25 with 6:10 left in the first half, the Gators virtually put the game away with a 19-4 run to close the period.
Pullin had eight points and Clayton sank four free throws during the outburst, which sent Florida into the break up 52-29.
The Gators made 16 of 31 shots from the floor through the first 20 minutes of action. Meanwhile, the Bobcats struggled, shooting just 28.9 percent overall to put themselves in a hole they would never come close to climbing out of.
Quinnipiac trailed by at least 17 for the entirety of the second half. Florida led by as much as 33.
Richard knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as the Gators scored 12 of the game’s first 17 points to grab a seven-point lead with 15:51 left in the first half.
The Bobcats followed with a 5-2 burst to pull within four, but then Florida slowly started to pull away ahead of the knockout blow, opening up a 30-19 advantage following a pair of Riley Kugel free throws with 8:24 remaining in the half.
–Field Level Media