The Florida Gators were leading almost the entire game, but were clearly outplayed in the second half by South Carolina and ultimately lost to the Gamecocks last night by a final score of 71-77. We kept hearing about how great Devan Downey is all week and he didn’t disappoint last night. He torched the Gators for 24 points and nabbed 4 steals. The Gators now fall to 17-7 overall and 6-4 in the SEC.

The Gators lost this game because of turnovers and their inability to make free throws. We turned the ball over 20 times compared to South Carolina’s 6 – you just can’t do that and expect to win ball games. Coming into the game, the Gators were the second best free throw shooting team in the SEC, but last night they shot like the worst. They were 10-23 from the line and missed every free throw when it counted. You can’t shoot 43% from the line and expect to win.

Note from the game:
- Erving Walker led the Gators with 20 points.
- Alex Tyus had a double-double for UF, notching 11 points and 15 rebounds. He also had 3 blocks
- Parsons had 13 points, 11 rebounds
- Kenny Boynton had 13 points

Florida returns home to face Xavier on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.