The Florida Gators bounced back from their first loss of the season with an 85-62 victory over Vermont at the O’Connell Center. The Gators never trailed and posted their fourth win against the lone loss.
Florida held the Catamounts scoreless for nearly four minutes to open the game as they jumped to a 12-5 lead. Vermont cut into the lead and only trailed 34-29 at the half.
The Gators started the second half by scoring the first 10 points to go up 44-29. Vermont briefly got within 6 at 50-44, but Florida quickly restored order and extended the lead to 20 points and never looked back.
Dorian Finney-Smith led Florida with 20 points, Devin Robinson had 15, Kasey Hill added 14 and John Egbunu chipped in with 13. Florida shot 43 percent on 29 of 67 shooting.
Vermont was led by Cam Ward with 14 points and Ernie Duncan with 13. Ethan O’ Day contributed 12 points off the bench. The Catamounts shot 37 percent from the field, making 20 of 54 shots.
Florida’s busy schedule continues on Friday, when the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles come to Gainesville for a 6:30 p.m. matchup.
