Gators notch OT win over Bulldogs

Canyon Barry scores 27 for No. 23 Florida in 80-76 victory.

Canyon Barry took a slight detour on his way to the locker room Saturday. As he jogged off the floor, he swung by the student section and delivered high-fives to everyone in the front row.

Talk about going above and beyond. Barry already had given the home crowd plenty.

Barry scored 27 points, including four in overtime, and No. 23 Florida handed Georgia its 14th consecutive loss in Gainesville with an 80-76 victory.

“He’s playing with a different level of confidence,” coach Mike White said. “He’s just shooting the ball better. He’s shooting the ball better in practice, he’s shooting it better in shoot-around and it’s c arrying over. I know he spent a lot of time in the gym and it’s really important to him.”

It was critical against Georgia (11-6, 3-2 SEC).

Although John Egbunu sealed the vic tory with a free throw in the waning seconds, Barry and redshirt freshman Keith Stone carried the Gators (14-3, 5-0) for most of the afternoon.

Barry made 7 of 13 shots, including t wo four-point plays, and was perfect from the free-throw line. His four underhanded foul shots were key in overtime, especially the ones that came after his offensive rebound on KeVaughn Allen’s miss from well behind the 3-point arc.

Barry finished with five treys, including three in the first half.

“Obvi o usly, when you make your first shot, it helps with your confidence,” Barry said.

Stone had a career-high 17 points. Barry and Stone helped Florida’s reserves outscore Georgia’s 51-5, probably the key stat of the game.

The Bulldogs led much of the way, but faded after leading scorer Yante Maten fouled out with 3:51 left in regulation. Georgia led 64-59 at the time and looked as if it would pick up its first win in Gainesville since 2002. But Florida rallied, taking advantage of Maten’s absence in the paint.

Kasey Hill and Barry had consecutive driving layups that put the Gators up with 2 minutes to play. Georgia’s J.J. Frazier answered with a 3-pointer on the other end.

The Gators had plenty of chances to win in regulation, but Hill missed two free throws and had a turnover in the final minute.

Frazier led the Bulldogs with 25 points. Juwan Parker added 17, and Maten had 15 before fouling out.

“It’s definitely a heartbreaker,” Parker said. “You hate to lose like that.”

UCF 77, Houston 70: B.J. Taylor scored 20 points and the Knights (13-4, 4-1 American) never trailed in the victory over the Cougars (13-5, 4-2) in Orlando.

Tanksley Efianayi and A.J. Davis added 15 points apiece for UCF, which bounced back from a 64-49 loss at Connecticut that snapped a five-game win streak. Tacko Fall chipped in 11 points and made three dunks. Matt Williams had 10 points and six assists.

The Knights had a 10-point lead with 4:24 left . Gray scored four points during an 8-1 spurt to pull Houston to 70-67 with 1:48 to go. Fall dunked and the Knights made 5 of 6 free throws to cap a 7-0 surge to seal it.

Memphis 62, South Florida 56: Markel Crawford scored 30 points to lead the Tigers (13-5, 3-2 American) over the Bulls (6-10, 0-5) in Memphis.

Geno Thorpe and Malik Fitts were the only Bulls in double figures, with both scoring 12 points.