Allen helps Florida lock up a top seed
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — KeVaughn Allen scored 26 points, a considerably better performance than his last game against South Carolina, and No. 13 Florida beat the Gamecocks 81- 66 on Tuesday night.
Devin Robinson added 14 points for Florida, which won its ninth consecutive game and locked up one of the top four seeds in the upcoming SEC Tournament. Chris Chiozza and Kasey Hill chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
South Carolina ( 20- 8, 10- 5 SEC) dropped its third in a row and fourth in five games.
The Gators ( 23- 5, 13- 2) looked much more comfortable in their second game without center John Egbunu, who is out for the season with a torn ligament in his left knee. Sophomore Kevarrius Hayes finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Getting Allen going helped even more. The shooting guard made 5 of 7 shots, including 3 of 5 from three- point range. He also made 13 of 14 from the free- throw line and chipped in 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Allen missed all three shots and scored a single point in a 57- 53 loss at South Carolina a month ago. An even bigger issue for the Gators that day was missing all 17 shots from threepoint range, the first time they went scoreless from behind the arc since 1992.
Allen made sure it didn’t happen again. He swished his first three of the game on Florida’s opening possession.
South Carolina trailed by 12 points in the first half, but used a 17- 2 run to take the lead. Coach Frank Martin gambled by putting leading scorer Sindarius Thornwell back in the game with two fouls.
Thornwell led the Gamecocks with 23 points and 10 rebounds.