No. 8 UF tops New Hampshire
After New Hampshire took a one-point lead midway through the second half, Florida’s Jalen Hudson decided to take command of the game.
With a head full of steam, Hudson charged down the court and let off a onehanded dunk.
Two possessions later, Hudson took a pass from KeVaughn Allen, was fouled as he drove to the rim and sank both of his free throws.
One possession after that, Hudson took a pass from Egor Koulechov and sank a 3-point basket from the left side before sinking another pair of free throws a couple possessions later.
Hudson’s 9-point flurry was a sigh of relief and a rallying point after the Gators struggled to move the ball early.
No, Sunday wasn’t the offensive onslaught the Florida basketball team put on during the first two games of the season by any sense of the imagination.
But behind 26 points from Hudson, 14 from Koulechov and 12 more from Chris Chiozza, the No. 8 Gators defeated New Hampshire 70-63 in Gainesville to improve to 3-0. Tanner Leissner scored 23 points for the Wildcats (1-2).
It was Florida’s first real test of the season after putting up blowout victories by scores of 116-74 and 108-68 to open the year.
And now, the Gators’ season is about to ramp up.
Florida heads to Portland, Ore., to play three games in four days as part of the Phil Knight Invitational.
First up will be Stanford on Thursday with the possibility of playing No. 17 Gonzaga on Friday and No. 1 Duke on Sunday.
Florida St. 90, Colorado St. 73: M.J. Walker came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers and score a career-high 22 points, Terance Mann added 20 and Florida State pulled away from Colorado State at the Jamaica Classic in Montego Bay.
Mfiondu Kabengele added 12 points and CJ Walker had 11 for the Seminoles (3-0), who used an 11-0 run for a 76-60 lead with 6:28 to play.
The Rams (2-2), who scored the first 11 points of the second half to wipe out an 11-point halftime deficit, got 22 points from Prentiss Nixon, 16 in the second half.
M.J. Walker had a career high by halftime with 14 points and Mann added 12 as the Seminoles shot 62 percent to lead 47-36 at halftime.
Indiana 70, South Florida 53: Robert Johnson scored 21 points and Juwan Morgan added 15 to help the Hoosiers overcome a rough start and pull away from South Florida in Bloomington, Ind. Morgan also had 10 rebounds as the Hoosiers (2-2) won for the second time in three games. Peyton Banks scored 18 points to lead USF (2-2).