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Florida had already locked up the No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament with a big road win over Alabama earlier this week.
But the fifth-ranked Gators still had business to attend to on Saturday in Gainesville, and they were very business-like in brushing aside Ole Miss, 90-71, to finish the regular season at 27-4 with an impressive 14-4 mark in the SEC.
Walter Clayton Jr. led the way for Todd Golden’s team with 23 points and 8 assists. Alex Condon bullied the Rebels all night, piling up 17 points and 15 rebounds. Alijah Martin added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and Will Richard chipped in 10 points.
The Gators, who will have a double bye at the SEC Tournament in Nashville next week, were all over the boards all night, out-rebounding Ole Miss 48-36. Yes, Florida had 14 turnovers, but it didn’t really matter, as the Gators led by 7 at halftime and pulled away in the second half to send Ole Miss (21-10, 10-8 SEC) to its 4th loss in 6 games.
The Rebels, who were led by Sean Pedulla’s 22 points, shot just 33.3% from the field and from 3-point territory. Ole Miss, which was ranked for a lot of the regular season, will limp into the SEC tourney next week.
Jaylen Murray was the only other Ole Miss player to reach double figures, scoring 12 points to go with 4 assists and 4 steals. But there wasn’t nearly enough production from anyone else, as the Gators had an easy time of it in a league where easy wins were hard to come by all regular season.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
