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Florida is headed to the Elite Eight.
The Gators took care of business on Thursday night against Maryland, beating the Terps 87-71 as they punched their ticket to the next round.
Florida jumped out to a big early lead, although Maryland was able to close the gap at the end of the first half. The Terps ended up trailing by just 2 points at the break, but Florida was able to separate in the 2nd half.
A big reason for Florida’s struggles at the end of the 1st half was the absence of Alex Condon. He suffered an ankle injury midway through the 1st half and missed a bunch of game time as a result. However, he was able to return to the game after halftime and made a big impact in Florida’s win.
Condon finished the game with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 14 minutes of action. He played a total of 9 minutes in the 2nd half. Given that he was able to return, Condon’s ankle injury doesn’t appear to be serious enough to threaten his status for Saturday in the Elite Eight.
As for the rest of the game, Florida was led by Will Richard who scored 15 points. He was 1 of 6 Gators who scored in double figures. As a team, Florida shot above 50% from the field and went 11-of-28 (39%) from beyond the arc.
On the other end, Maryland star Derik Queen scored 27 points and made 10 free throws. Ja’Kobie Gillespie was also efficient as he scored 17 points on 10 shots. However, the rest of the Terps struggled offensively. Maryland as a team shot just under 40% from the field and went only 2-for-9 from 3-point range.
Florida will face either Texas Tech or Arkansas in the Elite Eight on Saturday.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
