Georgia
Too close for comfort: Florida basketball survives second half meltdown against UGA
Swampcast talks Florida Gators football and men’s basketball
The Sun’s Kevin Brockway and David Whitley talk Florida football and Mike White’s return to the O’Dome with Marc Weiszer of the ABH
Florida basketball turned what could have been a disastrous collapse into another win over rival Georgia and former head coach Mike White.
Sophomore center Micah Handlogten posted a double-double with a season-high 23 points and 17 rebounds and point guard Zyon Pullin scored 7 of his 20 points in overtime, lifting the Florida Gators to a 102-98 overtime win over the Bulldogs before an announced 10,045 at the O’Connell Center.
Florida (14-6, 4-3 SEC) won its third straight and will take some confidence into its next matchup at Rupp Arena against No. 6 Kentucky on Jan. 31.
Florida led by as many as 21 points in the second half, but hard-charging Georgia rallied late. Down 85-75 with 2:59 left. Georgia went on a 10-0 run to force overtime, with a Blue Cain driving layup tying the score at 85 with 49 seconds left. Georgia had a chance to win the game on the final possession, but Richard came up with a late steal, then missed a running 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Pullin put Florida back up 88-85 in overtime on a three-point play and after Georgia forward R.J. Melendez made a 3-pointer to cut Florida’s lead to 100-98 with 6.5 seconds left in OT, Pullin made two free throws to seal the win.
Melendez led Georgia (14-6. 4-3 SEC) with 35 points.
Florida shot 59.4 percent from the floor in the first half to build a 47-34 halftime lead. Florida junior guard Will Richard scored 14 points in the first half, going 6 for 7 from the floor.
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The Gators jumped to an early 24-9 lead on a dunk by freshman Thomas Haugh, but Georgia responded with a 12-2 run, cutting UF’s lead to 26-21 on a pair of Melendez free throws.
Florida then regrouped with an 11-0 run, with a Handlogten 3-pointer and Richard four-point play extended its lead back to 37-21 with 5:22 left. UF maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the half, going up 47-34 on a jumper in the lane from Pullin at the first half buzzer.
Here are three takeaways from the Florida win:
Another balanced scoring effort for UF basketball
In addition to Handlogten’s 23 points and Pullin’s 23 points, Florida had three more scorers in double figures, with Richard scoring 18 points, Walter Clayton Jr. scoring 18 points and freshman Alex Condon scoring 10 points off the bench. Florida dished 23 assists, with Pullin finishing with 8 assists and Condon finishing with 5 assists.
UF basketball dominated on the boards
Florida used its size advantage throughout the game and was the more physical team throughout the game, outrebounding the Bulldogs 48-27, including 16-8 on offensive rebounds, and outscoring Georgia 12-3 in second chance points.
Florida was sloppy with the basketball
The Gators turned the ball over 19 times, with Georgia outscoring Florida 24-15 in points off turnovers. Richard had 4 turnovers while Handlogten and Samuel had 3 turnovers apiece.
The SEC has announced the future Georgia football conference opponents for the 2026 through 2029 seasons.
Georgia will face Florida, South Carolina and Auburn every season. The SEC announced on Friday that the annual opponents will be revisited every four seasons.
Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule
- 2026: Florida (Atlanta), at South Carolina, Auburn, at Alabama, at Ole Miss, at Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vanderbilt
- 2027: Florida (Tampa), South Carolina, at Auburn, at Kentucky, at Texas, at Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee
- 2028: Florida (Jacksonville), at South Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, at Oklahoma, at Missouri, at Vanderbilt
- 2029: Florida (Jacksonville), South Carolina, at Auburn, Kentucky, Texas, Texas A&M, at LSU, at Mississippi State, at Tennessee
“it’s hard. I mean, it’s brutal. And everybody’s the same,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Tuesday night. “I mean, we all gotta play each other. It’s really tough, highly ranked teams, physical teams. It’s just going to continue to be a grind. I mean, looking forward with the nines coming, it’s going to be scary because you just don’t have enough. Nobody has enough depth.”
Dates for the 2026 schedule will be announced in December, according to the conference. The schedules will be flipped in 2028 and 2029 from the home-road splits in 2026 and 2027.
In its scheduling outline, the SEC made it clear it wants competitively balanced schedules, which will be determined using the entire schedule and not just the annual opponents. Tennessee reportedly will face Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky in each of the next four years. The latter two are not exactly football powerhouses.
According to the SEC, the highest opponent average winning percentage for any school in the 2026-29 schedules is 55.67% while the lowest is 46.65%, a difference of only 9.02%. From 2020 through 2023 — when the league still used the divisional format — the highest winning percentage was 61.32% and the lowest was 39.76%.
In addition to nine conference games, the SEC stipulates that schools face one Power Four in its nonconference scheduling.
Georgia’s game against Georgia Tech satisfies that requirement. Georgia has future nonconference games against Louisville, Florida State, Clemson and Ohio State on its schedule for the time being.
As it stands, Georgia has 13 games scheduled for the 2025 season. The Bulldogs have nonconfernce games against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, Louisville and Georgia Tech.
“We’re working through that right now, and a lot of that’s going to be determined as we learn when and where our schedule is going to be in the next few weeks,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “But that’s something we’re attacking right now to see what our options are going to be in 2026. So we’re going to take it one year at a time right now. The first focus is going to be on 2026 and then 2027 and moving on. So still a lot of work to be done, and I work closely with Coach Smart and Mark Robinson and the league to kind of figure out what is that going to mean for our schedule moving forward.”
Georgia takes on Alabama this week, with the game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
The grounds for his arrest are still unknown, even to his attorneys.
We’re back for another week of college football action and the slate is loaded, including three games between ranked opponents.
Here’s how to watch in Week 3. Scroll down for live scores, highlights and more.
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Here are the best games this Saturday:
Clemson at Georgia Tech (+3), Noon ET, ESPN: The Tigers are just 3-point favorites ahead of their first road game. It’s a sign that expectations for Clemson have been way off. With Haynes King back, the Yellow Jackets will want to keep it on the ground.
Georgia at Tennessee (+4), 3:30 p.m., ABC: Has Georgia’s offense been good enough ahead of this pivotal SEC game? Saturday is the day to air it out as Tennessee will be without its top two corners again.
South Florida at Miami (-17.5), 4:30 p.m., The CW: The Bulls are the surprise team so far this season. Can they pull off a third straight upset, or will the ‘Canes handle business?
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Florida at LSU (-7), 7:30 p.m., ABC: This game was going to be the day’s marquee matchup before Florida’s loss to USF. A Florida victory would certainly quiet the idea that Billy Napier is on the hot seat.
Texas A&M at Notre Dame (-6.5), 7:30 p.m., NBC: Aggies QB Marcel Reed has thrown for seven TDs so far and A&M’s offense has racked up 953 total yards. The Irish will surely try to get the ball to their star running backs after a subpar opener.
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