Andrew Nembhard scored 24 points and Noah Locke added a season-high 21 as visiting Florida used a dominating second half to roll to a 78-61 win over Texas A&M on Wednesday in College Station, Texas.
The Gators led by just three points at the half but surged to a double-digit advantage eight minutes into the second half via a combination of patient offense and poor shooting by Texas A&M. Florida ran away with the game, building as much as a 23-point cushion in the final minutes.
Keyontae Johnson added 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Gators (15-9, 7-4 SEC). Florida outshot the Aggies 57.7 percent to 34.8 percent in the second half and outrebounded Texas A&M 36-20 for the game, including 20-7 after halftime.
The Gators also had 15 assists to just seven for Texas A&M. Florida has won three of its past four outings.
Emanuel Miller led the Aggies (11-12, 5-6) with 19 points, with Josh Nebo adding 12 and Savion Flagg scoring 11 for Texas A&M.
The Aggies were just 6 of 23 from beyond the arc and 15 of 23 from the free throw line.
The Gators made 12 shots in the first half, but eight of them were from 3-point range to help them to a 37-34 lead at halftime. Locke had 14 of those points and four of the first-half 3-pointers for Florida.
Nebo paced Texas A&M with 10 points in the half.
The Gators pushed their lead to eight points twice in the first six minutes of the second half and then to 51-41 on a jumper by Locke with 11:57 to play. Texas A&M went more than seven and a half minutes without a field goal in that stretch and never seriously challenged again.
--Field Level Media
Florida | Texas A&M | |
Andrew Nembhard 24 | Scoring | Emanuel Miller 19 |
Keyontae Johnson 6 | Assists | Emanuel Miller 2 |
Keyontae Johnson 10 | Rebounds | Quenton Jackson 4 |
Kerry Blackshear Jr. 6 | Free Throws Made | Emanuel Miller 8 |
Keyontae Johnson 1 | Steals | Andre Gordon 2 |
Jason Jitoboh 1 | Blocks | Josh Nebo 1 |