Gainesville, Florida — thomas hoff scored 22 points, Reuben Chinyelu His 17th double-double of the season and No. 7 Florida Earned at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title with a 111-77 finish over No. 20 arkansas on Saturday night.
It tied the worst loss of Arkansas coach John Calipari’s career, a 34-pointer against ruler Was with Calipari in 2018 kentucky In those days.
The Gators (23-6, 14-2 SEC) ended February undefeated with their ninth consecutive win and captured their first regular season championship since 2014. They remain two games ahead of No. 17. alabama With two players left to play, they can clinch the title at home on Tuesday night.
But he didn’t wait to celebrate.
With a packed crowd and ESPN’s College GameDay, Florida turned Billy Donovan Court into a party venue. Coach Todd Golden was front and center as the team handed out hats and T-shirts and cut down nets. Saturday night wasn’t Golden’s first time in the spotlight.
Golden and Calipari suffered a double technical early in the second half after yelling at each other near midcourt. Calipari’s assistants pulled him away. Golden counterattacked and enraged the attendance of more than 11,000.
This was one of the highlights of a game that was long overdue.
The Gators dominated on both ends, making plays inside and out and taking a 30-point lead in 13 minutes of play. The biggest surprises were the bench players urban clawzar And Isaiah Brown. Clavzar hit his first four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, and Brown scored 11 points, partly thanks to two treys.
But it was Florida’s big men who controlled the pace most of the time. Hoff, Chinyelu and alex condon Carved his way inside, helping the Gators defeat Arkansas 51–31 and win the battle in the paint.
Billy Richmond III Led the Razorbacks (21-8, 11-5) with 22 points, including 14 in the first 15 minutes. Darius Acuff Jr.., who leads the SEC in scoring and assists, finished with 17 points and six assists.
Florida Guard Boogie LandFacing his former team, was one of seven Gators with double figures and helped end Calipari’s six-game winning streak in Gainesville.
Florida has won six in a row against ranked teams and scored at least 90 points in each of them. This is the second longest streak in college basketball history. Who shares the longest mark? unlv And Loyola-MarymountBoth in the 1989–90 season.
