Gainesville, Fla. – Florida Turns It On After Halftime
At the break, Florida held only a slim four-point advantage at home against a Southeastern Conference opponent still searching for its first league win. With injuries forcing him into a third different starting lineup in four games, Coach Todd Golden didn’t focus on tactical changes. His halftime message was straightforward.
"We needed to play harder," Golden said.
The Gators responded immediately. Junior guard Denzel Aberdeen opened the second half with a three-pointer, followed quickly by another from sophomore forward Thomas Haugh, pushing the lead into double digits. Those shots set the tone for both players—and for the third-ranked Gators overall—as they delivered a dominant second half to defeat South Carolina 88–67 before a packed Exactech Arena on Saturday night.
Aberdeen and Haugh both posted career scoring highs. Aberdeen finished with 22 points, including a personal-best five threes, plus three assists and no turnovers in 30 minutes. Haugh added 20 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Florida (22–3, 9–3) secured its fourth consecutive win by shooting 70.4 percent in the second half, hitting eight of 14 from long range (57.1 percent), and scoring 51 points in the period, while limiting the Gamecocks (10–15, 0–12) to 35.7 percent shooting.
Sophomore forward Thomas Haugh (10) is fouled by Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (31) throwing in a first-half finger roll.
Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. contributed 10 points, four rebounds, and eight assists—part of Florida’s season-high 24 in SEC play. Sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu added 10 points and six boards, while the Gators dominated transition with a 26–7 advantage in fastbreak scoring.
"Coach Golden came in and said we had to pick it up," Aberdeen said of the halftime talk. "We were playing slow and sluggish on offense and defense. We came out in the second half hitting [shots] and doing what we had to do on defense to open up our offense."
The first half may have been uneven, but the lineup changes explain some of the adjustment period. Just weeks ago, Denzel Aberdeen had never started a college game. Saturday marked his fourth start, filling in once for Clayton (ankle) and then three times for Alijah Martin (hip pointer). Thomas Haugh also made his first career start, stepping in after Alex Condon injured his ankle at Mississippi State, with backup forward Sam Alexis sidelined as well.
That meant two players who weren’t part of the starting unit two weeks earlier were now in the opening five.
Adding to the mix was 7-foot-1 junior Micah Handlogten, who hadn’t played since breaking his leg in the SEC Tournament last March. On Friday, he chose to forgo a medical redshirt and suited up, giving Florida another option in its shorthanded rotation.
Gators coach Todd Golden liked what he got from his team in the second half.
Despite the lineup changes, Florida responded quickly to Todd Golden’s halftime challenge. The Gators opened the second half with a 12–1 burst, reminiscent of their recent fast starts: a 20–9 run to seize control at No. 1 Auburn and a 15–0 spurt to overwhelm Mississippi State on the road.
"Their second-half numbers were gawdy," South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said.
Florida’s most explosive stretch came between the 14:56 and 11:21 marks, when a barrage of threes broke the game open. The sequence unfolded as follows:
- Aberdeen 3
- Martin 3
- Aberdeen 3
- Aberdeen 3
- South Carolina layup
- Haugh 3
That 15–2 run, fueled by five straight makes from deep, pushed the lead to 22 and sent Exactech Arena into a frenzy.
"I thought in the first half we were a little jumbled," Golden admitted, noting the adjustments required with a new starting lineup, Martin’s return, and Handlogten’s addition. "We needed to pour more into who we are; less about adjustments and trying solve whatever problems, more of just getting back to who we were. I thought we did a good job of that in the second half."
Alijah Martin, back after missing 11 days, contributed 11 points, three assists, and two steals in 24 minutes. Micah Handlogten, greeted by a loud ovation just over four minutes into the game, logged nearly 20 minutes and finished with two points, three rebounds, a career-high five assists, two blocks, and plenty of smiles.
"It was surreal, the stuff you dream about," Handlogten said of his return. "My first game in 11 months, you don't really know what you're going to get."
Micah Handlogten goes up in traffic for his only basket (and shot) of the game.
In the end, Micah Handlogten and the Gators managed to sort things out, securing the win while navigating what has become a midseason reshuffle.
"We'll get through it," Thomas Haugh said.
The numbers suggest they will. Over Florida’s current four-game streak, despite injuries and shifting rotations, the team has shot 53.2 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from three, while tallying 85 assists and 51 made threes. It’s some of their sharpest basketball of the year.
"I feel like we have a really good understanding, collectively, of what we're looking for on offense," Golden said.
The timeline for Alex Condon’s return—Florida’s leading rebounder and third-leading scorer—will be a key storyline as the season progresses. Until then, Golden’s message remains consistent: the Gators must stick to their identity. That means playing hard.
For both halves.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
