Florida dominates inside to knock off rival No. 18 Georgia

Thomas Haugh had 21 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks to help Florida run away from visiting No. 18 Georgia 92-77 in Southeastern Conference play on Tuesday in Gainesville, Fla.

Alex Condon finished with 21 points and eight rebounds for Florida (10-5, 1-1 SEC), which rebounded from its two-point loss at Missouri in the conference opener on Saturday. Urban Klavzar scored 11 points, while Rueben Chinyelu added 10 for the Gators, who outrebounded Georgia 56-35 and outscored the Bulldogs 58. Reserve Micah Handlogten pulled down 11 rebounds in the win.

Marcus Millender led Georgia (13-2, 1-1) with 18 points off the bench, followed by Dylan James' 16. Jordan Ross scored 13 and Kanon Catchings had 12 for the Bulldogs, who had their seven-game winning streak come to an end.

Florida's one-point halftime-lead ballooned to eight on Chinyelu's layup with 16:47 left after a 6-0 run. Just over two minutes later, the Gators took their first double-digit lead on Handlogten's layup as part of another 6-0 run.

After Millender's mid-range jumper pulled Georgia within 10, Chinyelu's layup and Xaivian Lee's 3-pointer gave Florida a 69-54 lead, forcing a Bulldogs timeout with 7:59 remaining. The lead was pushed to 21 on Klavzar's triple with 6:24 left.

Georgia pieced together a mini rally as James' layup cut the deficit to 13 before Condon's dunk sealed the win, giving Florida an 80-65 lead with 2:25 left.

Condon's fastbreak dunk in the final minute put the Gators ahead by 17, punctuating Florida's much-needed victory.

As Blue Cain's floater trimmed the Bulldogs' deficit to a point with 10:14 left in the first half, Georgia's leading rebounder Somto Cyril was ejected for swinging a forearm at Chinyelu.

From there, Chinyelu and Haugh's dunk stamped an 8-0 run to give Florida a 30-21 lead. After Handlogten's putback layup gave the Gators a 32-23 edge, Millender scored seven points of Georgia's 13-3 run.

Following Condon's back-to-back baskets, Kareem Stagg's putback dunk trimmed Georgia's halftime-deficit to 41-40. Haugh led all scorers with 15 first-half points, while Millender's 11 paced the Bulldogs.

--Field Level Media