No. 1 Florida Defeats Florida State 81-72 Behind Thomas Haugh's 21 Points

No. 1 Florida Defeats Florida State 81-72 Behind Thomas Haugh’s 21 Points

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Thomas Haugh scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as No. 1 Florida defeated Florida State 81-72 on Tuesday in Tallahassee.

Florida improved to 3-0 on the young season behind a dominant performance on the glass.

Haugh converted 3 of 6 shots from beyond the arc and made 10 of 12 attempts from the free-throw line. The senior forward secured his second double-double of the season, helping the Gators maintain an edge despite a furious second-half push from the Seminoles.

Florida controlled the paint and the perimeter, out rebounding Florida State 41-29. Alex Condon contributed eight points and 10 rebounds for the Gators, who shot 41.2% from the floor overall on 21-of-51 shooting.

Sebastian Rancik led Florida State with 23 points, scoring 17 of them in the second half. Rancik shot 8 of 17 from the field but struggled from long distance, hitting just 1 of 7 three-point attempts as the Seminoles dropped to 2-1.

Anthony Robinson added 19 points for Florida State on 6-of-12 shooting, including a pair of late three-pointers that attempted to close the gap in the final minutes. The Seminoles shot 43.5% overall from the floor.

Free throws played a major role in keeping Florida ahead. The Gators converted 30 of 41 attempts from the charity stripe, good for 73.2%, while Florida State shot 14 of 18.

Defensively, Florida held the Seminoles to just 4 of 21 shooting from beyond the arc. The visitors carried a narrow 31-29 lead into halftime after Haugh tallied seven points and six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

Up next, Florida hosts Merrimack on Friday. Florida State returns to the court on Friday to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

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