Florida vs. Ole Miss score, takeaways: No. 5 Gators finish with second-best regular-season record

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

No. 5 Florida Gators basketball flirted with program history throughout the 2024-25 regular season. In the end, it fell just shy of a record, but there was nothing to sneeze about Saturday night as Florida improved to 27-4 (14-4 SEC) following an 90-71 drubbing of the Ole Miss Rebels at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.

Guards Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and redshirt Alijah Martin all appropriately contributed on Senior Night with Clayton breaking out of a shooting slump that plagued him — but not the team — over the prior couple weeks.

This as head coach Todd Golden’s squad posted the second-best regular season mark at UF and secured the No. 2 seed in the 2025 SEC Tournament with a road win already this year over the No. 1 seed. Still, the Gators fell one game shy of their first regular-season championship in 11 years.

Let’s take a look at what went down Saturday night in the O’Dome with some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … Clayton silenced an Ole Miss bounce-back effort with consecutive 3-pointers and added an athletic layup to push Florida ahead by 20 points midway through the second half. The visitors never got more than five points closer as the hosts eventually went up a game-high 22 points with 3 minutes remaining.

The Gators led by just seven at halftime but used a 14-0 run to open the second half — their first and most significant scoring stretch of the contest — to pull ahead by 17 points, effectively ending the game even before Clayton’s barrage.

First half focus: Florida played immensely sloppy basketball to start the game with 7 turnovers and 2 of 11 shooting from downtown early as it simply chucked deep balls and showed a surprising lack of discipline. Despite that, the Gators consistently led as the Rebels struggled finding the bottom of the basket opening 9 of 33 from the field. UF went up a half-high 10 points on consecutive 3-pointers from Clayton, but Ole Miss suddenly found its stroke and continued taking advantage of the hosts’ miscues. Ultimately, Florida led by nowhere near as much as it should have at the break due to 9 giveaways.

Exceptional efforts: Clayton had battled significant shooting struggles entering Saturday night but completely broke out of his slump in the second half. He posted a game-high 23 points on 5 of 9 shooting from downtown with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Sophomore forward Alex Condon was the consistent force Florida needed due to its uneven play in the first half. He notched a double-double just 45 seconds into the latter period finishing with 17 points and 14 boards. Martin registered 13 points and 5 rebounds, while Richard contributed 10 points and 3 rebounds. In total, UF’s senior guard trio registered 46 points, 51.1% of the team total in their final O’Dome showing.

Odds & ends: Florida improved to 71-49 all-time against Ole Miss with a 44-12 mark in the O’Dome … the Gators under Golden are now 53-9 when leading at halftime (22-0 this season), 61-5 when leading with 5 minutes left (25-0), 48-10 when outrebounding an opponent (21-3), 46-8 when shooting 45% or better from the field (19-2), 60-7 when outshooting an opponent (24-1), 54-8 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range (24-0) and 44-16 when 4+ players score in double figures (18-2) … Clayton extended his program record making a 3-pointer in his 52nd consecutive game

Florida earned a 48-36 rebounding edge and outscored Ole Miss 32-22 in the paint … UF committed 14 turnovers in the game but had 19 assists on 31 baskets

What it means: Taking care of business at home while honoring their seniors, the Gators did exactly what was needed Saturday night. They likely cemented a No. 1 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament — barring a disastrous first-game loss next week — and completed the best regular season for the program in 11 years. Every Florida team that has posted a 27-4 record or better entering the postseason has advanced to a Final Four, and this group certainly has a chance to follow suit.

UF is now 8-4 against Quadrant 1 opponents and 17-4 overall against the first two quadrants, both of which are better than Duke (6-3, 11-3) despite it holding No. 1 in the NET Rankings. It still has the best win in the nation this season (by nine at Auburn) with wins over both Alabama and Tennessee, the third- and fourth-best SEC teams. In other words, there is hardly a blemish in Florida’s resume.

What’s next? The Gators will get six days off before they begin play in the 2025 SEC Tournament. As the No. 2 seed, Florida receives a double bye and does not take the court until Friday at 7 p.m. ET against either the No. 7, No. 10 or No. 15 seed. It has been 11 years since UF won the SEC Tournament (2014).