Will Richard keeps Florida afloat in shaky first-half before pulling away for Sweet 16 win

The Florida Gators turned the ball over 11 times in the first half of its Sweet 16 matchup with No. 4 seed Maryland on Thursday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Yet, Todd Golden’s team still took a two-point lead into the break and pulled away for an 87-71 win to advance to the Elite Eight. 

After First-Team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. carried the Gators to the Sweet 16 with 23 points and a dagger three against UConn, it was senior guard Will Richard who kept the team afloat in the first half with 12 of his team-high 15 points. 

Richard is the overlooked third member of Florida’s dominant backcourt with Clayton and FAU transfer Alijah Martin, and he was largely forgotten by the Terrapins. In an effort to slow down Florida’s high-octane offensive attack, head coach Kevin Willard introduced a three-quarter court press which dropped back into a 2-3 zone. That surprising look forced Clayton and Martin into turnovers but it also provided ample opportunities for Richard to attack. 

The third-year Gator has scored 29.7% of his points on the fast-break this season, 97th percentile in the country, and he took advantage of the extra space in the front court while Maryland was pressuring. Richard found soft spots in the corner and smartly leaked out for a layup in transition. 

As a team this season, Florida has a 70th percentile field goal percentage in the half-court and 85th percentile in transition. Willard did everything he could to keep the Gators from running, but Richard found ways to speed the game up, and eventually, Willard had to back off from the pressure because he was getting too many easy looks. 

Florida was the superior team on Thursday night and would have likely pulled away even if it had trailed at halftime, but Richard’s first-half effort kept the Gators in front and moving on to the Elite Eight.