By: Curtis Ford
Box Score GAINESVILLE, Fla. | The Grambling State University men's basketball team suffered a 96-57 loss to the University of Florida on Friday afternoon at Exactech Arena.
GSU fell to 2-10 on the year while UF improved to 9-3.
Antwan Burnett led the Grambling State offense with 14 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Trailing 21-8 after the first eight minutes in the first half, Burnett and
Terrence Lewis spearheaded a 9-0 run for the Tigers. Burnett began the stretch with a mid-range jumper and Lewis capped the spurt with a corner 3-pointer to make it 21-17 with 9:51 remaining in the half.
The hot shooting Gators responded to GSU's run with a 12-0 run of their own, building a 33-17 advantage under five minutes until halftime.
GSU trailed UF 44-27 heading into the locker room.
Florida shot a sizzling 65.4 (17-of-26) percent from the floor in the opening period, including draining six threes. Grambling went 13-of-34 from the field in the first half (38.2 percent).
The Tigers had no answer for the Gators in the second half, being outscored 52-30 in the final period of play.
Inside the Numbers
- GSU shot 36.4 percent from the field (24-of-66). The Tigers connected on 3-of-13 from 3-point range (46 percent) and 6-of-13 from the free throw line (46 percent).
- Florida went 38-of-61 from the floor (62.3 percent) including 11-of-21 (52.4 percent) from behind the arc and 9-of-10 (90 percent) from the charity stripe.
- GSU forced 10 turnovers with eight steals and collected 28 rebounds.
- The Gators forced six turnovers and grabbed 41 rebounds.
- Florida dished out 27 assists compared to Grambling's four assists.
- Jalen Johnson and Jourdan Smith also scored in double figures for GSU. Smith contributed 10 points and Johnson added 10 points.
- Will Richard notched a 17-point, 10 rebound double-double for the Gators.
Up Next
Grambling returns to action on jan. 2 when the Tigers host the College of Biblical Studies. Tip -off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Willis Reed Court at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Center.
