Florida may have been two players short in its Southeastern Conference opener against South Carolina on Wednesday, but it wasn’t short on production.
The Gators (8-6, 1-0 SEC) defeated the Gamecocks (9-4, 0-1 SEC) 72-68 at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
Like Florida’s game against UConn on Saturday, Wednesday’s game came down to free throws.
The Gators made 25 of 30 free throws while the Gamecocks made 23 of 27.
Florida’s 83.3 free throw percentage was a major improvement from its 40 percent against UConn.
Redshirt junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith led the Gators with 20 points, four of which he made off free throws.
The Gators snapped the Gamecocks seven-game win streak—their longest win streak in 11 years.
Wednesday marked Florida’s seventh straight win over South Carolina.
The Gators improved to 43-22 in the all-time series against the Gamecocks.
After trailing the Gators for almost the entire first half, the Gamecocks secured a 34-31 lead they would take into halftime off a three-point shot from sophomore point guard Duane Notice.
Notice finished the game with five points and two rebounds in 27 minutes.
Florida regained the lead off a free throw from walk-on senior forward Jacob Kurtz with 11:37 minutes left in second quarter and did not let it go.
In 24 minutes played, Kurtz ended the game with eight points, six of which he made off seven free throw attempts.
Regardless of the win, Florida struggled in various areas on Wednesday, the greatest area being personal fouls.
Sophomore point guard Kasey Hill fouled out of the game with less than two minutes remaining, and freshman guard Chris Chiozza fouled out with six seconds left to play.
Junior guard Eli Carter ended the night with three fouls and Finney-Smith had four.
"There’s gonna be a lot of physical challenges, there’s gonna be a lot of grabbing and holding," Donovan said in a post-game radio broadcast. "And I think our guys met that challenge."
Transfer center Jon Horford’s presence was noticeably absent from the opening tip.
Horford and walk-on freshman guard Zach Hodskins were both suspended by Donovan for "conduct detrimental to the team" according to a release.
Neither traveled with the team to Columbia.
"This is totally a coaching decision and has nothing to do with the university," Donovan said in the release. "Our focus now is on this next game and playing with the guys we have here."
Donovan will reevaluate Horford and Hodskins’ eligibility to play in the Gators’ next game at home against Mississippi State on Saturday upon the team’s return to Gainesville from South Carolina.
"We overcame a lot today and that was encouraging," Donovan said.
In the 12 games he has played in, Horford has averaged 8.3 points and 5.7 rebounds.
Horford’s second ever blog post for the Huffington Post, entitled "What Will Ever Be Enough?" published on Wednesday.
Horford has said he will be blogging for the publication regularly throughout the season, though he only has one other previous post from March 26, 2014.
"It’s when you turn on your television and the talking heads tell you that you need to be rich, famous, and flawless; that your thirst for more becomes unquenchable," Horford writes in the blog post that was published just two hours before the news of his suspension was released.
"You forget that you are enough."
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa
Dorian Finney-Smith dribbles the ball during Florida's 79-34 win against Jacksonville.
