Even with his Hall of Fame father in attendance, Canyon Barry didn’t start the game.
But he did finish it.
After Belmont cut Florida’s lead to nine points in the second half, Barry came off the bench and made four straight shots — 11 points in three and a half minutes — and led the Gators to a 78-61 UF win on Monday night in Tampa.
After Florida’s 15-0 run to start the game, the Bruins were never able to claw their way back.
A 16-0 second-half run sparked by a barrage of Barry’s jumpers buried the Bruins.
Barry finished the game with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and made all four of his underhanded free throws.
“He showed what he’s capable of. That’s two really good games in a row for him,” UF coach Mike White said of Barry, who scored 16 points in Florida’s win against St. Bonaventure on Thursday.
Before the game, White stressed that UF (4-0) needed to limit Belmont (1-2) from behind the arc. The Bruins came into the game tied for fourth in three-point attempts per game nationally.
But as Belmont began to throw away passes, the Gators didn't have to worry about executing their game plan. The Bruins committed six turnovers before they made their first shot.
“We were locked in mentally as much as we’ve been this year defensively,” White said, “in terms of carrying out the scouting report, running guys off the three-point line, communicating at a really high level.”
UF finished with 20 points off Belmont’s 20 turnovers, leaving the Bruins unable to take a lead or tie Florida.
Eventually, as Belmont cut into Florida’s lead — trimming its deficit down to as little as nine points — Florida’s defensive preparation paid off. The Gators left Belmont shooting 7-for-27 from three and 39.2 percent from the field.
“The game plan was just to run them off the three because they’re known (as) a three-point shooting team,” UF guard KeVaughn Allen said.
Florida had its own troubles from deep early on. After closing the first half 0-of-8 from three, the Gators bounced back and went 5-of-13 in the second half.
Allen broke the drought with a triple with 13 minutes left in the game. He finished with 14 points and a team-best 2-for-5 performance from three.
“I got in a rhythm,” Allen said.
He also went 4-for-4 on free throws, a point of emphasis for Florida after last season’s 64.8-percent average kept it from cashing in at the line.
UF went 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) from the stripe against Belmont.
“I thought the environment was great tonight,” White said. “We’re sitting here feeling decent about ourselves this early on, not having stumbled yet.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
Florida guard Canyon Barry (24) drives to the basket over Belmont forward Amanze Egekeze (32) and guard Dylan Windler (3) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Tampa, Fla., on Monday, Nov/ 21, 2016. (Andres Leiva/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
