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Florida beats Texas A&M, faces Kentucky next

 
Published March 4, 2015

GAINESVILLE — In a season in which very little has gone its way, Florida ended on a high note in its final regular-season game at the O'Connell Center.

The Gators avenged an earlier loss to Texas A&M with a 66-62 victory Tuesday night. The Aggies (20-9, 11-6 SEC) came in as the No. 3 team in the conference.

The Gators close the regular season at 2 Saturday at Kentucky, which remained undefeated Tuesday with a tough 72-64 win at Georgia.

Florida coach Billy Donovan hit another career milestone. After earning victory No. 500 on Saturday, Donovan picked up his 200th SEC win, joining former Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp and former LSU coach Dale Brown.

The Gators (15-15, 8-9) led 26-23 at halftime after rallying from an early double-digit deficit. Staying true to the way it has played all season, the win didn't come easily for Florida.

Holding precariously to a 33-31 lead with 14:42 left in the game, junior forward Alex Murphy took over for the Gators. Murphy scored seven during a 14-0 run that gave Florida a 47-31 lead with 8:19 left.

The Aggies rallied late. Trailing 60-50, Texas A&M went on an 8-2 run to pull within 62-58 with 25.9 seconds left in the game. The Gators, who have struggled from the free-throw line all season, went 10-of-21 from the line in the final 3:42 but held on.

After Florida junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith entered the game with 15:55 remaining in the first half, the Gators went on a 14-2 run to take a 14-12 lead on a basket by Devin Robinson with 9:37 left in the half. Finney-Smith scored 10 of his 12 in the first half.

Contact Antonya English at aenglish@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Gators.