GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior guard Shawn Johnson nailed a three-pointer as time expired in the first half to cut the Florida deficit to three, 37-34, but the Gators outscored the University of the Incarnate Word, 38-26 in the second half to defeat the Cardinals, 75-60, Friday night from the O'Connell Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

UIW (5-5) did not seem intimidated by the SEC's Gators (8-4), as the Cardinals scored the game's opening points on a Keaton Hervey steal and a layup by Charles Brown III a minute into the contest. Shawn Johnson scored a three-point play to give UIW a 5-4 advantage, while Jalin Hart swished a three-pointer to give UIW an 8-6 lead.

Florida led by as many as six points for most of the first half; the second occurrence resulting in a 5-0 UIW run to cut the deficit to one, 20-19, culminated by a three-pointer by Brown III. A steal followed by a dunk gave the Gators their largest lead of the half, 33-23, with 3:18 remaining, but UIW continued to chip away and Johnson's trey at the buzzer brought the Cardinals within three at halftime, 37-34.

UIW tied the game at 37-all as Brown III scored a three-point play 14 seconds into the second half. But a layup, followed by back-to-back triples by Jalen Hudson and Egor Koulechov gave Florida an eight-point lead and forced UIW to call a timeout down 45-37 two minutes into the half.

Mike Okauru hit a three-pointer to give Florida a 12-point advantage, but Sam Burmeister's triple started a 7-0 run for UIW to bring the deficit to five, 51-46, which ended with a Simi Socks steal and Cody Graham layup.

Florida led by as many as 21 on three separate occasions – the final time coming with just 4:23 remaining – but a Hart layup followed by a Burmeister steal/Brown III layup brought UIW within 15.

LEADERS

For the second-straight game, UIW was plagued by turnovers, as Florida scored 33 points off of 24 Cardinal turnovers. Johnson and Socks, who combined for 15 first-half points, were held to two points combined in the second half. Socks joined Brown III as the team leaders with 11 points in the game, followed by Johnson's eight. Burmeister came off the bench to score seven, as did Hart. Konstantin Kulikov played his first game in a Cardinal uniform and scored four points with an assist in 11 minutes.

Chris Chiozza paced the Gator offense with 16 points, followed by 13 for Hudson and 12 for Koulechov.

UP NEXT

UIW takes the next six days off for Christmas before opening Southland Conference play at McNeese on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

STAY TUNED

The Cardinals end the road swing at Nicholls on Dec. 30 at 3:30 p.m.

For the most up-to-date information on Incarnate Word Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow Incarnate Word Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like Incarnate Word Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.