Wednesday, January 17, 2018 07:00 PM (ET)

Florida cruises past Arkansas behind 28 from Allen

Field Level Media
Jan 17, 2018
Junior guard KeVaughn Allen, a native of Little Rock, Ark., scored a season-high 28 points to lead Florida to an 88-73 win over Arkansas in a Southeastern Conference matchup at Gainesville, Fla.

Allen burned his home-state team by making 8 of 12 shots from the floor, including 6 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc. He was also 6-for-6 from the foul line while grabbing four rebounds and blocking two shots.

The Gators (13-5, 5-1 SEC) also got 21 points off the bench from Jalen Hudson as they won for the seventh time in the their past eight games.

Arkansas (12-6, 2-4) has lost four of its past five games. The Razorbacks are 0-4 on the road this season and haven't won at Gainesville in 23 years.

Senior guard Jaylen Barford led Arkansas with 28 points, including 16 in the second half. Freshman forward Daniel Gafford added 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

But senior guard Anton Beard, who has started all 18 of Arkansas' games, injured his right ankle and left the game with 5:05 remaining in the first half. Beard, who scored two points -- nine below his average -- did not return. He got hurt when Florida's Kevarrius Hayes stepped on his foot.

Florida, already missing four injured players, survived a scare when point guard Chris Chiozza was inadvertently elbowed by an Arkansas player just below his left eye.

Chiozza, who finished with seven points and a game-high nine assists, left the game with 10:56 remaining in the first half. Despite some obvious redness near his eye, he missed just three minutes of game time.

Wednesday's game was close early, but Florida broke it open with a 16-2 run late in the first half, and the Gators took a 48-33 lead into intermission. The Gators were shooting 72 percent midway through the first half but settled for 55.6 percent accuracy for the first 20 minutes.

Arkansas' first-half highlight was a six-point possession. Barford hit a 3-pointer while Hayes was simultaneously called for an off-the-ball foul. The Hogs kept the points and the ball and doubled their points on that possession when Daryl Macon made his own 3-pointer.

But there were few big moments after that for Arkansas, which never got closer than nine points in the second half.

--Field Level Media

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