ChompTalk.com

The No. 20 Florida Gators (4-0) took down the Florida State Seminoles 87-74 at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee as the Gators knocked down 10 threes en route to their fourth straight victory in the Sunshine State Showdown.

Walter Clayton Jr. led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 4-of-10 on 3-pointers. Clayton was phenomenal on the offensive side all night in his best shooting performance of the season. He also added five rebounds and three assists.

Alijah Martin and Sam Alexis were also key contributors to Florida’s victory. Martin, the graduate transfer from FAU, scored 17 points as he went 7-of-16 from the floor and connected three times from bonus land. Alexis had 12 points and was almost perfect from the field, going 5-of-6 with five rebounds.

After struggling from beyond the arc in their first three games of the season, the Gators came out on fire from 3-point range in the first half. Florida shot 7-of-15 from deep, including 3-of-6 from Clayton and 2-of-3 from Martin. This led to the Gators’ 13-point advantage at halftime.

After trailing by as many as 15 points, the Seminoles came storming back late in the second half. Florida State went on a 10-2 run and was down just four with 2:23 left in the game. After two free throws from Thomas Haugh, Martin banked in a long triple to beat the shot clock buzzer and swing the momentum back to the Gators. On the next offensive possession, Clayton rained in another shot from deep, putting the final nail in the coffin.

Even with making a season-high 10 threes, Florida dominated on the inside as well. The Gators outrebounded the Seminoles 47-29 and had a 40-36 scoring advantage in the paint. Twelve of the boards came from Alex Condon, who also scored seven points in the win.

Florida overcame turning the ball over 19 times, the most the team has had in a game so far this season. Florida State scored 16 points off the Gators’ turnovers as opposed to scoring just six off of the Seminoles’ eight turnovers.

Todd Golden’s squad was able to put together a great performance in a true road test against a Florida State team that came into the matchup undefeated.

The Gators will be back on the court on Tuesday at home against Florida A&M as they look to go 5-0 for the first time in three years. Tipoff at Exactech Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET and can be seen on SEC Network+.