Richard and Condon come up big with Clayton out, and No. 6 Florida beats Vanderbilt 86-75

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Will Richard scored 21 points, Alex Condon added 19 and No. 6 Florida beat Vanderbilt 86-75 on Tuesday despite playing without leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr.

Clayton watched from the bench after he sprained his left ankle during a lopsided loss at Tennessee on Saturday. Fellow guard Alijah Martin gave the Gators another scare when he tweaked his left hip in the first half. Martin returned but was hardly a factor.

Richard and Condon, meanwhile, carried Florida (19-3, 6-3 Southeastern Conference). Richard hit 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range, and Condon chipped in nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

Seldom-used guard Urban Klavzar also had a couple of big baskets, draining back-to-back 3s with about eight minutes to play to give Florida a nine-point advantage. He added an assist on the next play.

Coach Todd Golden’s team cruised from there and surely will point to this game as evidence of its depth.

Jason Edwards led the Commodores (16-6, 4-5) with 20 points. Jaylen Carey added 15 points before fouling out.

Takeaways

Vanderbilt: The Commodores played solid defense throughout and looked as if they might pull off an upset. Ultimately, their inability to defend the 3-point line down the stretch was their undoing.

Florida: Florida took a cautious approach with Clayton, especially with a road trip to top-seeded Auburn on tap Saturday.

Key moment

Florida made 10 of 11 shots over a 9-minute span in the second half to put the game away.

Key stat

Klavzar entered the night having made 3 of 16 shots from 3-point range. But the two he hit against Vandy were perfect.

Up next

Vanderbilt hosts Texas on Saturday; Florida plays at Auburn later in the day.

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