The Florida Gators and Butler Bulldogs played a back-and-forth game for almost 20 minutes in storied Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday.
But at the end of the first half, the tenacious Bulldogs started making shots — and stopped letting Florida stay in touch, turning what was a close game into one that Butler led by double digits for almost all of the second half and ultimately won by a 76-62 score.
The Butler rally was sparked in part by the return of Kamar Baldwin from early foul trouble. Florida made the most of Baldwin, Butler’s senior leader and electric scorer, sitting with two fouls and put together a 12-1 run — which followed a 5-0 start by Florida and a 12-2 response by Butler — early to jump to a 19-13 lead.