Florida hold off St. Bonaventure 73-66
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Florida got a major contribution from the son of a Hall of Famer on Thursday night in a 73-66 victory over St. Bonaventure.
Canyon Barry, the youngest son of Rick Barry and Lynn Norenberg Barry, came off the bench with 16 points and five rebounds as the Gators (3-0) survived two St. Bonaventure comebacks to preserve the neutral-court win.
"Canyon came to the rescue tonight," Florida coach Mike White said. "He stepped up and made some huge shots for us."
Matt Mobley, who played the entire game, scored a game-high 28 points for St. Bonaventure (1-1) and Jaylen Adams added 20, but no other Bonnie player scored in double figures.
Barry gave Florida a 60-45 lead with three straight 3-pointers midway through the second half, and made three free throws in the final minute after St. Bonaventure (1-1) had erased the 15-point lead.
"When you have open looks, obviously you want to make them," Barry said. "I air-balled the first one but I was able to come back and knock my shot down. They had trust in me and kept giving me open looks."
Devin Robinson made all six of his shots for the Gators, who shot just 41 percent but made 8 of 17 3-pointers.
"Not that we're a great offensive team, but we've got parity and we've got depth, and it was Canyon's night tonight," White said.
Mobley's 3-point play tied it 66-66 with 1:42 left, but St. Bonaventure never scored again.
Barry's two free throws with 58.1 seconds left regained the lead for Florida. Dunks by Robinson and John Egbunu clinched it in the final seconds.
In the first half, the Gators jumped out to a 12-point lead before Adams led a 22-11 Bonnie surge over the next seven minutes, driving for three layups and beating the shot clock with a desperation 3-pointer.
St. Bonaventure cut Florida's lead to 31-30 on Adams' two free throws with 4:24 left, but the Bonnies went scoreless for almost four minutes. Allen drove the baseline for a layup and found Justin Leon open in the corner for a 3-pointer and a 38-32 Gator halftime lead.
CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK
Barry, a graduate student in nuclear engineering who played three seasons for the College of Charleston, made 5 of 6 free throws underhanded, one of the trademarks of his father.
BIG PICTURE
Florida: Allen, who has been declared a candidate for the John Wooden Award, and Mobley figure to have some big games with their ability to get inside against bigger and slower defenders. Florida enjoyed a frontcourt advantage of three inches per man.
The Gators' big frontcourt, having survived its first two tests, is getting a chance to gain experience and keep Florida in contention for a ranking before SEC play begins at Arkansas on Dec. 29.
TIP-INS
St. Bonaventure's only lead of the game was 4-3. ... The Bonnies have only played Florida twice, dropping the first meeting in 1977.
Florida's foul shooting was a sore spot last season, but the Gators are at 74 percent after three games in spite of missing four straight in the second half.
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure: Starting Monday against Arkansas-Little Rock, the Bonnies will play three games in three days in the Lone Star Showcase in Austin Texas.
Florida: The Gators' next four games will be next week on neutral courts, beginning with Monday's game against Belmont in Tampa. Because of a renovation at the Stephen F. O'Connell Center, they will not play a game in Gainesville until Dec. 21.