No. 23/21 University of Florida men’s basketball team defeated the Florida A&M Rattlers, 73-58, on Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Gators are now 10-0 all-time against the Rattlers and 18-0 against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

With the victory, the Gators move to 6-1 and are 20-2 in the month of December over the last three years.

Florida outscored the Rattlers 20-2 in points off turnovers and collected 14 second-chance points compared to FAMU’s eight.

Sophomore guard Nick Calathes (Casselberry, Fla.) led all scorers with 16 points on the night, including five-of-seven field goal attempts. The reigning SEC Newcomer of the Year also led the squad in assists (seven) and steals (three). Sophomore forward Chandler Parsons (Casselberry, Fla.) contributed his second-consecutive double-digit scoring performance with 15 points, while adding four rebounds.

Coming off a career-high scoring game against the University of Missouri-Kansas City, sophomore forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) also notched 15 points for the Gators and led the team with six rebounds. Freshman Erving Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led all freshmen with 13 points, including two from behind the arc. Walker was a perfect five-of-five from the free throw line. Junior forward Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.) was a contributing factor the team’s win as he dished out four assists and tallied five rebounds, while adding one trey on the night.

The Florida bench contributed as well, scoring 23 points. Freshmen forward Allan Chaney (Baltimore, Md.) and guard/forward Ray Shipman (Miramar, Fla.) tallied four points each. Shipman added five rebounds.

Forward Lamar Twitty led FAMU with 20 points and six rebounds, while guard Brandon Bryant added 16 points.

The Gators travel to Tallahassee next to face FSU on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. The game will air live on FSN.

-UF-