Keyontae Johnson scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Thursday night to pace five Florida players in double figures during the Gators' easy 90-70 victory over Boston College in the Mohegan Sun bubble.
Johnson hit 10 of 13 field-goal attempts as Florida (2-0) was a much crisper outfit than the one that needed a 9-0 run in the last two minutes on Wednesday to rally for a season-opening win over Army.
Tre Mann added 17 points and six assists for the Gators, who canned 56.5 percent of their field-goal tries. Scottie Lewis potted 14 points, Noah Locke contributed 12 and Omar Payne tallied 10 points. Florida led for all but 1:50 of the game and owned as much as a 31-point lead in the second half.
Rich Kelly scored 13 points to lead the Eagles (1-3), while Wynston Tabbs added 12 and CJ Felder contributed 11 points. Boston College converted just 41.5 percent from the floor and was outscored 50-26 in the paint.
The Gators wasted just 14 seconds setting the game's tone. After winning the tip, they got an immediate layup as Colin Castleton fed Mann. Johnson and Mann gave them the lead for good when they accounted for every point in an 8-0 burst that made it 13-6 at the 15:44 mark.
Florida pushed the margin to double figures with 11:53 left in the half when Anthony Duruji dunked in transition to make it 22-11. Continuing to push the tempo and getting easy shots, the Gators ripped off 13 straight points to assume a 42-20 lead on two free throws by Johnson with 3:47 left.
After going to the locker room with a 49-29 advantage, Florida cruised through the second half. The margin reached 24 by the first TV timeout and peaked at 79-48 with 7:55 remaining after Johnson converted a short jumper in the paint.
The Eagles' frustration boiled over in the second half as coach Jim Christian and guard Jay Heath drew technical fouls in a 37-second span.
--Field Level Media
