Sunrise, FL – Erik Murphy had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists in No. 14 Florida's 78-61 win over Air Force in the Orange Bowl Classic.
Kenny Boynton netted 14 points and Patric Young added 13 for the Gators (9-2), who had lost two of their last three games -- to Kansas State and then-No. 8 Arizona -- coming in.
"It was good to see the ball go in," Florida coach Billy Donovan said of Boynton's performance. "When he makes a couple, then he can start taking a little more difficult shots, because he's in that rhythm."
Michael Lyons tallied 11 points and seven boards for Air Force (8-3), which is 3-3 over its last six contests since beginning the campaign with five straight victories.
"Obviously, size-wise we're small no matter who we play," Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich said. "We knew that would be one of our hard match-ups tonight."
Florida led by just two at halftime, but began the second 20 minutes on a 14-6 run to take control of the contest. Boynton hit a pair of 3-pointers during the surge and the Gators held a 47-37 advantage with 13:19 left.
The Falcons never cut the deficit below seven, while the margin reached as high as 19 for Florida in the waning minutes.
Kyle Green sunk two free throws with 11 seconds in the opening half, which cut the Air Force margin to 33-31 heading into the break.
Game Notes
The Gators shot 53.8 percent (28-of-52) from the field and 36.8 percent (7- of-19) from beyond the arc ... Florida outscored Air Force, 45-30, in the second half.
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