Walter Clayton Jr. sparks Florida basketball win over Merrimack

Walter Clayton Jr. scored 21 of his team-high 26 points in the second half, lifting Florida basketball to a 77-57 win over Merrimack on Tuesday night at the O'Connell Center.

The Gators (5-3) snapped a two-game losing streak. Florida got off to a slow start, trailing 31-30 at halftime, before outscoring Merrimack 47-26 in the second half.

Freshman Alex Condron added 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Gators, while Tyrese Samuel scored 11 points and Zyon Pullin had 10 points.

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Jordan Derkack and Sarriba Diallo led Merrimack (4-6) with 14 points each.

Here are three takeaways from the Florida win:

Florida basketball gets off to a sluggish start against Merrimack's zone

The Gators had problems attacking Merrimack's 2-3 zone defense early, going 3 of 16 from the floor with five live-ball turnovers to fall behind 21-11 in the first half. Florida missed its first four 3-point attempts, failing to sink a 3-pointer until Clayton's corner trey to cut Merrimack's lead to 21-16 with 7:22 remaining in the first half.

Florida did close the half strong, with a Riley Kugel 3-pointer putting the Gators up 28-27 with 1:40 remaining. But an offensive rebound and putback by Merrimack forward Bryan Etumnu with 18 seconds left in the half put Merrimack up 31-30 at halftime.

Florida basketball takes control of game with 20-0 second half run

Florida took control of the game with a 20-0 run in the second half. Clayton scored eight points during the run, including a 3-pointer that put UF ahead to stay 40-37 and another 3-pointer that extended the UF lead to 47-37 with 12:30 remaining.

UF held Merrimack without a point from the 17:20 mark to the 9:43 mark of the second half, a more than seven-minute stretch. After two free throws from Pullin put Florida up 54-37, Merrimack finally scored on a Derkack layup with 9:43 remaining to cut UF's lead to 54-39.

Free-throw shooting still a problem for Florida Gators

Florida made just 10 of its first 19 free-throw attempts and finished the game shooting 60.7% (17-28) from the foul line. Freshman forward Thomas Haugh went 1 of 5 from the free throw line and guard Will Richard misses back to back free throws after drawing a flagrant foul in the second half.

The Gators entered the game shooting 66.1% from the line on the season.