The Florida Gators forced 23 turnovers Friday night in a 75-60 victory over the University of the Incarnate Word.

UIW played hard and kept the game close for most of the night.

Buoyed by the shooting of Charles Brown III and Simi Socks, the Cardinals tied it on the first possession of the second half and pulled within 51-46 on a Cody Graham drive with 12:50 remaining.

But the Gators (8-4) surged behind point guard Chris Chiozza and forward Egor Koulechov on a 20-4 run over the next six minutes to take control.

The Cardinals (5-5) will return to San Antonio for a two-day break before returning to practice on Monday.

UIW opens Southland Conference play with two games in Louisiana next week, starting Thursday night at McNeese State.

The Florida game marked the debut of UIW’s 7-foot center, Konstantin Kulikov. The native of Russia, a transfer from San Jacinto College, scored four points on 2 of 7 shooting.

Brown led UIW by hitting 5 of 10 from the field for 13 points. Socks scored 11 on 4 of 6 afield.

Chiozza contributed 16 points, 4 assists and 4 steals for Florida. The Gators completely disrupted the Cardinals with 14 steals as a team.

Jalen Hudson scored 13 points and Koulechov, a transfer from Rice, added 12.