TALLAHASSEE — On Nov. 18, 2022, a newly crowned head coach entered the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center for his first road game, confronting the pressure of a 75-year-old hoops rivalry. Down 19 at the half, the Gators came out and outscored the Seminoles 50-24 in the second half, led by Colin Castleton, who finished with 25 points.
On Tuesday, Todd Golden, a now-seasoned coach with plenty of road wins under his belt, captured a familiar feeling, the sweet taste of victory in a sea of garnet and gold to run his record to 5-0 against the Seminoles.
“Anytime we come in here and get a win, regardless of whether it’s pretty or not, we’re going to take a lot of pride in it,” Golden said. “They marketed a sellout, there’s some momentum, some excitement and people wanted to be here to watch this game.”
The No. 1 Gators took down Florida State 81-72 at the Tucker Center to extend Florida’s win streak to six against the Seminoles (2-1), tied for the second-longest streak against the rival since 1999-2004. Florida dominated the paint and kept up with Florida State’s lightning-fast pace in the face of a recurring struggle of the season: the charity stripe.
Florida (3-0) returns to Gainesville on Friday against Merrimack (1-2), allowing its ears three days’ rest from the deafening crowd in Tallahassee, where the Gators have won three consecutive matchups.
Thomas Haugh led the Gators with 21 points on 4-for-8 shooting, with three of those behind the arc. Haugh, who said he heard comments from the fans about his girlfriend, was happy to extend his undefeated streak against the ‘Noles.
“I love environments like this, I think playing away games is the best, we all love it,” Haugh said. “I love watching people walk out of the gym too.”
On the glass, Florida outrebounded Florida State 41-29, led by not the typical Rueben Chinyelu, but Haugh and Alex Condon, who both hauled in 10 boards. The primary factor in Florida’s top ranking, controlling the paint was essential to the win, as the Gators grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, generating 14 second-chance points.
Florida State came into the matchup with an imposing frontcourt, headlined by Marcis Ponder, a 7-foot, 285-pound freshman who has earned the nickname “Baby Shaq.” Ponder was averaging a double-double and shooting 80% from the field. But similar to how Shaquille O’Neal floundered in the face of Ben Wallace and the Detroit Pistons, Florida brought out its own defensive menace: Chinyelu.
A heavyweight fight downlow that any normal human body couldn’t handle, Chinyelu held Ponder to just four points and three rebounds. Ponder went right at the 6-10 senior from the jump but couldn’t force his way into buckets.
“Rueben is the best defender and best rebounder in the country,” Golden said. “[Ponder] is going to be great, but that’s a matchup that we expect to win at this point in the season.”
Florida State’s pace was an unfamiliar look for Florida three games into the season. The Seminoles ranked 38th in adjusted temp from KenPom coming in, averaging 73.4 possessions per 40 minutes. The Gators came in at 97th in adjusted tempo, but one of Florida’s strengths is transition and fast-paced offense, which shined Tuesday.
After a missed three from Kameron Taylor, Chinyelu grabbed the defensive rebound and fired to Boogie Fland at half court, who found Haugh darting to the basket. One tomahawk slam later, and Florida’s speed resulted in a 37-29 lead with 18:22 to play in the second half. Pushing the ball down the court was a big factor in Florida getting 51 shots on the basket, a volume needed to win with 41% shooting from the field.
“We love to get out in transition,” Isaiah Brown said. “Being able to play against these teams who run fast tempo and want to go up the floor, they just feed into what we like to do.”
The Seminoles also, obviously, got shots up, but as the adage goes: “you live by the sword, you die by the sword.” The 3-ball was nonexistent for Florida State, who attempted 21 3-pointers, but only hit four.
In Florida’s first SEC loss to Missouri last season, Anthony Robinson II hit a bank-shot 3 with 22 seconds to go, leading to a 76-74 Tiger win. After transferring to Florida State, Robinson, a Tallahassee native, scored 19 against Florida’s defense, which has frequently allowed high-scoring performances to smaller guards. But Florida’s switch-man defense made rotations an art form, holding the Seminoles to 44% shooting.
Free-throw shooting was once again an issue for the Gators, who only hit 73% of their shots at the line. Florida’s physical play led the Seminoles to 27 personal fouls, but the inability to capitalize at the stripe kept hope alive on the Florida State bench. However, Florida hit 17 straight in the second half to hold the lead.
“We made it a lot harder on ourselves because we went 3-for-8 in the first half,” Golden said. “But our ability to make 17 in a row was absolutely huge. It allowed no momentum swings in the game and allowed us to set our defense.”
Fland spearheaded a 5-0 run with 10 to go in the second half, adding to his total of 14 points. Fland scored the first five points of the game and had one of his best offensive performances of the season, similar to his 18-point outing last year against FSU. Even after going to the locker room in the first half with an injury, Fland recorded one of his best offensive performances, adding five rebounds and four assists.
“I was a little nervous that we weren’t going to have him,” Golden said about Fland leaving for a stretch in the first half with an injury. “He was laboring a bit but the minutes that he gave us when he came back were absolutely huge.”
Florida struggled protecting the basketball, coughing up 14 turnovers which resulted in 17 Seminole points. But even with missed free throws and costly turnovers, the Gators managed to squeeze out a road win to make Golden the first UF coach to start 5-0 against the ‘Noles.
A foundation of that was 3-point shooting, a frustrating storyline for Florida in the preseason that has flipped in the first three games. Florida continued to nail the long ball in critical moments. As the first half ended, Haugh drilled a 3-pointer to put the Gators up by two (31-29) heading into the locker room.
The bench also produced from behind the arc, as Isaiah Brown went 2-for-3 and Domen Petrovic drilled one from deep, as did Urban Klavzar, who finished with 10 points. Florida’s bench outscored Florida State’s 22-6, adding another trend from the offseason that the Gators have squashed.
“We have so many good players, it’s insane,” Klavzar said. “They don’t get a lot of playing time but they’re really, really good players. I see it in practice every day.”
The lead changed eight times in an epic game that exceeded the expectations of a rivalry. But despite explicit chants from the crowd, a band filling the student section behind Florida’s basket in the second half and a distinct energy that resembled that of an NCAA Tournament game, Chinyelu’s dunk after the clock ran out sent the message the Gators still own the series (now 49–29).
“It’s rowdy, not like the Rowdy Reptiles though,” said Brown, who was hit with a beer can at halftime. “It’s one of the most insane environments I’ve been in and we strive in those, we’re used to this.”
