In the newly named Tower Hill Arena, nothing is new for Florida basketball.
The No. 1 Gators beat Merrimack 83-54 Friday night to go 4-0 on the season. Florida led 43-26 at halftime, shot 52% from the field and outrebounded the Warriors (1-3) 39-17 in front of 10,264 fans.
Florida’s start mirrors its championship-winning 2024-25 season, when the Gators won their first 13 games before falling to Kentucky on Jan. 4.
Boogie Fland missed Friday’s game because of a shoulder injury, so Alex Lloyd got the start. Fland played a major role in Florida’s win over Florida State on Tuesday, scoring 14 points and controlling the Gators’ offense against a high-pressure Seminole defense.
Lloyd had big shoes to fill in his first career start, and he did not disappoint.
He opened the game with a 3-pointer in his defender’s face for his first point of the season. He finished with 11 points, going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Lloyd also contributed on defense, with two steals in the first half that led directly to fast-break dunks.
He was not the only Gator creating havoc on defense. Florida played mostly man-to-man and mixed in a full-court press. The Gators forced 13 turnovers, nine in the first half alone, and scored 21 points off them.
Florida had only four blocks, but they were momentum stoppers. After Merrimack made back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half, the Warriors stole the ball and went for a transition layup. Isaiah Brown met the ball handler at the rim and nearly grabbed the entire ball with his arm for the clean block.
Merrimack’s “Make Chaos” defense lived up to its name, forcing 12 Florida turnovers. The Warriors played an extended 2-3 zone. At times, the zone stretched so far out that four defenders sat on the 3-point line, leaving one defender down low to protect the paint.
Florida first started dismantling the zone from the 3-point line. The Gators went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc but went cold, ending the first half 4-for-12. They made only four more 3-pointers the rest of the night, finishing 8-for-23. Merrimack, led by AJ Lesburt Jr.’s 16 points and Denver Anglin’s 14, made 10 of 25 from deep.
When shots stopped falling, Florida turned to the paint. The Gators dominated inside, outscoring Merrimack 36-16 in the paint.
Florida’s bigs attracted attention once they got the ball, leading to double teams and leaving a player open down low. Rueben Chinyelu found Alex Condon on back-to-back possessions that way, extending the Gators’ lead to 28-16 with 7:30 left in the first half. The double teams also opened lanes for Thomas Haugh to fly in for an alley-oop dunk.
Condon once again led the Gators with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Haugh followed with 15 points and six rebounds, and Chinyelu added 12 points and six rebounds.
The Gators capped off their offensive performance by going nearly perfect from the line, making 21 of 22 free throws.
Florida looks to carry its winning momentum into next week’s three-day Players Era tournament, where it opens against Notre Dame on Tuesday.
