Florida Men’s Basketball Looks for a Win at South Carolina
The noise around expectations continues to get louder for the Gators men’s basketball as they travel to South Carolina.
The Gators are coming off a 76-67 loss to Auburn on Saturday, and sit at tied for second in the SEC at 5-2 in conference play. While Florida has struggled to shoot across the board, the Gators have been particularly bad at the free throw line in their past few games, shooting 30-54 in their past two games. Forward Alex Condon made 50% from the line and 3-13 for the field along with four turnovers in the loss to Auburn.
“It’s a long season, there’s ups and downs and we’ve been through a lot of those already this season,” Golden said.
The 9 p.m. tipoff in Columbia gives coach Todd Golden and the Gators a chance to turn things around. The Gamecocks are coming off a 92-69 loss at Texas A&M and are at 2-5 tied in the conference for tied for 13th.
The Gators have also won their last two games against South Carolina, both coming last season. In the team’s most recent away game of the series, former UF standout Will Richard hit a last-second layup to win 70-69 after the Gators had trailed all game.
Florida must get back to dominating in the paint after a poor showing against Auburn. It won’t be hard for the Gators, who lead the nation in rebounds at 46.1 per game.
Condon, who averages 13.4 points per game, will look to bounce back on the offensive side and help run the offense through the paint for the Gators.
Guard Boogie Fland has failed to hit a single 3-pointer in the Gators’ last three games. 3-point shooting has been a teamwide issue for sure, but Fland has to start making shots beyond the arc for the Gators to have any kind of chance in March.
After guard Xaivian Lee’s heroic 20-point outing at Vanderbilt, his production is back to what it’s been all season. In Florida’s games against Auburn and LSU, Lee scored seven points and turned the ball over three times. He’s also seen a dip in his minutes again, in favor of guard Urban Klavzar.
Lee doesn’t have to give the Gators 20 every night, but he must take care of the basketball. That, combined with making high-quality shots, will give Florida the spark it needs moving forward.
Florida will want to play its best basketball come March. Wednesday’s game against South Carolina is a chance for the Gators to put themselves in position to do just that. Coverage will start at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN 98.1-FM, 103.7-FM/850-AM WRUF.
Category: College Basketball, Gators Men's Basketball, SEC
