Florida Flashes Ceiling, Shows Off Offense at Full Strength
The last five days have been a tale of two stories for the Gators.
No. 19 Florida routed South Carolina (11-10, 2-6 SEC) 95-48 at Colonial Life Arena on Wednesday. The Gators (15-6, 6-2 SEC) shot an impressive 62% from the field, their highest clip this season.
“We spent a lot of time talking about making sure we were mentally and physically ready to compete tonight and understand that it’s going to be a really tough challenge,” coach Todd Golden said. “Our guys were clearly ready to play.”
Behind Florida’s historic shooting night was an immense team effort. Of the 13 Gators who played, 11 scored a basket, including five finishing with at least 10 points.
Leading the pack was junior Thomas Haugh. The Pennsylvania native tallied 18 points, 15 of which came in the first half. He shot 54% from the field in the first 20 minutes of play, while going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc when the final buzzer sounded.
Haugh wasn’t the only Gator to have an efficient night from 3. Florida shot its 3-pointers at a season-high rate — 43%. Among the group was Haugh, Urban Klavzar, Isaiah Brown and freshmen Alex Lloyd and CJ Ingram II. Ironically, the Gators’ starting guards were held without a 3-pointer. Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland went 0-for-4 and 0-for-1, respectively.
Haugh has played a massive role in Florida’s offensive production throughout the season. The forward’s 17.4 points per game rounds out the top eight players in the SEC.
While Wednesday’s game was practically over from the jump, Haugh’s +37 point differential stacked up to second among all Florida players. Just above him was Fland (+38).
The Arkansas transfer finished the night with a modest 10 points and six assists. He aided in Florida’s shooting rate by adding his most efficient performance of the year, connecting on 80% of his attempts.
While Florida saw point contributions across the board, the Gators shared the wealth, and the rock. UF nabbed 28 assists in the win, headlined by junior Alex Condon’s eight. The Gators’ total dishes ranks No. 1 in SEC play across the last 30 years, and the most against any competition since 2007.
“We just did a really good job valuing the basketball and finding our teammates – 28 assists, 11 turnovers is obviously really good, but really, really proud of our performance,” Golden said.
Condon nearly grabbed his sixth double-double of the season, and flirted with the first triple-double of his collegiate career. The Aussie had 10 points and nine boards to go with his eight assists.
Condon was fresh off one of his worst outings as a Gator, posting just one point against Auburn.
“It definitely was a priority for me to come out and have a good game today and come out with a different level of energy and lead the boys a little bit,” Condon said. “That was a big thing for me.”
Florida seemed to do everything right in Columbia, whether shooting or textbook passing, and rolled past its SEC foe.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
