Florida Performs Another Bama Beatdown, 100-77
No. 19 Florida coach Todd Golden backed up his “we’re going to beat them anyways” statement in a 100-77 demolition of No. 23 Alabama on Sunday in the O’Connell Center, the Gators’ fifth consecutive win against the Crimson Tide.
Golden’s comments referred to Alabama center Charles Bediako, who was deemed eligible to play for the Crimson Tide after foregoing his collegiate eligibility by entering the NBA draft in 2023. He finished the game with 6 points and plus/minus of -16 in 24 minutes of play before fouling out.
In the opposing front court, junior forward Alex Condon played his most aggressive game offensively, taking advantage of his 1v1 matchups down low. Alabama coach Nate Oats decided not to double team Condon, and he made the Crimson Tide pay. Condon tied a season-high with 25 points (11 for 15 from the field), seven rebounds and six assists. His contributions were on both sides of the floor, with four blocks and steals, including an electrifying transition swat on Amari Allen that started a 16-3 Florida run to start the second half.
“We talked to Alex about, ‘Hey, listen, you’ve been awesome all year,” Golden said. “Don’t let one game affect your mentality.’ I thought he played a great floor game against South Carolina, had eight assists in that game, and it was really, really good. And today he looked like a first-team All-American – 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists, no turnovers, two blocks, and two steals. That’s a hell of a ballgame, man. I’m not sure you could ask for anything more out of him, and I thought he was decisive and played with great physicality.”
In addition to Condon, Thomas Haugh was once again too much to handle for Alabama defenders. He finished with 22 points and five rebounds. With the 6-foot-3 Terrell Wrightshell Jr. guarding Haugh for a majority of the game, the 6-foot-9 forward was able to leverage his height with uncontested 3s and layups while attacking downhill.
Boogie Fland held it down for the Gator backcourt, playing his best twenty minutes as a Gator with 8 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and a 1.21 points per possession in the first half. He closed the game with a near triple double: 15 points, 8 assists and 8 steals.
“We still have not played our best basketball,” Fland said. “That’s the crazy part. We scored 100 points and still have not played our best basketball yet. We have more room to grow, more room for improvement.”
Urban Klavzar added 11 points in 26 minutes of play, continuing to earn more minutes than Xaivian Lee (17).
The shooting woes are still there for Florida, going 3 for 13 (23%) from the 3-point line. Both Condon and Fland only had one 3-point attempt, while Lee had another game without a 3 (0-3).
However, when the frontcourt takes over offensively, leading 72-26 in points in the paint, perimeter shots are not as much of a concern. The trio of Condon, Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu put up 61 points, nearly outscoring the Crimson Tide (14-7, 4-4 SEC). Chinyelu finished with 14 points and 17 boards, his 13th double-double of the season,
Alabama is a team that wants to push tempo, force turnovers and run in transition, but it was Florida who completely dominated in those metrics. The Gators lead 26-3 in fast break points, pushing every missed basket up the floor. Florida (16-6, 7-2) also had a season-low two turnovers, while forcing Alabama to cough up the ball 17 times.
The Crimson Tide, who average 92 points per game, only scored 36 first-half points, with a majority of their second-half points coming in garbage time.
“Listen, I thought our coaches – as I said Carlin (Hartman) – we did a great job coming up with a game plan, but the game plan is only as good as the players can execute, right? If we didn’t have bigs that were agile, smart, mobile, you’re not going to switch them onto Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway,” Golden said. “Those guys are great players, and they’re going to take advantage of that. So the way in which Rueben, Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, specifically, move their feet allows us more rope as coaches to think about how to defend teams. It just allows us to expand our arsenal and how we guard teams.”
The Florida, which average margin of wins during that Tide streak is 16.4 points, front court did an exceptional job of moving their feet while switching onto Alabama guards in the pick and roll. At the end of the first half, Chinyelu erupted the O’Connell Center by not giving an inch to Labaron Philon, one of the most electrifying scorers (22 points per game) in the SEC. Philon finished with only 14 points and a 3:5 assist to turnover ratio.
“I’m just showing everyone how versatile I am defensively and just doing what I am supposed to be doing to make sure my team is in a good spot,” Chinyelu said. “It just feels good to make an impact for my team.”
Up Next
Florida has a midweek bye before traveling to College Station on Saturday to face the leader of the SEC, Texas A&M (17-4, 7-1). This will be the second time the Gators face the leader of the division away (98-94 win against Vanderbilt Jan. 17).
Category: College Baseball, Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
