Condon, Chinyelu Pave Way to Florida’s Sixth-Straight Victory
History repeated itself at the O’Connell Center on Tuesday night. Well, sort of.
The No. 12 Gators outmuscled the South Carolina Gamecocks for the second time in 20 days. While it wasn’t a 47-point beatdown like it was Jan. 28 in Columbia, the 20-6 Gators managed to dominate its SEC rival once more.
Florida (20-6, 11-2 SEC) rolled to its sixth-consecutive win, 76-62, against the Gamecocks (11-15, 2-11).
The Gators’ last domination was good enough for the largest SEC road win in program history. Tough to beat, but Florida managed to sweep the season series at the O’Dome.
Welcome to the 1,000-point club, Alex Condon.
Condon became the 58th Gator to notch the accolade. The Aussie forward’s 20 points and 10 rebounds were good enough for his second-consecutive double-double and fifth of the season.
“It was definitely cool,” Condon said on achieving the mark. “It was cool to get that recognition, but I think it’s really important we just stay focused on the main goal this year — running it back.”
The forward wasn’t the only Gator to nab history Tuesday night. Todd Golden became the sixth-winningest coach in program history, surpassing Tommy Bartlett (1966-73) with 96 victories.
At the forefront of Golden’s record-breaking win was Florida’s big men. Junior Rueben Chinyelu tallied his 16th double-double of the season in just 18:22 of action.
His 11-point and 13-rebound first half marked Florida’s 28th double-double this season, surpassing the previous record set by the 2006-07 title-winning squad.
Chinyelu played a massive role from the jump, adding five boards in the game’s opening 3:30. He continued to stack the accomplishments, joining the top-10 list of Gators for rebounds in a single season (312).
“For me, my expectation is just going out there and playing for my team,” Chinyelu said.
The center closed out the win with 17 boards to complement his 15 points.
“Just having these guys in our program makes me feel really good on a daily basis,” Golden said. “We have incredible players. These guys next to me are two of the best players in America and they’ve worked really hard to get there.”
Although, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Gators.
Florida found itself on the wrong end of a foul-ridden two minute stretch. The Gators were called for an illegal screen and three personals, two of which came on the same defensive possession. The run started with 5:31 to go in the first half, and contributed to South Carolina’s five unanswered points.
Despite the lull, the Gators came out of the first half with a 10-point lead. Xaivian Lee intercepted Meechie Johnson’s pass and turned it into a buzzer-beater layup on the other end.
Lee, a senior guard, continued his recent success from the field, shooting a modest 57%. He and the rest of the Gators shot at a 48.4% clip to close out the first 20 minutes of play.
The Princeton transfer added last week’s SEC Player of the Week to his resume. Lee became the fourth Gator to earn the honor this year.
The 6-foot-4 Toronto native provided more for Florida than merely points. His five assists led the team and got the O’Dome rocking.
Lee found Condon on a lob that sent the Rowdy Reptiles into a frenzy. Condon’s flush extended the Gators’ lead to 22, tying the largest of the night.
Despite maintaining a strong lead for the better part of the second half, South Carolina continued to fight. Johnson led all scorers with 22 points. The redshirt-senior guard has scored more than 20 points in six of the Gamecocks’ last eight contests.
The Gators posted a sluggish second-half performance, but stayed more than 14 points ahead throughout the slate, partly thanks to Condon’s counterpart at forward.
Junior Thomas Haugh connected on three 3-pointers, two came in a 4:25 span. His success from beyond the arc rounded out his total buckets.
Haugh sits 21 points out from joining Condon in the 1,000-point category.
“At the end of the day, we really are focused on effort and intent,” Golden said. “We’re not going to always be perfect, we’re not always going to execute exactly the way we want, but if we go in and run to the fight every night and be the harder playing team, I’ll be able to sleep well at night and I think these guys will also.”
Up Next
The Gators will travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Ole Miss Rebels (11-14, 3-9) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for noon from the Sandy and John Black Pavillion (ESPN/103.7-FM).
Of Note
Florida held a moment of silence before the game for Bill Donovan Sr., the father of former Gators coach Billy Donovan. Bill Donovan, who remained connected to UF’s program even after his son left for the NBA, died Saturday at 85 following a heart attack.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
