No. 7 Florida Men’s Basketball Extends Streak for Historic SEC Road Victory
For the first time since 1997, Florida traveled to Austin to face Texas — and left with a program-best seventh straight SEC road win.
The No. 7 Gators (22-6, 13-2 SEC) added to their eight-game win streak with a 84-71 win against the Texas Longhorns (17-11, 8-7) in a packed Moody Center. Wednesday’s victory proved physical, relentless and historic during a game of runs that stayed close until the final eight minutes.
With an offensive rebound with 18:13 left in the first half, Rueben Chinyelu broke the program record for single-season offensive rebounds with 115. Chinyelu broke Dwayne Davis’ record of 114, which was set during the 1988-89 season.
Not long after that, Haugh added to the record-breaking night as he scored his 1,000th career point with an alley-oop dunk from Alex Condon to become the 59th member of the Gators’ 1,000-point club, joining Condon.
Both Florida stars had quiet nights otherwise due to early foul trouble, with Chinyelu and Haugh each recording five points and four fouls. Chinyelu only had four rebounds after averaging 11.8 per game on the season.
However, Florida leaned on Condon, who continued his dominant and confident basketball play. Condon led the Gators with 23 points on 10 of 12 shooting from the field, along with four blocks. Boogie Fland also starred with 22 points, while going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, five rebounds and two steals.
Condon scored 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the first half. Florida improved to 14-0 this season when he reaches double figures before halftime. He has also made a 3-pointer in back-to-back games.
“I’ve found a rhythm these last few games,” Condon said. “I didn’t feel like I forced anything tonight and just let the game come to me.”
It was not the usual box score for the Gators as they were outrebounded, 30-29. The key to the win was their second-half defense, which posted 11 blocks, more than doubling its season average of 4.9 per game. Another key to victory was the 3-point shooting, where Florida knocked down eight triples, knocking down 44% to the Longhorns’ 38%.
“They outplayed us in the first half,” UF coach Todd Golden said. “We obviously challenged our guys pretty strongly at halftime about guarding your yard and doing a better job on the defensive end. Obviously, that flipped for us.”
Texas fought hard to defend its yard. The Longhorns matched the Gators’ physicality from the start, pressuring the nation’s fourth-ranked defense and forcing several late-clock shots that stalled Florida’s offense.
Texas came prepared for the Gators’ defensive strategy to limit ball movement and individual matchups. The Longhorns made 25 of 58 field goals and only two assists, operating one-on-one against a proven defense.
Florida struggled from the arc with just two made 3s in the first half. Meanwhile, the Longhorns dominated the Gators from beyond the arc behind 50% shooting.
Toward the end of the first half, the Gators finally started playing their brand of basketball. Locking down on defense with two minutes left in the half, Florida forced four consecutive Texas misses.
The game shifted with Condon’s dominance. He swatted a shot at the rim, raced down the floor and, at the top of the key, dished to Fland for a 3-pointer that ignited the momentum swing. The Longhorns, though, still took the lead going into halftime, 39-36.
“The last 12 minutes of the game, we did a really good job of pushing through and wearing them down a little bit,” Golden said. “We just did a much better job defensively than the second half, which opened up transition for us.”
Florida battled adversity as Haugh turned his ankle after coming down on Urban Klavzar’s foot on defense. On multiple occasions, the Gators had to turn to lineups that they haven’t had on the court all season.
In a battle of bruisers in the paint, Chinyelu and Matas Vokietaitas, who combine for 515 pounds, traded blows down low that contributed to Chinyelu’s four fouls. The Gators’ frontcourt found it difficult to slow down Dailyn Swain, Tramon Mark and Vokietaitis.
Swain led the Longhorns with 21 points, going a perfect 7-7 from the foul line. Mark added 15 points, including three 3s, and Vokietaitis pitched in 12.
The Gators pulled away in the last eight minutes of the game, and Fland put the nail in the coffin on a jumper with 44 seconds left to extend the lead to 13 after holding the Longhorns without a field goal in the last seven minutes to win their fourth straight road game by double digits.
Wednesday’s victory may just clinch the Gators a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi.
Florida, which owns a two-game cushion atop the SEC standings with three to play for their first SEC regular-season trophy in 12 years, returns home Saturday to host No. 20 Arkansas (21-7, 11-4) at 8:30 p.m., with ESPN College GameDay set to broadcast from the O’Connell Center that morning from 10 to noon. Coverage on 103.7-FM begins at 8 p.m.
Category: Basketball, College Basketball, Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
