Breakout game for Xaivian Lee helps lead Gators past Providence

Xaivian Lee had a breakout game against Providence (Photo by Chris Spears)

The Xaivian Lee that Todd Golden has been waiting on finally showed up Friday afternoon in San Diego. Mired in a horrendous shooting slump through Florida’s first six games, Lee had a breakout performance against Providence as the Gators (5-2) bounced back from Thursday’s loss to TCU with a 90-78 win.

Prior to Friday, Lee had hit just two of his last 23 shots from the 3-point line and just 7-42 for the season. Against Providence, Lee went 4-9 on threes as part of his best game as a Gator – 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

To his credit, he looked like the guy we expected when he joined us in the summer and what we've seen in practice and in one of our scrimmages,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.

Prior to Florida, Lee was a career 37 percent 3-point shooter at Princeton where he averaged 17 points per game the last two seasons.

Obviously relieved by seeing shots finally start dropping, Lee said, “I just feel like I'd been waiting on that for so long. Every game, I'm like, 'This is the game,' and then whatever … I was happy a couple of them dropped today, because that opens up my whole game when I'm making shots. I got loose in the second half and my teammates were finding me when I got loose on screens and getting downhill. Urb [Klavžar] and Boog [Fland] were making shots, too, and that just spaced the floor."

This was a three-pronged guard attack for the Gators, who played the game without Alex Condon, held out for precautionary reasons after taking a hit to the chin in a collision with Rueben Chinyelu in the TCU game. In addition to Lee, Klavzar came off the bench to score 18 points including 3-8 shooting from the 3-point line. Fland scored 17, hitting 4-10 from the 3-point line.

This was a far cry from the Gators on the perimeter in the loss to TCU. The Gators hit 12-33 on threes (36.4 percent), easily their best shooting game of the season.

In addition to making shots, the Gators cut way down on their turnovers. Against TCU the Gators turned the ball over 19 times which the Horned Frogs converted into 22 points. The Gators turned the ball over early against Providence, then settled down and did a good job of taking care of the ball the rest of the game.

“Four turnovers in the first four minutes, then four in the last 36,” Golden said. “Absolutely a difference-maker for us.”

Fland (6 points) and Lee (3) were quiet in a first half in which Tommy Haugh and Chinyelu each scored 11 points while Klavzar chipped in with 10. The Gators made their first two 3-pointers then went 2-12 the rest of the half, settling for a 45-36 lead at the intermission.

Things changed in the second half starting with Lee hitting back-to-back threes that jump started Florida offensively. Once Lee starting making shots, Florida became a far more complete team, the kind that Golden has envisioned all along.

“We tell our team every time, you do the things that don't require talent, we'll worry about the rest later,” Golden said. “And he [Lee] was guarding, he's been rebounding for his position and he's been taking care of the ball, so we've given him a long leash to stay out there and get comfortable. As I said before, when he's able to give us offensive punch like he did today, we're a different team. It obviously raises our ceiling quite a bit."

The ceiling has been raised quite a bit by Klavzar, who has hit 13 of his last 28 3-point attempts (46.4 percent). When Lee and Fland are able to make shots, the floor gets spaced and that creates more open shots for Klavzar.

"He's really getting comfortable, becoming a really good player. He's making really good plays. I just think he's coming into his own, and he's getting comfortable. Listen, when our guards play like that, we're going to be pretty dang good because our frontcourt's really good."

Lee, Klavzar and Fland combined for 55 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Haugh finished with his second double-double of the season, scoring 16 points while grabbing 12 rebounds and handing out five assists to go with a blocked shot and a steal. Chinyelu posted his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

If there was an area of concern for Golden it was the fouls. The Gators were whistled for 26 in the loss to TCU with two foul outs. Against Providence, the Gators were called for 21 fouls. Haugh, Chinyelu, Micah Handlogten and Isaiah Brown were all called for four fouls.

“So after yesterday's game, last night and today, stressed two things that we really wanted to make a big jump in,” Golden said. “That was (a) take care of the ball and (b) defending without fouling. We were one for two.”

The Gators are off until Tuesday when they travel to Durham to play Duke.