From tall ball to small ball the Gators are too much for Miami

Urban Klavzar drains a three against Miami (Photo by Chris Tilley/Intersport)

Alex Condon was whistled for a silly, over-the-back foul with 5:06 left in Sunday night’s Florida-Miami basketball game at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville. Condon was having his way with the Hurricanes – 19 points, seven rebounds, one assist and a blocked shot. He hit 2-4 from the 3-point line, welcome shots for a team that spent the first three games of the season throwing up more SCUDs

Just a minute earlier, Rueben Chinyelu, who had a double-double going, also fouled out, this one more obvious than the one that sent Condon to the bench but a fifth foul just the same. Rueben was downright beastly. He had scored 16 points to go with 12 rebounds, one assist and two blocked shots. It was his second straight double-double.

Todd Golden had another slight problem on his hands. Micah Handlogten got banged up in a very physical first half and was unavailable the rest of the game.

Miami may have been trailing by 18 when Condon departed, but that’s plenty of time to mount a comeback in these days of the 3-point shot and a shot clock that has eliminated the 4-corners. Florida went from tall ball to small ball but the results stayed about the same. Miami never cut into the margin to get closer than 14 points as the 10^th-ranked Gators improved to 3-1 with an 82-68 win over the Hurricanes (3-1).

It was 73-57 when Condon got rung up for his fifth foul but the Hurricanes struggled to make shots from the field against Florida’s small ball lineup of 6-9 Tommy Haugh surrounded by four perimeter guys – 6-4 Isaiah Brown, 6-1 Urban Klavzar, 6-3 Boogie Fland and 6-4 Xaivian Lee.  All but two of Miami’s points in the final five minutes came from the foul line as Todd Golden shifted from tall ball to small ball by employing a full court press that took Miami out of its offensive flow.

“We had to play some unique lineups down the stretch, you know put guys in positions that they are not used to but I thought we did a really good job of stepping up,” Golden said.    

The Gators threatened to turn the game into a runaway several times in the game’s first 26 minutes, but the Hurricanes hung around, in large part because the Gators had too many empty possessions. Ten first half Florida turnovers were converted into 11 Miami points. With 3:53 left in the first half, the Huricanes were within three at 26-23 when Chinyelu, Condon and Haugh sparked a 13-6 run that was finalized by a Haugh 3-pinter with three seconds remaining in the half for a 39-29 Florida lead.

“The first half, we did some really good things, but we let them stay in the game with our inability to take care of the basketball,” Golden said. “That was a big issue for us, but credit to Miami, they’re quick. They do a good job playing the basketball and creating those turnovers. I thought in the second half we were just very competitive, much better handling the basketball.”

The Gators cut their turnovers from 10 to four in the second half, but there were too many missed shots early on that prevented expanding the lead. At the 14:23 mark the lights seemed to go on for the Gators. Miami’s Tru Washington scored a layup and was awarded a free throw on a rather dubious foul call on Haugh, whose arms were straight up in the air. The free throw cut Florida’s once 11-point lead all the way down to four (49-45).

Miami sensed the Gators were there for the taking, but they were wrong. The bad call seemed to inspire the Gators. Instead of caving under pressure, the Gators used their size and strength to overpower Miami. The tall ball approach was responsible for a 24-10 run over the next 9:17. Miami couldn’t match Florida on the inside at either end of the court.

Chinyelu got things started with two consecutive overpowering moves to the basket.

This was the Chinyelu that the Gators have been seeing on a daily basis in practice.. He was strong, assertive and went up without hesitation when he got the ball within six or seven feet of the rim. He rebounded, he played tough defense. He came up with his second straight double-double.

“I think he’s being the guy he is in practice every day,” Condon said. “We’ve always seen that from Rueben the past two years and he’s really starting to get the hang of that and emulating that in the games.”

Whereas Chinyelu was like an electrical charge that jump started the Gators offensively, Tommy Haugh quietly did his thing. He matched Chinyelu with eight of Florida’s 24 points during the run that put the game away. He hit a 3-pointer straight on from the top of the key, scored a 3-point play off a drive to the basket and added a couple of free throws. Haugh finished the game with a stat sheet stuffer 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. Urban Klavzar, who scored a career high 15 points landed a three from deep with 10:55 left that was like a dagger to the Canes as it stretched Florida’s lead to 12. It never dipped below 10 again the rest of the game.

When the fouls caught up with the Gators it was time to switch tactics. The smaller lineup was a necessity with Handlogten out with an injury and Condon and Chinyelu out with fouls. Golden went with full court pressure that completely took the Canes out of their offensive rhythm and eliminated any hope they had of springing the upset.

The Gators spent plenty of time at the foul line, but Klavzar’s fourth 3-pointer of the game with 2:04 left was the killshot that for all practical purposes put Miami in its place on the short end of a 79-63 score.

Golden couldn’t conceal his delight that Klavzar had a breakout game.

“Obviously, stepped up huge for us in conference play last year when we were dealing with some injuries, was great in the exhibitions and had a slow start to the season, but the Urban Klavžar you saw tonight is the guy that we know we have on our roster … stepped up and hit some really big shots in some moments tonight that allowed us to run out of here with a pretty big win.”

It was a good win against a good team. The first half turnovers are a concern that Golden can deal with in practice. They’re a matter of focus more than anything else. Defensively the Gators play with purpose but they do have to reduce their fouls without reducing their aggressiveness.

Three-point shooting, which has been a serious concern, will continue to be a point of emphasis. Condon and Haugh combined to go 5-10 while Klavzar was 4-7. The rest of the team was 0-12. For the season Fland is 2-16 and Lee is 6-35. When those two start finding the range an already good offense has a chance to be great.

Free throw shooting is another area of concern. The Gators can get to the line consistently but they have to do better than the 19-29 Sunday evening and the season average of 66.4 percent.

The Gators know they will get everybody’s best shot. Because the Gators won last year’s NCAA title, beating them this year will be a storm the court moment. It’s early in the season, but we are starting to see the competitive nature of this team rise to the surface in challenging moments. Florida does have the best front court in the country. When the guards figure things out and start making shots the Gators are going to be formidable.