Gators are too big, too strong, too fast for Aggies and Bucky Ball

Tommy Haugh scores over A&M's Ruben Dominguez (Photo courtesy of UAA Communications)

They came in droves, filling Reed Arena to the rafters, believing Bucky Ball would slay Goliath. When Jacari Lane drove for a layup with 18:09 left in the half that gave Texas A&M a 2-1 lead, hope sprung eternal among Aggie fans.

It didn’t last very long. It took nearly 10 minutes for the Aggies to see the ball go through the net again and that was a Jamie Vinson free throw with 8:31 to go. And, another 45 seconds before they got a second two-point basket, this one a second-chance layup from Zach Clemence.

By then it was 13-5 and the Florida Gators were turning what Aggie fans had hoped for a monumental upset into nuclear winter. Prior to the Clemence layup, Texas A&M was 1-25 from the field and 0-for-its-first-12 threes. The famed Bucky Ball press was proving to be nothing more than a nuisance. No, the Gators weren't piling on the points, but they really didn’t have to. The Gators were more than content to go about winning ugly.

It was 30-19 at the half, rather pedestrian but for the Gators rather non-threatening. The Gators threw in some finesse, amped up the tempo and left the Aggies gagging in the tall grass on the side of the road in the second half.

“I thought we played well in the first half and we knew that we were going to get their best shot coming out at halftime,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after the Gators hung 56 on the Aggies in the second half to walk away with an 86-67 win that left UF in sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 2014.

Well, the Aggies best shot resulted in more points and a faster tempo. What it didn’t do was put a dent in the 19^th-ranked Gators (17-6, 8-2 SEC). The Aggies wanted to play fast. The Gators obliged.

Slow pace, fast pace. It really didn’t matter. Either way a Florida feeding frenzy.

“It was the same story as the first half, got to make sure we don't let their 3-point shooters get off,” Golden said. “We've got to make sure we take care of the basketball. The message at halftime was we did a really poor job rebounding in the first half. We were minus-2 overall, and I thought we were not as physical as we needed to be that way. We obviously defended well in the first half. We took care of the ball well enough in the first half, but we really challenged our guys to do a better job rebounding in the second half, and we did that. We were plus-9 on the boards in the second half."

The Gators were plus-everything in the second half. What the Aggies discovered was their bell-to-bell pressure designed to wreak havoc might work well against the rest of the Southeastern Conference, but first and foremost, it doesn’t work well at all against a team that (a) is next to impossible to press because its guards don’t get trapped nor do they turn the ball over; (b) totally dominates the paint; (c) goes eight-deep with plug-and-play athletes who turn brush fires into blazing infernos; and (d) has the SEC’s best player in Tommy Haugh, ready to atone for a 1-point, 1-rebounds first 20 minutes.

The Gators turned the ball over nine times, six in the first half and just three in the second. Starting guards Boogie Fland had nine points, three rebounds, four assists and only two turnovers, and Xaivian Lee scored 10, grabbed three rebounds, handed out three assists and didn’t turn the ball over.

“We had nine turnovers,” Golden said. “A couple early a little fluky. I think we had four turnovers in the first six or seven minutes of the game and then five the rest. Our ability to not only take care of the ball but really advance it and attack in transition led to a lot of runouts and dunks for us in the second half, and I thought our guys did a really good job of playing fast, but not in a hurry."

In the paint, the Gators outscored the Aggies, 48-24. The Gators outrebounded the Aggies 50-43, which was a bit deceiving. The Aggies launched so many threes that the rebounds came out long on the perimeter. A&M was 1-14 on first half threes, 9-34 for the game (26.5 percent).

Rueben Chinyelu (10 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocked shots), Alex Condon (4 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot) and Tommy Haugh (22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots, 1 steal) did their usual damage.

Off the bench, Urban Klavzar scored 11 with two rebounds and an assist. Isaiah Brown scored 12 with three rebounds and an assist. Micah Handlogten had six points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Haugh made a statement that he’s the best player in the SEC when he put together 21 points, six rebounds and two assists in the second half. It was 61-40 when Haugh made the Aggies his personal whipping boy. Over the next six minutes he was the Aggie’s’ worst nightmare, scoring 15 of Florida’s 20 points.

To combat what Florida was throwing at them, the Aggies were all but helpless to stop the onslaught. Although they shot the ball better in the second half, their numbers were nothing to write home about. Texas A&M went 22-72 from the field (30.6 percent) and that included missing 16 of 25 layups. They were outscored on the fast break 21-7 and their nine forced turnovers resulted in only three points.

"I thought our guys did an incredible job of being on the scouting report,” Golden said. “Obviously A&M has some lethal shooters and some really aggressive, physical drivers, and our guys did a really good job of understanding that personnel. When they start that way [in the first half], there's a little luck involved in that, also. But I think big-picture-wise, our guys did a really good job of getting them to take the shots that we wanted them to take. And once they missed a few, I thought it snowballed a little bit. Second half, we obviously didn't defend nearly as well, gave up three times as many points as we did in the first, but we got off to a great start that way."

The way the Gators came out of the locker at halftime, the Aggies were completely doomed. Florida went on a 24-5 run that stretched the lead to 52-24 in the first five-and-a-half-minutes. Florida scored on 27 of 37 possessions.

It was supposed to be a showdown and a clash of styles. The only thing it proved to be was just another day at the office for the Florida Gators, who travel to Athens to face Georgia Wednesday.

SEC in kenpom.com national analytics: 7. FLORIDA 17-6; 14. Vanderbilt 19-5; 18. Tennessee 16-7; 20. Alabama 16-7; 23. Arkansas 17-6; 30. Auburn 14-9; 31. Kentucky 17-7; 33. Texas A&M 17-6; 34. Texas 15-9; 37. Georgia 17-6; 51. LSU 14-9; 52. Missouri 16-7; 61. Oklahoma 12-12; 67. Ole Miss 11-12; 88. Mississippi State 11-12; 96. South Carolina 11-13

Saturday SEC scores

Oklahoma (12-12, 2-9 SEC) 92, No. 15 Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4 SEC) 91: Vanderbilt trailed by 21 with 4:59 to go but the Commodores rallied and nearly pulled out an impossible win.  Xzayvier Brown hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left to put Oklahoma ahead 92-88, saving the game for the Sooners, who broke a 9-game SEC losing streak. Brown led the Sooners with 20 points. Tyler Tanner, who at one point was 4-16 from the field, hit six of his last seven shots to lead the comeback, finishing the game with 37 points, three rebounds, nine assists, five steals and two blocked shots.

No. 21 Arkansas (17-6, 7-3 SEC) 88, Mississippi State (11-12, 3-7 SEC) 68: Arkansas clamped down on Mississippi State’s 3-point shooters, holding them to a combined 3-15 including 0-4 by leading scorer Josh Hubbard. Darius Acuff Jr. led Arkansas with 24 points, eight assists and just one turnover. The Razorbacks, who were down two starters, had 24 assists on 36 made baskets. Hubbard scored 16 for the Bulldogs, who lost their seventh game in the last eight.

Kentucky (17-7, 7-3 SEC) 74, No. 25 Tennessee (16-7, 6-4 SEC) 71: The Volunteers blew a 14-point halftime lead. Kentucky took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Collin Chandler with 32 seconds to go and then held on, surviving a buzzer beater scare when Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s 50 foot shot at the buzzer clanged off the iron. Otega Oweh had 21 points to lead Kentucky while Denzel Aberdeen scored 16 including a pair of clutch free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining. Nate Ament of Tennessee led all scorers with 29.

Alabama (16-7, 6-4 SEC) 96, Auburn (14-9, 5-5 SEC) 92: The difference was at the 3-point line where Alabama connected on 12-23 while Auburn was just 9-28. Auburn had several chances to tie or go ahead late game but couldn’t hit crucial shots when it needed them most. For Alabama, Labaron Philon Jr. had 25 points, five rebounds, six assists, a blocked shot and a steal. Tahaad Pettiford with 25 and Keyshawn Hall with 24 led Auburn.

Georgia (17-6, 5-5 SEC) 83, LSU (14-9, 2-8) 71: The Bulldogs broke a 3-game losing streak in SEC play by taking down LSU behind 23 points from Kanon Catchings. Georgia shot 51 percent overall and 10-25 (40 percent) from the 3-point line. LSU managed only 5-23 from three. Max Mackinnon led LSU with 26.

Missouri (16-7, 6-4 SEC) 78, South Carolina (11-13, 2-9 SEC) 59: The Gamecocks went down in flames for the fifth straight game as Missouri held them to 17-59 shooting from the floor overall and 3-22 from the 3-point line. Mizzou was led by Mark Mitchell, who had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Jayden Stone, who scored 22. South Carolina got 13 points from Meechie Johnson.

Texas (15-9, 6-5 SEC) 79, Ole Miss (11-12, 3-7 SEC) 68: Ole Miss rallied from an 18-point first half deficit to take the lead in the second half, but the Rebels were outscored 14-0 in the final four minutes. Matas Vokietatis led Texas with 27 points and seven rebounds. Eduardo Klafke led Ole Miss with 14.

Tuesday’s games

No. 15 Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4 SEC) at Auburn (14-9, 5-5 SEC)

No. 21 Arkansas (17-6, 7-3 SEC) at LSU (14-9, 2-8 SEC)

Wednesday’s games

No. 17 FLORIDA (17-6, 8-2 SEC) at Georgia (17-6, 5-5 SEC))

Missouri (16-7, 6-4 SEC) at Texas A&M (17-5, 7-3 SEC)

Alabama (16-7, 6-4 SEC) at Ole Miss (11-12, 3-7 SEC)

No. 25 Tennessee (16-7, 6-4 SEC) at Mississippi State (11-12, 3-7 SEC)

WORST TO FIRST IN THE SEC

16. South Carolina (11-13, 2-9 SEC): The Gamecocks are always hustling, but they don’t have any size, they lack shooters and they turn the ball over way too much. Situation grim. Very grim.

15. Mississippi State (11-12, 3-7 SEC): Chris Jans won’t lose his job this year, but he’ll be on the hot seat next. They’ve lost five in a row and the next two (at Alabama, at Florida) are going to edge the Bulldogs closer to a losing season.

14. Oklahoma (12-12, 2-9 SEC): Porter Moser got an SEC win, surprisingly on the road at Vanderbilt. Can he get to six SEC wins? That might save his job.

13. LSU (14-9, 2-8 SEC): If Matt McMahon survives and is the coach next year, he should send expensive Christmas presents to Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin. The cost of firing Kelly and hiring Kiffin may make firing McMahon prohibitive.

12. Ole Miss (11-12, 3-7 SEC): The NIT is starting to seem like a pipe dream. Right now avoiding a losing season is first and foremost the goal.

11. Missouri (16-7, 6-4 SEC): The next five games are brutal for a Mizzou team that finds itself squarely on the NCAA bubble.

10. Texas (15-9, 6-5 SEC): The Longhorns have to get to 10 SEC wins to make the NCAA Tournament.

9. Georgia (17-6, 5-5 SEC): Georgia may have regained its lost mojo in Baton Rouge when the Bulldogs came from 15 down in the first half to win by 12. They struggle defensively, but they can win a lot of track meet style games.

8. Auburn (14-9, 5-5 SEC): The Tigers are getting killed on the boards. If they can’t rebound better they may find themselves on the NCAA bubble.

7. Tennessee (16-7, 6-4 SEC): Two of the four SEC losses are to Kentucky. In both games the Vols blew double-digit leads. They desperately miss Zakai Ziegler.

6. Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4 SEC): The longer Duke Miles and Frankie Collins are out with injuries, the more susceptible the Commodores will be to losing. Tyler Tanner needs help in the worst way.

5. Texas A&M (17-5, 7-3 SEC): Bucky Ball is very difficult to prepare for. When the Aggies force opponents into helter-skelter, up-and-down games they can overcome the fact they have the shortest and least talented roster in the SEC.

4. Alabama (16-7, 6-4 SEC): The Crimson Tide and defense are two ships passing in the night. Way, way apart. When they can’t make threes they’re toast. Concede the three to them and they’ll burn you.

3. Kentucky (17-7, 8-3 SEC): The Wildcats can’t rebound and they’re not very good shooting threes, but they’ve won eight of their last nine SEC games. Go figure.

2. Arkansas (17-6, 7-3 SEC): The Razorbacks better hope the injuries to Karter Knox (knee) and DJ Wagner (ankle) heal up in a hurry. When at full strength, the Hogs can beat everyone in the league but Florida.

1. FLORIDA (17-6, 8-2 SEC): The Gator Boyz are heating up again and looking very formidable. Easily the best team in the SEC.