Gators expect physical battle with Virginia at O-Dome tonight

Rueben Chinyelu (9) makes a move in the paint against Wichita State (UAA Photo)

Just because Tony Bennett is no longer calling the shots on the Virginia sideline, don’t think for a second the 13th-ranked Gators (8-0) expect anything other than the same old, same old from the Virginia Cavaliers tonight (7:15 p.m., ESPN2) at the O-Dome in the SEC-ACC Challenge.

Ron Sanchez became the Virginia head coach when Bennett surprisingly stepped down on October 18. Bennett’s teams were known for their physical style of defense, something Florida coach Todd Golden expects tonight. Virginia’s physical style contributed heavily to the Cavaliers’ 75-70 win over the Gators last November in Charlotte.

This year, the Gators shouldn’t be caught by surprise. In winning the ESPN Invitational last week at the Disney Complex at Lake Buena Vista, the Gators got a double dose of physical play from both Wake Forest and Wichita State. The Gators beat Wake Forest by 17, then came back the next day to hammer previously unbeaten Wichita State by 36.

In both games, the zebra crews swallowed their whistles, sometimes allowing the games to resemble something more akin to sumo wrestling. Golden believes the two games helped prep Florida not just for Virginia but the physicality of the Southeastern Conference schedule. In the win over Wichita State, the Gators got to the foul line only five times the entire game.

“I thought it was great for us to be able to play the way we did under those circumstances,” Golden said Tuesday. “Wake is a very physical team, obviously, really well coached and, again, a team that is trying to dictate tempo for 40 minutes.

“To their credit, we were able to get away from them a little bit at the beginning of the second half and for parts of the second half, but not until last four minutes were we really able to just kind of break away from them. We're gonna have to play through the physicality early. I thought it took us off our path early in that Wake game and then we kind of got recalibrated and got going. Obviously, being at home, we don't want to allow that to happen. If we are ready for it and if we meet their physicality and toughness, I think we'll be in good shape.”

While Wake Forest and Wichita did their best to get physical, the Gators didn’t shy away from the contact. Florida was every bit as tough while turning in the best two defensive efforts of the season, giving up 109 points.

Wake and Wichita struggled to get clean looks from the field but whether clean or contested, they threw up a bunch of SCUDs. The Gators dominated the misses, grabbing 110 rebounds for an advantage of 50 in the two games. Against Wichita, the Gators held a 56-30 rebounding advantage.

The Gators’ effort on the boards was a welcome sight for Golden, who lost his top rebounders from a year ago in Tyreese Samuel (graduated, playing in the G League) and Micah Handlogten (injured, taking a medical redshirt). Florida’s 4-man rotation of bigs has more than made up for the losses, led by 6-11 Alex Condon (6.9 rebounds per game), 6-10 Rueben Chinyelu (6.8), 6-9 Thomas Haugh (6-0) and 6-9 Sam Alexis (4.6). Florida’s guards get into the act, too, as Alijah Martin pulls down 5.9 rebounds and Will Richard grabs 5.6.

The Wichita State win was a breakout game for Chinyelu, who posted season highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with four assists and four blocked shots. He was a beast on the boards and an intimidating presence in the paint. Getting a consistent effort like that from Chinyelu will allow the Gators to continue to climb up the rankings as well as make them legitimate contenders for both the SEC championship and a deep run in the NCAA.

“He’s still young,” Golden said. “He looks like a grown man, but he’s a sophomore, and basketball is relatively new to him, but what our staff was so excited about in the Wichita game he looked like he got comfortable and started getting the ball to the rim quick, was dunking everything, protecting everything at the rim, grabbing every rebound, clean rebounds, like it just it gave us confidence. Like, alright, if he can continue to build off this you know we have a chance to take another jump.”

The Gators need the consistency on the backboards. They haven’t shot the ball well this year, but they’ve hit timely shots and when they’ve been off, the rebounding has provided the difference.

“I think for us to be the best we can be, rebounding at a high level has to be a part of our DNA, you know,” Golden said. “In the past last year it helped us win games we maybe shouldn’t. We weren’t super effective from the field to win, you know, our formula in terms of how we want to play ... getting misses back is important and not allowing second chances for opponents is really important ... our goal is to be plus-10 on the boards every game.”

Currently, the Gators are outrebounding opponents by nearly 11 per game (44.6-33.8), which ranks 10th nationally. The Gators rank 9th nationally in offensive rebounding at 15.38 per game.

Virginia brings plenty of size to the game as well as the muscle, so Golden knows the Gators will have to win the battle of the boards.

“Going to be a big challenge to do that against Virginia,” Golden said. “I think they’re a solid defensive rebounding team. They’re not a team that puts a lot of pressure on the offensive glass ... I think they really focus on loading up and getting back in transition and making you operate against halfcourt defense, but, you know, being able to create second chances and more opportunities is just really important to be the best team we can be.”  

Anticipated starting lineups

FLORIDA (8-0): Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SR)

Virginia (5-2): Elijah Saunders (6-8, 240, JR); Blake Buchanan (6-11, 227, SO); Andrew Rohde (6-8, 200 JR); Isaac McNeely (6-4, 195, JR); Dai Dai Ames (6-8, 240, JR)

SEC Basketball

Tuesday SEC-ACC Challenge scores (SEC teams bold face)

SEC 9, ACC 1

No. 3 Tennessee (8-0) 96, Syracuse (4-3) 70

Clemson (8-1) 70, No. 4 Kentucky (7-1) 66

No. 21 Oklahoma (8-0) 76, Georgia Tech (4-4) 61

No. 22 Texas A&M (7-2) 57, Wake Forest (7-3) 44

No. 23 Ole Miss (7-1) 86, Louisville (5-3) 63

Georgia (8-1) 69, Notre Dame (4-5) 48

Missouri (7-1) 98, California (6-2) 93

LSU (7-1) 85, Florida State (7-2) 75