Gators get it going at both ends to blow out Arizona State, 83-66

Sam Alexis hammers down a dunk against Arizona State (UAA Photo by Maddie Washburn)

Saturday in Atlanta was all about defense for the Florida Gators. At one end of the court, the Arizona State Sun Devils had no defensive answers for the Gators, who almost casually hung 83 points on the scoreboard, leaving you with the feeling they could have lit it up for another 20 or 30 if a greater sense of urgency had prevailed. When the Gators went on defense they were like a boxer with a lethal jab and an opponent with wobbly knees up against the ropes.

“We’ve got a very good offensive scheme and most teams are not going to be able to hang with us offensively, so if we get stops then we’re just untouchable,” Alijah Martin said after the 9th-ranked Gators beat a very good Arizona State team into submission, 83-66, to go 10-0 to start the season for only the third time in school history.

The Gators were all but untouchable as they won their 10th consecutive game by at least 13 points. It was typical Florida fashion. The Gators had these offensive bursts -- 19-4 in the first half; 21-5 in the second -- that Todd Golden calls “spurtability.”

When the Gators get in a zone, the points come in a hurry and so often from different sources. The first half spurt began with four straight 3-pointers, two of them by Will Richard, one each by Walter Clayton Jr. and Martin.

The Gators trailed 8-6 when Martin nailed a 3-pointer with 16:16 left in the first half, taking the lead for good. An offensive rebound by Clayton led to a 3-pointer by Richard, who finished off a fast break after a blocked shot by Clayton with another three that made it a 15-8 game with 15:13 left. Nine points, three rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot, all in a span of 1:03. Clayton hit the fourth straight Florida three with 14:29 to go to give the Gators a 10-point lead.

Martin, who began the run with a three, closed it with one at the 10:40 mark that gave the Gators a 25-12 lead. They went on to lead 41-32 at the half.

Arizona State closed within eight two minutes into the second half, but Clayton drilled a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to put Florida ahead, 46-35 with 17:50 left in the game. That was as close as Arizona State got the rest of the way.

It was 52-40 when the Gators went beast mode and put the Sun Devils out of their misery. Richard got it started with a short jumper with 15:39 to go and he ended it with a hammer of a jam with 8:31 left that gave the Gators a 73-47 lead.

During the run, the Gators knocked down nine of 13 shots.

“We all put a lot of work in, get a lot of reps in shooting, so when we see those opportunities we’ve got to take them, and they were going in so it was definitely good to get on a run like that,” Richard said.  

Sandwiched in between, the big guys made their presence known. During one segment of the 21-5 run, Sam Alexis had two thunder dunks, Thomas Haugh finished off a fast break with a layup and threw in a nice baby hook, and Rueben Chinyelu nearly broke the rim in half with his dunk. Those were sandwiched between 3-balls by Clayton and Martin on the front side, Clayton on the back.

Through it all, the defense smothered the Sun Devils, who came into the game averaging 80 a game, 47.1 percent overall from the field and 39.5 percent from the 3-point line. They didn’t come close to matching those numbers against the Gators.

Arizona State hit only 37.1 percent of its shots and just 28 percent on 3-balls. When the Sun Devils missed a shot, chances are Gators were there to clean things up. Florida outrebounded Arizona State  47-27 overall and 12-6 on the offensive boards.

“I thought in second half we did a really good job of letting our defense lead us to transition,” Golden said. “We were able to get out on some spurts – getting some steals, getting some run-outs, getting some dunks.”

From a scoring standpoint, Florida’s perimeter guys completely dominated the game. Walter Clayton Jr. lit up the Sun Devils for 25 points, his fourth game of the season in which he’s scored at least that many. He hit five threes, making the 33rd straight game with at least one and the third straight with five. Only one other Gator (Anthony Roberson) has had three straight with five 3-pointers. But, as a statement of how his overall game has evolved, Clayton also had three rebounds, three assists (only one turnover), one blocked shot and three steals.

Richard had 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and two steals. Martin had his usual stat-stuffer game -- 15 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a steal. The rebounds and assists were game-highs.

The big guys did their part. Chinyelu had six points, eight rebounds and a blocked shot. Alexis had eight points, one rebound, one assist and one steal. Alex Condon had five points, eight rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot. Haugh had six points, four rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot.  

“I thought our depth showed up really well tonight,” Golden said. “Sam [Alexis], Tommy [Haugh], Zel [Denzel Aberdeen] coming off the bench provided great minutes. I just think our depth wore them down a little bit. But I’m really proud of the way our players played and another really good win for us.”

Game notes: This was Florida’s third game this season in which the Gators have outrebounded an opponent (Grambling and Wichita State were the other two) by at least 20 ... The Gators went 10-30 from the 3-point line. It was the sixth time in the last seven games that the Gators have hit at least 10 threes ... Next up for the Gators is North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN)

SEC BASKETBALL

Saturday’s scores (SEC teams bold face)

No. 9 FLORIDA (10-0) 83, Arizona State (8-2) 66

No. 1 Tennessee (10-0) 66, Illinois (7-3) 64

No. 2 Auburn (9-1) 91, Ohio State (6-4) 53

No. 5 Kentucky (10-1) 93, Louisville (6-5) 85

No. 7 Alabama (8-2) 83, Creighton (7-4) 75

No. 13 Oklahoma (10-0) 80, Oklahoma State (6-3) 65

No. 17 Texas A&M (9-2) 70, No. 11 Purdue (8-3) 66

No. 19 Ole Miss (9-1) 77, Southern Miss (4-6) 46

Missouri (9-1) 88, Long Island (4-9) 61

Georgia (9-1) 73, Grand Canyon (6-3) 68

Arkansas (9-2) (9-2) 82, Central Arkansas (2-8) 57

SMU (9-2) 74, LSU (8-2) 64

South Carolina (7-3) 73, South Carolina Upstate (4-9) 53

Today’s game

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-9) at Texas (8-2)

Tuesday’s games

North Carolina (6-4) vs. No. 9 FLORIDA (10-0) in Charlotte

Western Carolina (3-6) at No. 1 Tennessee (10-0)

Georgia State (4-6) at No. 2 Auburn (9-1)

No. 16 Clemson (9-2) at South Carolina (7-3)

Southern (5-4) at No. 19 Ole Miss (9-1)

Central Michigan (5-4) at No. 25 Mississippi State (9-1)

Jacksonville State (6-4) at Missouri (9-1)

Stetson (1-9) at LSU (8-2)

Wednesday’s games

The Citadel (5-4) at Vanderbilt (9-1)

No. 7 Alabama (8-2) at North Dakota (4-7)

No. 13 Oklahoma (10-0) vs. No. 14 Michigan (8-2) in Charlotte

Thursday’s games

Buffalo (5-5) at Georgia (9-1)

New Orleans (2-6) at Texas (8-2)

Friday’s game

Houston Christian (3-7) at No. 17 Texas A&M (9-2)