Gators leave Wichita State gasping for air, 88-51, improve to 8-0

Rueben Chinyelu (9) gets ready to make a move to the basket against Wichita State (UAA Photo by Maddie Washburn)

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- The defensive numbers at the Mouse House speak volumes about how far 18th-ranked Florida has come in eight November games. In two games against quality opponents Wake Forest and Wichita State at the Disney complex, the Florida Gators allowed 109 points, held the two teams to 34.7 percent overall (40-115) from the field and 26.5 percent (13-49 from the 3-point line. The Gators pounded the backboards for a 110-60 advantage.

“Just looking back at opening night, I feel like we've gotten a lot better since then,” Florida coach Todd Golden said Friday evening after the Gators had left Wichita State gasping for air, 88-51, to win the 2-day ESPN Invitational. “Just more complete ... more consistent, and again, going back to the defensive side of the ball, held Wake to 58 last night, held a really good Wichita team to 51 today. I'm saying the same thing again. If we can continue to do that on the defensive end, we're going to be tough.”

At 8-0 right out of the gate, Florida’s best start since the 2009-10 season, the Gators are winning games by an average of 22 points. They have the firepower to put up points with astonishing ease, but the emphasis in practice has been on the defensive end, which showed up in a big way at the ESPN tournament.

One day after relentless pressure resulted in a 17-point win over Wake Forest, the Gators amped things up considerably to melt down Wichita State (6-1), handing the Shockers their first loss of the season. The Gators scored 88 points despite getting to the foul line only five times (made four). The final outcome was only as close as it was (37 points) because Golden emptied the bench. Wichita closed out the game on an 11-0 run in the last 1:29 against three Florida freshmen and two walk-ons.

For the first 14 minutes, Wichita State hung with the Gators, but the combination of defensive intensity and everything heating up on the offensive end left the Shockers gasping for air at the intermission. Starting with a tip-in by Alex Condon with 5:55 to go before halftime, the Gators went on a 16-0 frenzy anchored by 6-10, 255-pound Rueben Chinyelu, whose first half stat line was eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and three blocked shots.

With Chinyelu providing an intimidating presence in the paint, the Gators applied more pressure on the perimeter than Wichita State could handle.

“I thought he had his best game as a Gator,” Golden said. “And when he provides that backbone of the defense at the rim, I think they were 2-for-20 from 2-point field goal range in the first half, and he was a big part of that.”

Chinyelu’s final numbers were 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. When Chinyelu plays at that level, the Gators are going to be one of the more difficult matchups in the country.

If he’s able to play that way consistently the Gators could easily exceed last year’s 24 wins.

“He just played awesome in all facets,” Golden said. “He rebounded, he protected the rim, finished with great efficiency. I think he had four assists. He was just fantastic. He was +26 in 20 minutes, 7-for-9 from the field. He just was great across the board.

“And, again, the way he played, along with these other guys playing well, made us really, really tough today. Yeah, he played with great energy. He was really physical. His hands were really good today. He was grabbing every rebound, catching every drop-off, punching every dunk. He just looked like an awesome, awesome player today, and a lot like he showed in the summer, a lot like he showed in camp. And we knew it was going to take time for this team to come together and gel, but I feel like the way he stepped up over the last two games provided another level for us.”

As well as the Gators played in the first half, the challenge was to come out with the same level of intensity and energy after halftime. In the first four minutes after the break, the Gators were like sharks on a feeding frenzy.  

“We go on these runs, and we were saying in the locker room at halftime, ‘We smell blood,’ and then it was just full steam ahead,” Condon said. “We came out in the second half, as well. Coach emphasized to us not to take the foot off the gas.”

Smelling blood manifest itself on the court in the first four minutes with 3-pointers by Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Condon plus an emphatic dunk by Chinyelu to finish a fast break. It was 48-18 before Wichita State could put its first points on the scoreboard in the second half.

Between Wichita State’s final first half points and first points of the second half, 11:05 elapsed, during which Florida had one of the most -- if not the most -- impressive runs of the past three seasons under Golden.

“A 27-0 run is impressive, obviously,” Golden said. “I think we were up three (21-18) with six minutes to go in the first half. You look up there, about four minutes into the second half, we're up 30 (48-18).”

Wichita State came into the game averaging 80.8 points and 39.2 rebounds. Defensively, the Shockers were allowing just 70.2 per game.

The Gators held Wichita State to 17-57 shooting overall (29.8 percent) and only 5-22 (22.7 percent) from the 3-point line. The Gators outrebounded the Shockers, 56-30, blocking eight shots and coming away with six steals. The Gators finished 35-78 (42 percent) overall from the field and 14-33 (42.4 percent) from the 3-point line while handing out 20 assists. Twenty of Florida’s 56 rebounds were on the offensive end, a season high.

On consecutive days, the Gators played their best basketball of the season and it all started at the defensive end while holding Wake Forest and Wichita State to their lowest scoring totals of the season.

“I felt like we made a jump as a team over the past couple days,” Golden said. “Obviously on the defensive side of the ball, we’ve shown the ability to guard. If we can continue to grow on that side of the ball and maintain our efficiency on the offensive end, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

Game notes: Clayton was named tournament MVP. He was joined by Condon on the all-tournament team. Clayton led the Gators against Wichita State with 19 points that included 5-9 from the 3-point line as well as three rebounds, two assists, three blocked shots and a steal. Clayton has hit at least one 3-pointer in 31 consecutive games, the fifth longest streak in UF history. Michael Frazier III holds the school record at 41 straight games wtih a 3-ball ... Condon, who went 3-3 from the 3-point line, had 17 points, nine rebounds and two assists ... Although they didn’t have big scoring games, Richard and Alijah Martin were big contributors. Richard had five points, seven rebounds, five assists, one blocked shot and one steal. Martin had five points, five rebounds and assist and a steal ... Next up for the Gators is Virginia (5-2) Wednesday night in the SEC-ACC Challenge at the O-Dome.  

SEC Basketball

Friday’s games

No. 18 FLORIDA (8-0) 88, Wichita State (6-1) 51

No. 8 Kentucky (7-0) 105, Georgia State (4-4) 76

No. 13 Purdue (7-1) 80, No. 23 Ole Miss (6-1) 78

Butler (6-1) 87, No. 25 Mississippi State (6-1) 77

Oklahoma (7-0) 69, Louisville (5-2) 64

Vanderbilt (7-1) 87, Tennessee Tech (4-4) 56

Texas (6-1) 90, Delaware State (3-5) 68

LSU (6-1) 77, Northwestern State (3-5) 53

Today’s games

No. 9 Alabama (6-1) vs. Oregon (7-0) at Las Vegas

No. 20 Texas A&M (5-2) vs. Rutgers (5-2) at Las Vegas

Jacksonville (4-3) at Georgia (6-1)