Gators redeem themselves with blowout of Texas, 84-62

Rueben Chinyelu (9) scores over Kadin Shedrick (UAA Photo)

There was a rather redemptive quality to No. 5 Florida’s 84-60 blowout win over Texas (12-6, 1-4 SEC) at the sold-out O-Dome Saturday afternoon. Sure, it was only the fifth of an 18-game Southeastern Conference slate, but after the way the Gators (16-2, 3-2 SEC) were outplayed in their Tuesday loss to Missouri, this was a game Florida not only had to win, but needed to win in dominant fashion.

“We just cannot allow it to happen where a team comes in here and plays harder than us, and to the credit of our players and our staff, I thought we played incredibly hard,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.

Missouri played harder than the Gators and for the first time all season, Golden lamented that another team had won the battle of physicality. Four days later, Florida played like a team on a mission to prove the Missouri game was a fluke.

The Florida team that blew the doors off Texas bore slim resemblance to the team that spent the entire Missouri game in a catch-up mode. Although the Gators had a solid game at the offensive end, it was their defense and rebounding that were the dominating forces against the Longhorns.

Texas, which lives and dies at the 3-point line, died. The Gators consistently ran the Longhorns off the 3-point line. They took only 16 threes, made four and struggled to get clean looks at the basket. That’s fewer 3-pointers as a team that Missouri’s Caleb Grill made (6) all by himself. Jordan Pope, who came into the game averaging 13.3 points and hitting 39.3 percent of his 3-pointers, was held to two points, both free throws. He was 0-7 overall and 0-3 from the 3-point line. Leading scorer Tre Johnson, a likely first rounder when the NBA drafts in the summer, went 1-5 from the 3-point line. He’s normally a 41.1 percent 3-point shooter.

One result of active hands in the passing lanes was Texas consistently forced to take bad shots deep into the shot clock. The Longhorns couldn’t get open shots whether in front of or behind the 3-point line. Texas made 16-39 from 2-point range, 36.4 percent overall. Florida forced 14 turnovers which were converted into 12 points.

The Gators struggled to score in the paint against Missouri, but they owned the inside game against Texas. The Gators outscored the Longhorns by 24 in the paint and won the rebounding battle by eight.

“We knew they had some shooters, elite shot makers and stuff like that so we just wanted to limit that and that’s what we did today,” Alijah Martin said. “We we came out and we limited them to tough shots and it worked out.”

Martin and Denzel Aberdeen drew the defensive assignment on Pope. Will Richard, who had three of Florida’s 10 steals, took on Johnson, the SEC’s leading scorer, who scored 16 points, but only five in the second half.

The Gators outscored Texas 44-20 in the paint, their eighth game this season in which they’ve scored 40 or more inside. Florida grabbed 41 rebounds including 13 on the offensive end. Alex Condon, who was scoreless in the first half, posted his third double-double in the last four games with 11 points and 12 rebounds. He finished the game with three assists, four steals and a blocked shot. Condon knocked down a 3-pointer in the second half with 11:56 to go, scoring after a behind-the-back pass from Aberdeen at the top of the key.

“Our goal is generally to be plus-10 on the glass,” Golden said. “We were plus-eight. We can live with that in a game like this. You know, that's a really good job against an athletic front court. But again, like, we are a team, you know, for us to be an elite team, we have to win in the margins as well, and we did that tonight. We took care of the ball, only eight turnovers. Won the rebounding battle by eight. And you know, we track kills as a team in games, kills equate to three stops in a row. We had eight of them tonight, so all three of those areas, we achieved our standard.”

The first few minutes of the game made it seem like the Gators were still hung over from the Missouri game. The Gators started the game 1-10 from the field, falling behind 12-6 in the first six minutes. The Gators trailed 18-13 when things began to click at both ends of the court. Following a pair of free throws by Martin, Condon blocked an attempted dunk by Ze’rik Onyema. Richard emerged from a pack with the ball and whipped it forward to Martin who finished at the other end to cut the Texas lead to 18-17 with 11:26 left in the half.

That play seemed to spark one of those Florida scoring frenzies that Golden calls spurtability. Over the next 3:33 the Gators outscored the Longhorns 11-0. Florida finished the first half on a 24-12 run for a 37-30 lead at the intermission.

The Gators never lost control of the game in the second half although it wasn’t until the final 8:24 when they put the Longhorns out of their misery. The Gators held a 61-54 lead when Walter Clayton nailed a 3-pointer that sparked another Florida scoring frenzy. Martin scored 10 points and Condon added six as the Gators closed out on a 23-6 run.

“They got us early in the first half, and then we were able to sustain it and then get a lead going into halftime,” Golden said. “Really happy with the way we came out of halftime. We won that first mini game, mini game being the first four minutes of the half.”

Martin finished with a game-high 22 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and a steal. Clayton scored 19 to go with four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Richard had nine points, five rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and three steals. Off the bench, Aberdeen had five points, two rebounds and two assists.

Martin made 3-7 from the 3-point line, but the bulk of his points came off drives to the rack.

“He's a great finisher through contact,” Golden said. “I think he had two or three and-one's today that were really tough shots that he was able to kind of get his body back in position and finish. And listen, he, Walt, Will, they're all confident guys. And if they see something they like, you gotta let them play and let them make those decisions and live with it. It's a lot better than having guys that you feel like you have to coach and put in certain specific spots for them to always be successful. And Mart is a winner, man. He's a winner. I thought he competed really well, 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, only one turnover. That's a heck of a line right there. And he's been a huge, huge plus for us all year."

The Gators will return to action Wednesday night in Columbia when they face South Carolina (10-8, 0-5 SEC), an 82-62 loser to Oklahoma Saturday.

Game notes: Clayton hit a 3-pointer for the 41st straight game, which ties  Michael Frazier II for the school record ... After Florida’s 1-10 start from the field, the Gators hit 32-57 shots from the field ... The Gators went 8-20 from the 3-point line ... The Gators limited their turnovers to eight ... The Gators moved up to No. 5 in the kenpom.com analytics. The top five are 1. Duke; 2. Auburn; 3. Houston; 4. Iowa State and 5. Florida.

ESPN basketball analyst Tom Crean, the former head coach at Marquette, Indiana and Georgia was at the game. Impressed with the Gators, Crean explained, "What they really have is eight starters (Clayton, Martin, Richard, Condon, Chinyelu, Aberdeen, Thomas Haugh, Sam Alexis) who every one would start or else be the sixth man for nearly every team in the SEC. This is a well put together team, a very dangerous team that can beat anybody."

SEC BASKETBALL

Saturday’s scores

No. 5 FLORIDA (16-2, 3-2 SEC) 84, Texas (12-6, 1-4 SEC) 60

No. 1 Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC) 70, No. 23 Georgia (14-4, 2-3 SEC) 68

No. 4 Alabama (15-3, 4-1 SEC) 102, No. 8 Kentucky (14-4, 3-2 SEC) 97

Vanderbilt (15-3, 3-2 SEC) 76, No. 6 Tennessee (16-2, 3-2 SEC) 75

No. 11 Texas A&M (14-4, 3-2 SEC) 68, LSU (12-6, 1-4 SEC) 57

No. 15 Mississippi State (15-3, 3-2 SEC) 84, No. 21 Ole Miss (15-3, 4-1 SEC) 81, OT

Missouri (15-3, 4-1 SEC) 83, Arkansas (11-7, 0-5 SEC) 65

Oklahoma (14-4, 1-4 SEC) 82, South Carolina (10-8, 0-5 SEC) 62

Tuesday’s games

Vanderbilt (15-3, 3-2 SEC) at No. 4 Alabama (15-3, 4-1 SEC)

No. 15 Mississippi State (15-3, 3-2 SEC) at No. 6 Tennessee (16-2, 3-2 SEC)

Missouri (15-3, 4-1 SEC) at Texas (12-6, 1-4 SEC)

Wednesday’s games

No. 5 FLORIDA (16-2, 3-2 SEC) at South Carolina (10-8, 0-5 SEC)

No. 11 Texas A&M (14-4, 3-2 SEC) at No. 21 Ole Miss (15-3, 4-1 SEC)

No. 23 Georgia (14-4, 2-3 SEC) at Arkansas (11-7, 0-5 SEC)