Gators take out Dartmouth; next step the grind of 18 SEC games

Alex Condon scores 2 of his 17 points (UAA Photo)

The undercard is finished. Now time for the main event.

Monday night at the O-Dome, the 22^nd-ranked Florida Gators (9-4) toyed with Dartmouth, showing flashes of what they could be once the Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule begins. Florida’s 94-72 win over the Big Green was hardly a masterpiece, but Todd Golden saw enough to believe the Gators are ready to take on the SEC.

“Yeah, I think we’re ready,” Golden said about conference play, which begins Saturday night at Missouri (10-3). “I think we’ve been getting better, and I think, for a large part of this game tonight we played really well, so I think we’re trending in the right direction.”

Dartmouth was a nothing left to prove game as the Gators ended the non-conference schedule. The first half in which the Gators nearly doubled up the Big Green, 53-27, was indicative of how the Gators will need to play starting Saturday night. The Gators defended, they rebounded and they moved the basketball.

The Gators set the tone for the first half on the first possession when they forced Dartmouth into a shot clock violation. It only got worse from there. More than four minutes elapsed before Brandon Mitchell-Day got behind the UF defense for Dartmouth’s first made shot from the field. By that time the Gators had already put 12 on the scoreboard.

In that first four minute stretch against a focused and very active Florida defense, Dartmouth managed to squeeze off three shots while turning the ball over four times and committing three fouls, one of which was a flagrant that reversed a bad call by zebra Anthony Eades. Eades called a foul on Urban Klavzar right in front of the Florida bench with 18:02 left in the half. Golden challenged the call and upon review, the video showed clear evidence that Dartmouth’s Jayden Williams had clipped Klavzar across the chin with his elbow with enough force to knock Klavzar to the floor. Klavzar hit the ensuing free throws.

It was that kind of game. Dartmouth didn’t have the size or strength to compete with the Gators so the Big Green resorted to trying to mug whoever had the ball in an effort to slow the game down and keep it competitive. About the only thing the Big Green achieved was to make the game about 30 minutes longer than it should have been. Dartmouth committed 25 fouls, sending the Gators to the line for 38 free throws.

While the second half got a bit sloppy and often lackadaisical for the Gators, particularly on the defensive end, Florida played a good portion of the first half like a team on a search and destroy mission. Defensively, they held Dartmouth to 9-30 shooting overall and only 12 3-point attempts. The Gators cleaned up everything on the backboards at both ends of the court. Florida had a 37-9 rebounding margin in the first half that included 15 on the offensive end that were converted into 13 second chance points.

The Gators, who lead the nation in rebounding, finished the game with a 60-24 advantage overall and a 25-3 offensive rebounding advantage.

The second half was a different story. Golden went to his bench early and often which contributed somewhat to the inconsistent play that allowed Dartmouth to outscore UF 45-41. The Big Green hit 8-15 of their 3-pointers and that was an irritant for Golden.

“I don’t think we defended with enough attention in the second half,” Golden said. “I don’t think we played with enough pace and enough physicality, and you know, that’s kind of the next step that we keep talking about … we’ve got to play a full 40, you know, and that means winning this game by 50. That’s what it means but we didn’t do that tonight.”

One thing Golden knows he has to find quickly is an eighth man in his rotation. He wants four bigs and four on the perimeter. The four bigs – Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu, Tommy Haugh and Micah Handlogten – are the strength of the team. The starting backcourt of Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland continues to improve and Klavzar can go into shooter’s comas when he comes off the bench. It is that third man on the perimeter that is the mystery.

“We’re looking for him, absolutely,” Golden said when asked if he has settled in on an eighth man.  

Alex Kovatchev got the first shot at the eighth man in the rotation against Dartmouth, but he was largely ineffective. Kovatchev was hesitant to shoot and finished 0-3 from the field. He turned the ball over once along with a blocked shot and a steal in 10 minutes on the floor. Isaiah Brown got the next shot and looked at ease in the role with six points, a couple of rebounds and an assist in eight minutes.

Freshmen CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd got into the game and both of them could work their way into the rotation Golden desires. Ingram scored two points, grabbed a rebound and had an assist in seven minutes off the bench. Lloyd hit a three among his five points. He also grabbed two rebounds.

Perhaps the missing piece to the puzzle is Isaiah Brown’s older brother, AJ, an Ohio University transfer that is being redshirted. However, Florida’s inconsistent 3-point shooting – the Gators were only 5-18 against Dartmouth and they are a miserable 27.8 percent for the season – may necessitate burning the redshirt. AJ averaged 13.2 per game at Ohio U last season, hitting 38.8 percent of his threes. Klavzar currently leads the Gators at 36 percent after hitting 2-4 against Dartmouth.

Against Dartmouth, Golden got a combined 48 points, 41 rebounds, four assists and fi e blocked shots from Condon (17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists), Chinyelu (13 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks), Haugh (9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block) and Handlogten (8 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks).

The backcourt numbers for Lee, Fland and Klavzar were impressive. Lee scored 12 to go with four rebounds, two assists and a steal with zero turnovers. Fland scored 10, grabbed two rebounds, passed the ball for five assists and contributed three steals on the defensive end. Klavzar had 12 points and five rebounds.

“I think we’re trending the right way,” Golden said about his backcourt threesome. “Xaivian, as we've talked a lot about, struggled earlier, but he's been playing really, really well. Thought he played well offensively again tonight, 12 points in 21 minutes, two assists. Does a great job taking care of the ball. I thought Boog is getting more comfortable, getting to the rim, driving off those duck-ins, initiating the offense. You know, he's playing better as well, and I think it's going to continue to be a work in progress for us that way. But where we were early to where we are now, you know, those guys are doing a much better job."

The work in progress will take a step up in competition starting Saturday. From here on out it is an 18-game grind. The Gators have what it takes to win the SEC, but they’ve got to start playing consistently for a full 40 minutes.

This team has what it takes to go deep into March if they can start making a few shots and playing intense defense for a full 40 minutes.

SEC BASKETBALL

Monday’s scores

No. 11 Vanderbilt (13-0) 96, New Haven (5-8) 53: Tyler Tanner led Vandy with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. The Commodores hit 11-24 of their 3-point shots.

No. 14 Alabama (10-3) 102, Yale (11-2) 78: Alabama launched 54 3-pointers against Yale, hitting 22. The Crimson Tide was led by Aden Holloway who had 26 points, 7 assists and 1 steal.

No. 18 Arkansas (10-3) 103, James Madison (7-7) 74: Freshman Meleek Thomas was 6-10 from the 3-point line as he led Arkansas with 28 points. Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. chipped in with 17.

No. 23 Georgia (12-1) 89, Long Island (6-7) 74: After trailing LIU by three at the half, Georgia went on a 48-30 second half tear. Marcus Millender led Georgia with 14 points.

LSU (12-1) 90, Southern Miss (7-7) 62: Pablo Tamba ripped down 15 rebounds and Marquel Sutton grabbed 11 for LSU which got 22 points and 12 assists from Dedan Thomas Jr.

Oklahoma (10-3) 93, Mississippi Valley State (1-13) 69: Kuol Atak scored 24 points and Xzayvier Brown scored 22 for Oklahoma, which hit 14-32 from the 3-point line.

Texas A&M (10-3) 111, Prairie View A&M (5-8) 82: Five Aggies scored in double figures led by Rashaun Agee, who recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Auburn (9-4) 106, Queens University (5-8) 65: Elyjah Freeman scored 27 points and Kevin Overton 23 to lead Auburn, which made 15-28 from the 3-point line.

Mississippi State (8-5) 94, Alabama State (3-10) 56: Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State with 22 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Ole Miss (8-5) 79, Alcorn State (1-11) 43: James Scott (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Malik Dia (12 points, 11 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for Ole Miss.

Tuesday’s games

South Carolina State (1-13) at No. 19 Tennessee (9-3)

Albany (4-10) at South Carolina (8-4)

Saturday’s games

No. 22 FLORIDA (9-4) at Missouri (10-3)

No. 11 Vanderbilt (13-0) at South Carolina (8-4)

Kentucky (9-4) at No. 14 Alabama (10-3)

No. 19 Tennessee (9-3) at No. 18 Arkansas (10-3)

LSU (12-1) at Texas A&M (10-3)

Ole Miss (8-5) at Oklahoma (10-3)

Mississippi State (8-5) at Texas (9-4)