Golden Got 40 Minutes of Intensity in the Blowout of Grambling

Even before the opening tap of Florida’s game with Grambling at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Friday afternoon, the outcome was never in doubt. It wasn’t a case of Florida winning, it was by how much. The Gators are very good and getting better. It’s not even January and the season can’t end soon enough for Grambling.

Denzel Aberdeen Thunder Dunk Floridagators.com

That the game turned into a 39-point blowout win for the Gators was almost irrelevant. That Todd Golden wanted to see from the Gators was a sustained, maximum effort that lasted from opening tip until the final horn. He got what he was looking for.

“The concern in a game like this is that you just don’t attack the game the right way and you don’t honor the game in the way you compete, and you feel like you’re just going to get through it,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after the Gators (9-3) won their fifth straight game, 96-57, over a clearly outmatched Grambling (2-10) team that has yet to win a game against a Division I opponent. “I didn’t feel that at all tonight. From the jump, I thought we were competing really well.”

The Gators have had this habit of playing very well against the better competition but giving ho-hum efforts against lesser talented teams. Back in November against Loyola (MD) and Florida A&M and as recently as an early December win over Merrimack, the Gators played down to the competition. Those three wins were the no doubt about it types, each of them won by at least 20 points, but each one left the impression the Gators could have and should have played better.

The Gators were in a take no prisoners mode against Grambling. The intensity was evident at both ends of the floor and with the exception of a 9-0 run over a two-minute stretch in the first half when Grambling cut Florida’s lead to 21-17, the Gators dominated the game. That run had nothing to do with effort on Florida’s part. It was simply a matter of the Gators missing some shots and Grambling making a few.

Grambling’s moments of bliss came to a crashing end when Will Richard connected on a 3-pointer with 8:15 to go in the half, ending the 9-0 mini-run. That shot jump-started the Gators who outscored Grambling 20-6 the rest of the half for a 44-27 lead at the break. The Gators hit 17-27 overall from the field (63 percent) in the first half including 6-11 from the 3-point line (54.5 percent) for one of the best shooting halves of the season.

The final 20 minutes was an extension of the last 8:15 of the first half. The ball moved unselfishly, the Gators hit shots, played solidly at the defensive end and gave Golden an opportunity to play his bench extensively. Playing without Riley Kugel, who sat with a bruised foot, Golden played his entire bench 14 players in all seeing action. Seven Gators logged 20 or more minutes, two more were in for more than 15.

As well as Florida’s starters played, the play from the bench was impressive. Florida’s reserves contributed 34 points on 15-26 shooting, grabbed 16 rebounds and delivered  16 assists, two blocked shots and a steal. Included in the 34 bench points were two from former manager turned walk-on Bennett Andersen, whose layup with 10 seconds left on a nifty pass from freshman Kajus Kublickas set off a celebration on the UF bench.

“It was amazing,” Denzel Aberdeen said of Andersen’s layup. Aberdeen came off the bench to score 11 points and hand out five assists. Two of his points came on a thunderous dunk with 3:08 to go on a drive from the wing that saw him elevate elbow above the rim for a hammer of a finish. “I’m happy for him. To see him from a manager last year to being a walk-on now is amazing to see. He worked his tail off for this position and he was able to score today.”

A grinning Andersen said, “I haven’t seen the video yet, but I know that when I do, I’m going to see them all going crazy on the bench. Having this really great group of dudes has made it super fun.”

As pleased as Golden was with the 16 assists from his bench, he was equally happy that the nine reserves were charged with only two turnovers. Aberdeen and Alex Condon each had five assists while Kublickas and Julian Rishwain each had three.

It was a nice afternoon for Golden’s three freshmen. Thomas Haugh had 13 points while Condon had five points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kublickas didn’t take a shot but he had two rebounds and three assists while directing the team flawlessly for nine minutes of floor time.

Golden wasn’t at all surprised that the reserves played so well.

"It’s what’s expected, to be honest, in terms of just playing the right way and playing for each other,” Golden said. “That group has been awesome in practice over the past couple weeks. Condo, Tommy, Denzel, Julian and Kajus play a lot together in practice on that second unit. There have been a lot of times that they carve up on [first] group. It gets frustrating at times, but then you look and realizing those guys are really good players also, but just a little younger and a little greener. But to a man, their best basketball is in front of them. They have a great feel for the game. Obviously, they were really efficient tonight. They moved the ball really well tonight. You saw that tonight."

When the reserves came in the game, there was no dip in the intensity. The Gators were determined to start the game with intensity and maintain it the entire game.

“We played all 40 minutes and I feel like that was the thing that mattered the most,” Tyrese Samuel said. Samuel finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season and third in the last four games. “We played all 40 minutes and we're in good spirits going home for Christmas and come back with positive vibes."

The Gators will regroup after Christmas for a few days of practice before the final non-conference game of the season against Quinnipiac December 30. A win against Quinnipiac would give the Gators 10 prior to January 1 for the first time since the Elite Eight season of 2016-17. Southeastern Conference begins January 6 at the O-Dome against Kentucky.

“You know, obviously we played well tonight, but Riley was out, and he’s gonna be a big part of our group as we get into conference play,” Golden said. “What I talked to the guys about was hey, I think in our locker room we know we have a lot of room to improve in different areas, whether it be offensively or defensively, and that should be exciting that we’re able to be 9-3 right now. Obviously, Quinnipiac [when] we get back, going into conference play – knock on wood – with a pretty good resume, but I do believe our best basketball is still in front of us with this group. That’s kind of the carrot that we’re dangling and the hope is that we can reach that high level as we get into SEC play.”

Game notes: Five Gators scored in double figures, led by Will Richard whose 17 point effort included 5-9 from the 3-point line. Samuel followed with 15 while Zyon Pullin had 14 points, five rebounds, six assists and a steal. Haugh had 13, which is a career high, and Aberdeen had 11. Micah Handlogten had eight points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.

The Gators shot 62.3 percent overall from the field (38-61) and 52.4 percent (11-21) from the 3-point line. As a team, the Gators had 27 assists on 38 made baskets with only 10 turnovers with just three in the second half. The Gators outrebounded Grambling 41-28, hit 9-10 from the foul line and outscored the Tigers 50-32 in the paint.

SEC basketball

Friday’s scores: FLORIDA (9-3) 96, Grambling (2-10) 57; No. 13 Illinois (9-2) 97, Missouri (7-5) 70; Auburn (9-2) 82, Alabama State (4-7) 62; Texas A&M (8-4) 79, Houston Christian (2-9) 52; South Carolina (11-1) 70, Elon (6-6) 43; Georgia (9-3) 78, North Florida (7-7) 60

Saturday’s games: No. 25 Ole Miss (11-0) at Southern Miss (6-5); Vanderbilt (4-7) at No. 23 Memphis (9-2); Mississippi State (9-2) at Rutgers (7-3); Eastern Kentucky (4-7) at Alabama (6-5)