Zyon Pullin is the Straw that Stirs the Gators' Drink

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

Zyon Pullin - Photo by Chris Spears

“I feel like we’ve got really good synergy out there on the floor and you know it starts with ZP, who generally is pretty good with the ball 6-to-1 today, six assists to one turnover,” Todd Golden said Saturday after the Gators had racked up their 19th win over the season, 77-64, over Vanderbilt, a game in which Zyon Pullin only scored two points, but made his presence known just the same. Florida was +25 when Pullin was directing the team from the point.

Reggie Jackson once described himself as “the straw that stirs the drink” when talking about the New York Yankees in the 1970s. The same could be said about Pullin’s value to Florida basketball. As well as Golden has recruited to bring in the transfers who have turned the 24th-ranked Gators into a legitimate threat to get to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the guy who truly makes it all work is Pullin and the analytics prove it. Bart Torvik rates Pullin the third best player in the Southeastern Conference and the No. 20 player overall in the entire country. For the season, Pullin averages 15 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.95 assists per game. He leads the SEC and ranks third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (119 assists, 29 turnovers, 4.1-to-1).

For the first time all season against Vandy, Pullin didn’t reach double figures, but he didn’t have to. He was too busy making the ball move (17 assists on 28 made shots). That’s exactly what the Gators needed to win this game handily and why they’re averaging 84.8 points per game. The Gators average 84.8 per game, eighth in the country and the first time they’ve scored more than 80 a game since the 2001-02 season. At his pace they will eclipse the school record 84.2 averaged by the 1986-87 team.

Golden has surrounded Pullin with some weapons like scoring machine Walter Clayton Jr. and four bigs who know how to go get the ball, but what makes the Gators capable of getting deep in the NCAA Tournament is Pullin. After the Vandy win, Golden said, “I'm just not sure how many point guards out there in America you’d rather have right now.” 

SEC Basketball

Tuesday’s games: No. 17 Kentucky (19-8, 9-5 SEC) at Mississippi State (19-8, 8-6 SEC); Georgia (15-12, 5-9 SEC) at LSU (14-13, 6-8 SEC); Vanderbilt (7-20, 2-12, SEC) at Arkansas (14-13, 5-9 SEC)

Wednesday’s games: Missouri (8-19, 0-14 SEC) at No. 24 FLORIDA (19-8, 9-5 SEC); No, 14 Auburn (21-6, 10-4 SEC) at No. 5 Tennessee (21-6, 11-3 SEC); NO. 13 Alabama (19-8, 11-3 SEC) at Ole Miss (19-8, 6-8 SEC); No. 20 South Carolina (22-5, 10-4 SEC) at Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8 SEC)

Associated Press top 25: 1. Houston 24-3; 2. Purdue 25-3; 3. UConn 25-3; 4. Tennessee 21-6; 5. Marquette 21-6; 6. Arizona 21-6; 7. Kansas 21-6; 8. Iowa State 21-6; 9. North Carolina 21-6; 10. Duke 21-6; 11. Auburn 21-6; 12. Creighton 20-8; 13. Illinois 20-7; 14. Alabama 19-8; 15. Baylor 19-8; 16. Kentucky 19-8; 17. Saint Mary’s 23-6; 18. South Carolina 22-5; 19. Washington State 21-7; 20. San Diego State 21-7; 21. Dayton 21-5; 22. Utah State 22-5; 23. Gonzaga 22-6; 24. FLORIDA 19-8; 25. South Florida 21-5

Coaches top 25: 1. Houston 24-3; 2. UConn 25-3; 3. Purdue 25-3; 4. Tennessee 21-6; 5. Marquette 21-6; 6. Iowa State 21-6; 7. Arizona 21-6; 8. North Carolina 21-6; 9. Kansas 21-6; 10. Duke 21-6; 11. Auburn 21-6; 12. Creighton 20-8; 13. Alabama 19-8; 14. Baylor 19-8; 15. Kentucky 19-8; 16. Illinois 20-7; 17. Saint Mary’s 23-6; 18. South Carolina 22-5; 19. San Diego State 21-7; 20. Dayton 21-5; 21. Washington State 21-7; 22. Gonzaga 22-6; 23. Utah State 22-5; 24. FLORIDA 19-8; 25. South Florida 21-5

UF BASEBALL: Gators remain No. 4

After a 5-0 week that included a 34-run scoring barrage in three games against Columbia, the Gators will travel to DeLand to face Stetson (4-3) tonight (6:30 p.m., ESPN+). The Gators will send freshman Luke McNellie (1-0, 0.00 ERA) to face the Hatters. The Gators will return home Wednesday to face Bethune-Cookman.

Peterson SEC Freshman of the Week: Liam Peterson, who pitched seven shutout innings and earned his first collegiate win last week, was selected SEC Freshman of the Week.

D1Baseball top 25: 1. Wake Forest 6-1; 2. Arkansas 5-2; 3. LSU 7-1; 4. FLORIDA 5-1; 5. TCU 7-0; 6. Oregon State 7-1; 7. Texas A&M 7-0; 8. Tennessee 7-1; 9. Vanderbilt 5-3; 10. Clemson 6-1; 11. East Carolina 5-2; 12. Duke 7-0; 13. Virginia 7-0; 14. North Carolina State 4-2; 15. Texas 6-1; 16. Alabama 8-0; 17. North Carolina 5-2; 18. Texas Tech 6-2; 19. South Carolina 7-1; 20. Indiana 6-1; 21. Campbell 6-1; 22. Coastal Carolina 5-2; 23. Auburn 6-1; 24. UC-Santa Barbara 3-3; 25. Dallas Baptist 7-0

Baseball America top 25: 1. Wake Forest 6-1; 2. LSU 7-1; 3. Arkansas 5-2; 4. Oregon State 7-1; 5. FLORIDA 5-1; 6. TCU 7-0; 7. Tennessee 7-1; 8. Virginia 7-0; 9. Vanderbilt 5-3; 10. Clemson 6-1; 11. Texas A&M 7-0; 12. South Carolina 7-1; 13. Duke 7-0; 14. Texas 6-1; 15. East Carolina 5-2; 16. Texas Tech 6-2; 17. North Carolina 5-2; 18. North Carolina State 4-2; 19. Auburn 6-1; 20. UC-Irvine 6-0; 21. Indiana 6-1; 22. Coastal Carolina 5-2; 23. Dallas Baptist 7-0; 24. Alabama 8-0; 25. Campbell 6-1

USA Today Coaches top 25: 1. Wake Forest 6-1; 2. LSU 7-1; 3. TCU 7-0; 4. FLORIDA 5-1; 5. Arkansas 5-2; 6. Oregon State 7-1; 7. Texas A&M 7-0; 8. Tennessee 7-1; 9. Virginia 7-0; 10. Duke 7-0; 11. Clemson 6-1; 12. East Carolina 5-2; 13. Texas 6-1; 14. Vanderbilt 5-3; 15. Alabama 8-0; 16. South Carolina 7-1; 17. North Carolina 5-2; 18. North Carolina State 4-2; 19. Texas Tech 6-2; 20. Coastal Carolina 5-2; 21. Indiana 6-1; 22. Auburn 6-1; 23. Campbell 6-1; 24. Dallas Baptist 7-0; 25. UC-Irvine 6-0

UF GYMNASTICS: Gators remain No. 5 nationally

Florida is the only team in the country that has improved its score every single week but even that and a season-high 198.150 in the win over LSU couldn’t move the Gators up in the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association poll. It’s based on season averages so in this poll, scores do matter, the bigger the better.

When the Gators take the floor Friday night against No. 6 Kentucky, it will be to clinch the Southeastern Conference title outright. The Gators (10-1, 5-1 SEC) are guaranteed at least a share of the title. Kentucky (7-3, 4-2 SEC) and LSU are tied for second place.

WCGA top 25: 1. Oklahoma; 2. LSU; 3. California; 4. Utah; 5. FLORIDA; 6. Kentucky; 7. Michigan; 8. Michigan State; 9. Alabama; 10. UCLA; 11. Denver; 12. Arkansas; 13. Missouri; 14. Auburn; 15. Ohio State; 16. Minnesota; 17. Oregon State; 18. Arizona State; 19. Arizona; 20. Georgia; 21. North Carolina State; 22. Penn State; 23. Illinois; 24. Stanford; 25. Ball State

UF LACROSSE: Gators move up to No. 11

Florida’s 13-12 overtime win over then 5th-ranked Maryland moved the Gators up to No. 11 in the weekly top 25 poll. Florida (1-2) hosts Jacksonville Wednesday afternoon at Donald Dizney Stadium before departing for a west coast road trip with games against Arizona State, UC-Davis and San Diego State.

For their efforts in the win over Maryland, Paisley Egan and Georgia Hoey were honored by the American Athletic Conference. Egan, the AAC Midfielder of the Week, scored four goals including the one that sent the game into overtime with 20.9 seconds to go. Hoey, who recorded seven saves, was named AAC Goalkeeper of the Week.

Inside Lacrosse/WCLA top 25: 1. Boston College 5-0; 2. James Madison 5-0; 3. Northwestern 3-1; 4. Syracuse 2-2; 5. Notre Dame 4-1; 6. Michigan 4-0; 7. North Carolina 4-1; 8. Loyola; 9. Maryland 3-1; 10. Denver 3-1; 11. FLORIDA 1-2; 12. Stony Brook 3-0; 13. Penn 2-0; 14. Virginia 4-1; 15. Johns Hopkins 3-2; 16. Southern California 3-1; 17. Navy 4-0; 18. Clemson 4-0; 19. Colorado 3-1; 20. Richmond 4-0; 21. Yale 3-0; 22. Rutgers 4-0; 23. Princeton 1-1; 24. Brown 3-0; 25. Penn State 2-2

UF SOFTBALL: Ava Brown SEC Freshman of the Week

Ava Brown got it done in the circle and at the plate last week as the Gators (15-2) won seven of eight. Brown pitched 11 scoreless innings while improving her record to 6-0 with a microscopic 0.22 ERA. At the plate, she went 6-14 with seven RBI. Brown is hitting .344 with two homers and 10 RBI while dividing her time between first base and pitching.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Watch Caitlyn Clark shoot a step-back 3-pointer and you might swear nobody in the world, male or female can shoot like that. Watch her thread the needle with a perfect pass on the fast break and you might think Iowa’s star of stars sees the court better than anyone in the country. She is easily the most entertaining women’s basketball player of all time and you could argue she’s better than Cheryl Miller or Diana Taurasi. Miller and Taurasi had better supporting casts, too.

She has scored 3,617 points in her Iowa career, 50 away from the 3,677 Pete Maravich scored in his college career. She’s good. No question about it. In her 128-game Iowa career, she is averaging 28.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game. She hits 38 percent of her threes and 85.6 percent of her free throws.

What Caitlyn Clark has done to elevate interest in the women’s game is almost unfathomable. An entire generation of young girls are wearing out the goal in their driveway or back yard, hoping that if they practice enough, one day they can be another Caitlyn Clark. Based on what people write about her, if those same girls grow up to be high character young women like Caitlyn Clark then they will truly be able to say they have accomplished something valuable in life. Basketball will come and go. Character lasts a lifetime.

Calling Caitlyn Clark the female Pete Maravich is fair, but Pete will always be the greatest scorer. Pete scored his 3,667 points in 83 games. Freshmen were ineligible in Pete’s day but he averaged 40 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists per game leading LSU’s freshmen to an undefeated season.

In his three years of varsity basketball at LSU, the Tigers weren’t very talented with the exception of Pete and a hulking forward named Al “Apple” Sanders his senior year. LSU went 49-34 in the games Pete played. He AVERAGED 44.2 per game in an era of no shot clock and without the benefit of a 3-point shot. He scored at least 40 points 56 times, more than 50 in 28 and this was with everybody on the other team knowing he was the LSU offense. Had there been a 3-point shot in his era, some experts who have studied the film of every game Pete ever played say he would have averaged a minimum of nine more points per game. He averaged 5.2 assists per game during his college career. The late Mike Pratt, a Kentucky All-American during the same era, told me that Pete would have averaged 10-11 assists per game if his teammates had simply made 40 percent of their shots when Pete delivered the pass. Pete had a 64-point game against Kentucky as a senior. He lit up Alabama for 69 that year.

This isn’t an attempt to compare Caitlyn Clark with Pete Maravich. That’s like apples and oranges. She is special, deserves every accolade and she’s worth the price of admission. Catch her on television. You’ll be impressed. Remember what you see. Savor it. You’re fortunate to live in an era when there is basketball on so many channels nearly every night. I wish there had been this many channels and networks in Pete’s era. People see the points he scored, but as someone who was fortunate enough to know him through my friend Lou Bello, college referee extraordinaire and Pete’s high school history teacher at Broughton High School in Raleigh, it was the creativity dribbling and passing the ball that he loved best. Caitlyn will score more points and people will remember that, but no one, and I mean no one, will ever handle the ball like Pete Maravich.