Fastbreak: Florida routs Stanford to open PK80

By Adam Silverstein
November 24, 2017
Fastbreak: Florida routs Stanford to open PK80
Basketball

Image Credit: ESPN Images

No. 7 Florida Gators basketball (4-0) took the Stanford Cardinal (3-3) to the woodshed on Thanksgiving eve, annihilating its all-sport foes 108-87 in the quarterfinals of the PK80 Motion Bracket in Portland, Oregon.

Let’s take a look at Florida’s latest victory in Fastbreak:


It was over when … The first-half buzzer sounded. Though the Gators had jumped out to a massive lead before that, Florida entered the break up 19 while setting a program record for most three-pointers made in a single half, 13. UF went 13-for-18 from long range as graduate transfer guard Egor Koulechov made all five of his attempts and redshirt junior G Jalen Hudson went 4-for-6 from deep.

Exceptional efforts: The entire team. Sure, some guys had better nights than others, but as a whole Florida moved the ball, took good shots and remained sound on both ends of the court. Koulechov led the way with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting despite not attempting a three in the second half. Hudson followed with 17 points, while freshman point guard Mike Okauru posted 15 on 6-of-7 shooting. Senior PG Chris Chiozza added a double-double with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with 11 dimes.

Odds and ends: Florida scored 100+ points three times (a) before the month of December for the first time in program history (b) in a four-game span for the first time since 2000-01, (c) in a single season for the first time since 2003-04 … the Gators led for 39:41 of the 40-minute game … Florida scored 32 points off 18 turnovers and had 23 assists on 38 made baskets … though UF’s final margin was 21, that was after it pulled its starters and Stanford outscored Florida 18-3 over the final 3:35 of the game; prior to that, the Gators led by 36

Play of the game: There was not one particular star-studded play on Thursday evening, but Koulechov drained a ton of threes in the contest. Here are two he netted on consecutive possessions early in the first half.

What it means: This Gators team certainly looks special. When Florida is not playing its third game in a seven-day stretch (such as it did against New Hampshire) it appears to start hot and build from there over the course of a game. It remains to be seen how it will fare against more difficult competition, but there are plenty of reasons to believe at this early juncture.

Up next: Florida will play either Ohio State or Gonzaga in a PK80 semifinal on Friday at 11 p.m. ET. The game will air live nationally on ESPN2.

Join The
Discussion

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux