Image Credit: UAA
Tuesday night’s victory was hardly the most awe-inspiring, but the No. 12 Florida Gators nevertheless kept their winning ways going with a decisive 76-62 decision over the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. Led by a domineering frontcourt effort, UF maintained its spot atop the SEC standings with five regular-season games remaining.
The Gators (20-6, 11-2 SEC) improved to 2-0 this season over a Gamecocks squad they eviscerated by 47 points back on Jan. 28. While South Carolina played better on Tuesday, the closeness of the contest was more about what Florida did wrong with a lacking offensive effort from most of its threats. That should give head coach Todd Golden plenty of ammunition for the film room over the ensuing 72 hours.
Let’s take a look at what went down as the Gators notched their sixth straight win and 11th victory in the last 12 games with some Fastbreak Takeaways.
It was over when … junior forward Alex Condon completed an And1 before slamming home an alley-oop, pushing Florida ahead by a game-high 22 points with 6 minutes to play. Consecutive turnovers by UF’s backcourt aided South Carolina, which cut its deficit to single digits with a 6-0 run early in the second half, but the Gators quickly responded with 7-0 and 5-0 spurts to pull away before Condon took over the game in the waning minutes.
First half focus: Five straight points from sophomore guard Isaiah Brown led a 7-0 run that initially pushed Florida ahead by double digits after 9 minutes of action. The Gators led by as many as 14 before missing six straight shots, allowing a 12-4 scoring stretch with the Gamecocks more than halving their deficit. However, Florida scored on the final two possessions of the stanza with senior G Xaivian Lee converting a steal into a fastbreak layup near the buzzer to push the hosts back on top by 10 points at the break. UF made only 3 of 11 attempts from 3-point range in the period but dominated in the paint as usual.
Exceptional efforts: Junior center Rueben Chinyelu registered his 16th double-double of the season, fifth in the last six games and ninth in the last 11 games … over 14 minutes in the first half. Chinyelu finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds, efficiently shooting from the floor and the charity stripe. Condon’s patience and persistence paid off with his own double-double: a game-high 20 points along with 10 boards and four assists, though turnovers were again an issue with a game-high six giveaways. He hit 7 of 14 attempts from the field and made all six of his free throws, missing his lone 3-point attempt to fall to 1 of 18 from downtown since Jan. 6 (.056). (Neither Lee nor Brown scored in the second half.)
Odds & ends: Florida improved to 52-29 all-time against South Carolina, 24-10 in the O’Dome and 5-1 under Golden … the Gators improved to 18-1 when leading at halftime, 20-1 when leading with 5 minutes left, 20-4 when outrebounding an opponent, 15-1 when shooting 45% or better from the field, 18-0 when outshooting an opponent, 14-4 when an opponent shoots less than 40% from 3-point range, 9-1 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range and 13-2 when winning the bench scoring battle
What it means: The Gators did what they were supposed to do Tuesday night: win. It was clear that Florida did not give its best effort, and both the shooting struggles and turnovers from the backcourt are legitimate concerns against a South Carolina team that simply could not match up. Condon and sophomore G Boogie Fland are in absolute hell from 3-point range, and Lee coughed up the ball four times, the same number of giveaways as his prior five games combined. Condon now has 16 turnovers in his last three games, an insane amount, particularly for a big man. UF finished with margins of 47-30 on the boards, 44-28 in paint scoring and 27-15 on second-chance points, though it had as many turnovers as assists (14) and shot just 26.3% from downtown, somehow lower than its power conference-worst season average.
What’s next? Florida heads back on the road this weekend when it visits Ole Miss on Saturday. The game will tip off at noon ET and air live nationally on ESPN.
