Florida basketball put together a statement win on Sunday, beating the Alabama Crimson Tide, 100-77.
The Gators dominated the game in every regard, winning each half by double digits. Florida outrebounded Alabama, 44-33, won the assist battle, 24-16, and turned the ball over just twice compared to 18 giveaways from the Tide. The Orange and Blue scored most of their points in the paint, posting 72 to Bama’s 26, and the fastbreak battle was also one-sided, finishing 26-3 in favor of Florida.
Alex Condon led all scorers with 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting, and added seven rebounds and six assists. Thomas Haugh was right behind him with 22 points, including several high-effort looks to help break the lead wide open.
Rueben Chinyelu dominated a high-profile battle with former G-League player Charles Bediako. Chinyelu posted his 13th double-double of the year, with 14 points and 17 rebounds, while Bediako had just six points and seven boards over 24 minutes before fouling out.
Florida’s guards played well, too, namely Boogie Fland, who had 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting, eight assists and eight steals. He led all players with a plus-minus of 32. Xaivian Lee wasn’t at his best, scoring just six points on 3-for-11 shooting, but Urban Klavzar was solid off the bench with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Klavzar had four rebounds, too.
Head coach Todd Golden didn’t pull the starters until the final minute of the game, allowing OIivier Rioux to score the final bucket of the game and get the Gators to 100 points. Needless to say, the sold-out crowd at the O’Connell Center was raucous for most of the game.
Pushing the pace
Florida doesn’t usually play at the fastest pace in the country, but that doesn’t mean the Gators can’t play fast. Coming into Sunday’s contest, Alabama had the fifth-fastest adjusted tempo in the country at 73.3 possessions per 40 minutes. Florida was at a respectable 69.8 possessions per 40 minutes, ranked No. 64 in college basketball. The belief was that if the Crimson Tide dictated the tempo, it would be to their advantage.
Nope.
Florida averaged 1.211 points per possession over 38 in the first half, while Alabama scored 1.000 points per possession over 36. In other words, the Gators dominated the fast-paced matchup, and it wasn’t particularly close. What’s even more impressive is that Florida got to the bucket consistently, shooting just six 3-pointers and outscoring Alabama in the paint, 32-12.
It didn’t end at halftime, either. Florida opened up the second half on a 15-3 run and never looked back. This is how Final Four teams play.
Big-man battle goes to Chinyelu, Condon
Golden and Alabama head coach Nate Oats traded jabs over the past few weeks that fueled the matchup between Bediako and Chinyelu. Golden said “it wasn’t right” for a former professional to be in the college game and added that “we’ll beat them anyway.” Oats responded with a comment about Florida’s league-leading rebound numbers, accusing the Gators of standing in the paint for up to 10 seconds in a possession.
Bediako led the rebound battle early, but Chinyelu and Condon took over halfway through the first half and never looked back. At the end of the game, Bediako was on the bench with five fouls and Chineylu was egging on a capacity crowd that could hardly contain itself.
Several sayings about karma apply here, but let’s just go with this one:
“Ball don’t lie.” — Rasheed Wallace.
Golden knows what he’s doing
Any doubters Florida had early in the year should be making penance this week. Chinyelu has emerged as one of the best bigs in the country, Fland has come into his own as a legitimate SEC guard and Condon is still the beast he was a year ago, even if there’s a lack of consistency.
These are all issues Golden has addressed this year, often giving some form of the answer: we have faith in this team (or player).
Why stop there, though?
Have the shots started to fall? Yes, just as Golden predicted. Sure, Florida was 3-for-13 from beyond the arc in this one, but they made nine in each of the two games prior, with a good percentage against South Carolina. Three-point shots also don’t matter as much when a team is shooting 74% on two-point field goals.
What about the turnovers? Golden has harped on this issue all year, and sure enough, the Gators only had two in their best performance of the year. Even better, Florida forced Alabama into 18 giveaways. It’s hard to lose a game when things are that one-sided.
The scary part is that this might not be the peak for this club. Klavzar and Lee have played better, and Micah Handlogten didn’t need to be on the court all that much. The NCAA is officially on notice, and the bid to repeat as national champions is officially back underway.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Recapping Florida basketball’s epic home win over Alabama Crimson Tide