Florida’s offense was cooking on Tuesday night as a barrage of three pointers from players all up and down the roster led them to an 89-71 win over Lynn University. The Gators went 14-29 from the three point line (48.3%) which opened up their offense to pretty much whatever they wanted to do and ultimately their scoring punch was too much for a Lynn Fighting Knights team that competed well throughout the night, especially guard Jordan Allen who gashed the Gators for 35 points. Florida had a balanced attack with Andrew Nembhard (17), Kerry Blackshear Jr. (16), Tre Mann (13), and Keyonte Johnson (12) all reaching double figures in points. The Gators now look to prepare for the regular season to begin when they take on the North Florida Ospreys.
3-Point Assassins
If it wasn’t already apparent the Gators made it clear on Tuesday that they have a roster filled with lethal shooters from behind the arc. Andrew Nembhard (4-8), Noah Locke (3-5), Kerry Blackshear (2-4), Tre Mann (2-6), Keyontae Johnson (1-2), Ques Glover (1-2), and Scottie Lewis (1-2) all had a taste from behind the arc in 3-point attack that spread out Lynn’s defense and opened up lanes to the hoop. Obviously the Gators aren’t going to be able to shoot 48.3% from three every night but it’s clear they have a handful of players that can go off at any time and if a few of them are stroking hit from behind the arc on a given night then the Gators will be tough to defend.
Player Of The Game
This honor goes to Andrew Nembhard who not only led the Gators in scoring with 17 but added 6 assists, many of which led to easy dunks. His ability to shoot the ball from range off the catch gave the Gators a quality shot whenever they went to it and he also showed some great development in his ability to drive the ball. If tonight is any indication he’s in for a huge sophomore season.
Sharing The Rock
It wasn’t just Andrew Nembhard setting up his teammates tonight as the Gators 11 assists from players other than him. Keyontae Johnson was particularly setting the tone with 4 assists as a secondary playmaker and he showed some great interior passing that generated dunks for Florida’s big men. The spread-out assist numbers show the Gators are a team with improved playmaking up and down the roster which should really help the offense.
Playing Big
When Keyontae Johnson, the starting power forward, went to the bench the Gators often went quite large with 6’10” Omar Payne at the position. He was an unstoppable force on defense registering 3 blocks using his length and incredible leaping ability to meet shots in the air. Not only was he a pure athlete out there but he showed a good understanding of the team’s defensive philosophies and had some great rotations that saw him clog the lane and prevent a layup. Additionally, he chipped in 9 points that saw him finish strong inside and show a bit of touch with a jumper. Florida hasn’t had the ability to play big the last few seasons but Omar Payne is going to give them that opportunity.
Turnover Trouble
If there was one issue with Florida’s performance on Tuesday it was their inability to take care of the basketball, a problem that also plagued them in their secret scrimmage with South Florida. Against Lynn they coughed it up 17 teams with the freshman duo of Ques Glover and Scottie Lewis responsible for 4 of them each. It’s still early and the team is building chemistry but they’ll have to learn to value the rock. These two were caught trying to force plays and Lynn punished them for it but hopefully this is a learning experience. The Gators are looking like a potent offensive team that won’t need to rely on any one player to force anything to get a shot and there shouldn’t be a need to do anything crazy to try and get a look.
Final Thoughts
The turnovers were a black eye on the game but other than that Florida looked good. Their offense was clicking and defensively they had a few guys flying around making plays. You know Mike White is going to have this team locking in defensively all season and Tuesday showed that they have some very capable offensive players. If this team can put the ball in the hoop they way they showed against Lynn the ceiling for this team is extremely high.