Gators Stand Strong In Physical Road Matchup With Georgia

Playing in the second matchup of the season the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs were certain to have a physical, chippy affair and that was the case as both teams scratched and clawed for forty minutes with the Gators coming away on top with a 86-66 win. Both teams had their difficulties scoring in the half court but in transition Florida was soaring up and down the floor getting layups and dunks while keeping the Bulldogs out of the fast break and that was a major difference in this game. Undersized and having seen what the Gators can do to smaller lineups this Georgia team was ready to battle and shockingly had more offensive rebounds, something that doesn’t often happen to Florida, but they simply didn’t have the firepower to stay close. It was announced Tuesday night that they would be without Jeremiah Wilkinson who is clearly their best offensive player, and they were unable to muster up enough scoring without him. With the win the Gators improve to 9-2 in the SEC, remaining in first place.


Backcourt Sigh Of Relief

It’s no secret that Florida’s backcourt hasn’t played up to their billing and they are desperate to build some momentum on the offensive end and we may have seen the start of that with Xaivian Lee leading the Gators with 18 points while Boogie Fland was just behind at 15. Fland was able to get things going early with some transition buckets that helped build an early lead, and though Lee struggled for much of this game he had a couple of hot stretches that resulted in some strong overall production. Klavzar also did his thing, coming off the bench to hit 2-4 threes, softening up the Georgia defense who was prioritizing the paint. Overall the Gators went 10-26 from deep, and that 38% is one of their best games of the season which they’ll definitely look to build on.


Earning A Role

With the Gators thin at the wing spot they were desperate for one of the young pieces to step up and provide some minutes there and it is looking like Isaiah Brown has taken that opportunity. After scoring 12 points against Texas A&M in Florida’s most recent game he backed it up with, you guessed it–another 12 points against Georgia, and that kind of consistent play is making him someone that Florida’s staff can rely on. His most dangerous weapon was the jumper as he went 3-4 from three, providing some stretch ability the Gators desperately need, but he was also a threat as a slasher that the Gators don’t have from a lot of their other positions. The length and positional strength he brings to the defensive side is also a major plus, and after two games like this you can probably expect his role to grow even more moving forward.


Now Leading…

Rueben Chinyelu is in the midst of one of the greatest rebounding seasons of all time and as he chases down the number one spot in the country (regardless of league) he had another monster night against Georgia finishing with 20 rebounds with 15 coming on the defensive end and 5 coming offensively. The 15 defensive rebounds were most notable as it finally pushed Chinyelu up to number one in the country in defensive rebounding rate, the best stat we have for evaluating rebounding ability. Oh, and by the way–he’s 5th in offensive rebounding, so it’s not like he’s any slouch there, either. What Chinyelu is doing on the glass is nothing short of remarkable, and even though Georgia ended up having more offensive rebounds than the Gators it was no fault of Chinyelu who was still dominant any time the ball bounced anywhere in his vicinity.


Final Thoughts

With Georgia being an undersized, transition reliant team the Gators were always going to have a major advantage in the matchup and when Jeremiah Wilkinson was announced out any chance of a Bulldog sneak attack was pretty much extinguished. Florida did exactly what they needed to do, continuing their tight defensive structure and bringing max effort, jumping out to an early lead their opponent simply couldn’t get back from. The Gators will be ecstatic that they finally had a good three-point shooting performance as a team, and the backcourt leading the team in scoring should also bring some good vibes. They will now prepare for a home game with Kentucky that will have a lot of eyes nationally.