Going up against a talented a mentally tough Norfolk State team the 1-seed Florida Gators knew they were going to be tested so they came out with max focus and intensity, building a huge lead in the first half that ultimately was the difference leading to a 95-69 final score. From the opening minutes it looked like the Gators might never miss as their first half lead quickly grew to 32, yes, 32 points–and while the Spartans were able to fight back with a run of their own to keep the game respectable the Gators were able to keep the deficit such that they were never quite stressed. With the win the Gators advance to the Round of 32 and will play the winner of UConn and Oklahoma, a game taking place following the Florida victory. The win was head coach Todd Golden’s first career NCAA Tournament win making this a memorable moment.
Leading The Way
After last year’s early departure from the NCAA Tournament the Gators were eager to come out with a much better effort in the Round of 64 and they came out playing their best basketball–particularly their backcourt of Walter Clayton and Alijah Martin. Clayton hit three quick threes in the opening minutes that had an outrageous level of difficulty, giving you the feel that this was one of those games where everything was going to go easily for him offensively. Ultimately he finished with 23 points to lead the Gators–and that number could have been much higher if not for his minutes that were limited due to the comfortable points spread. With all kinds of NCAA Tournament experience from his time at FAU Alijah Martin also wasn’t going to take this game for granted and he played his typical physical brand of basketball finishing with 17 points showing leadership to all his teammates.
Sharing The Rock
When Florida is at their best they play the game freely and with tons of joy and that was on display particularly in the first half where everyone was not only willing but eager to move the ball and find a teammate for an open look. Entering Friday’s game 153rd in the country in assist percentage the Gators are in the middle of the pack nationally when it comes to assisted buckets, but you wouldn’t have known it with how they were moving the ball against the Spartans. Florida had a remarkable 20 assists on 29 of their made field goals, and when you take away Walter Clayton’s patented off the dribble isolation threes that found the bottom of the net and offensive rebound put backs–pretty much every bucket the Gators scored came off the pass. High assist numbers are almost always a sign of a great offense, and that seemed to be the case Friday.
Areas For Improvement
While it was ultimately a comfortable win for the Gators, you certainly can’t say they played a complete game where everything went perfectly. The biggest area of concern for the Gators was their perimeter defense as they allowed a number of straight line drives from the Norfolk State guards, and they also fell asleep a couple of times on backdoor cuts that turned into Spartan buckets. Led by head coach Robert Jones the Spartans play an intelligent brand of basketball and they had their moments showing the vulnerabilities of Florida’s defense, and the Gators will now have some really important film to review before they take on UConn or Oklahoma.
Final Thoughts
The lopsided final score despite the fact that the Gators won’t be particularly thrilled with how they played for fourty minutes speaks to how explosive Florida is offensively. If not for incredible shooting in the first half this game may have gotten too close for comfort, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Florida’s ability to go on explosive offensive runs is a massive positive. It might ultimately be a good thing that the Spartans pushed the Gators with some different looks defensively and showed some of their poor rotations defensively as it could be a wake up call before Florida goes on in the Tournament. Ultimately, a win is a win, and in this business you simply need to “Survive And Advance.” The Gators will now watch the UConn versus Oklahoma game and wait to find out who they will play.