The Florida Gators basketball team made a statement in its first exhibition game of the 2017-18 season Thursday night.
After a sluggish start to the game, Florida put on a clinic in the second half to defeat the Jacksonville University Dolphins 88-47.
Along with a sloppy start to the game, the Gators took an even bigger blow losing senior guard Chris Chiozza to a left shoulder injury just two minutes in. He would not return to the game.
With Chiozza out, freshmen guards Mike Okauru and Deaundrae Ballard were thrown into the fire early and did not do much in the first half.
Double-digit performances from junior guard KeVaughn Allen and graduate transfer guard Egor Koulechov kept the Gators afloat in to take a 37-26 lead to the half.
In the final 20 minutes, Florida looked like a completely different basketball team. Both offense and defense clicked as the Gators took over a tired Jacksonville team.
After a rough start to his first game at Florida, junior guard Jalen Hudson came out of the locker room on fire to score the first eight points of the second half.
From there, the Gators cruised the rest of the way as the Dolphins did not make a single shot from the field until 9:38 remained on the clock.
As he got more comfortable, Ballard found his rhythm scoring all 11 of his points in the second half. Along with him, Allen, Koulechov and Hudson all finished with double figures.
Allen did not see much time in the second half, but finished 6-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc for 17 points. Koulechov matched him with 17 points at 6-for-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from three.
Meanwhile, Hudson kicked off his Florida career with a bang as he led the team with 21 points at 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-7 from three.
Florida finished with a 44.1 field goal percentage (30-for-68) and nearly matched that from long-range 41.4 percent (12-for-29), while holding Jacksonville to just 23.4 percent (11-for-47) from the field in the game.
Up Next:
The Gators return home on Sunday for the final exhibition game before regular season play begins. Florida will take on Tampa at 2 p.m.