Florida was never able to build a comfortable lead against a scrappy East Carolina team but ultimately they were able to get key stops late in the second half to hold on to a 70-65 win over the pirates. There were stressful moments for the Gators as they struggled to generate points but ultimately their defense held strong in key moments, particularly with their length around the rim keeping East Carolina from finishing layups. Brandon Johnson and Ezra Ausar, the East Carolina frontcourt, were particularly effective against the Gators in one on one matchups but in the final minutes of the game they were held scoreless as they struggled to see daylight when they got the ball in the paint. The Gators will not be particularly happy with how they played, but they will be incredibly satisfied to have gritted out the win.
Leading The Way
Offense didn’t come easily to the Gators on Thursday except for one player–Walter Clayton. Clayton, a Lake Wales native, was playing close to home in this one (taking place in Lakeland) and he put on a show for friends and family finishing with 22 points on 9-16 shooting with nearly all his production coming in the first half where he was the only player able to make anything happen. It started with his ability to knock down threes and then quickly turned into him turning on the jets to get to the rim and East Carolina didn’t seem to have an answer. He was slowed down in the second half, but his surge in the first allowed the Gators to gain a lead that they were able to hold on to.
Saving The Day (Once Again)
Forgive me if I am sounding like a broken record, but once again the Gators were saved by their ability to absolutely bludgeon teams on the offense glass. Entering Thursday’s game East Carolina was 293rd in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom, a team that has struggled to guard anybody this year. That was until they saw Florida, and they were actually able to slow down the Gators to 42% shooting from the field with 17 turnovers. Those numbers could have meant disaster for Florida, but luckily for them they were able to grab 18 offensive rebounds to East Carolina’s 8, and all those extra possessions were what they needed to put points on the board. Their work on the offensive glass was truly elite, as it has been in most games this season, and if their offensive rebounding was only “good,” it’s likely Florida could have dropped this game. All the extra possessions the Gators get on the glass have raised their floor significantly from recent years and even in games where they can’t get anything going offensively they’re able to manufacture points.
Lineup Note
For the final minutes of the game the score was within two possessions and the Gators were notably closing things out with a different group than they normally would. That group:
Walter Clayton
Zyon Pullin
Will Richard
Tyrese Samuel
Alex Condon
Notably, Riley Kugel was on the bench for the most important minutes of the game. Kugel did struggle finishing with 2 points on 1-6 shooting with 4 turnovers in 23 minutes of play, and it forced Golden to make the difficult decision of sitting him when the game mattered the most. So far this season Kugel has been given the opportunity to play through mistakes and this is the first time that Golden has had to put him on the pine in a big moment, and how he responds to this situation will say a lot about his outlook as a player. Handlogten played a solid game, but Alex Condon handled the physicality of the East Carolina front court a bit better–perhaps being the reason Golden trusted him in crunch time. A shake up in the starting lineup likely shouldn’t be expected, but it’s certainly interesting to see a different group closing out the game than the one that has ended things throughout the season.
Final Thoughts
Florida avoided disaster by not dropping a game to an East Carolina team that has losses to USC Upstate, Northeastern, and George Mason, but they can’t be happy with how they played. Offense continues to be a major challenge for the Gators and they have been lucky to run into teams that are undersized and struggle to rebound, as it has been Florida’s offensive rebounding that has won them multiple games. Eventually the Gators will see teams that can keep them off the glass and they’ll have to find a way to score in those games, and they’re running out of non-conference opportunities to learn those lessons. While it wasn’t a pretty game, Florida’s energy level was high and they played extremely hard in crunch time and it was what made the difference and they should be happy with that level of grit.