Florida’s demolition tour continued Saturday as they again hammered a non-conference opponent this time taking down the Arizona State Sun Devils 83-66. While the score was somewhat lopsided it didn’t even tell the whole story as the Gators spent much of the second half with the margin near 30 with the Sun Devils clawing back in garbage time to keep the deficit under 20. With the win the Gators improved to 10-0 on the year, Florida’s first time with that record since the 1951-52 season. Additionally, this was yet another double-digit win, with the Gators yet to win a game by only single digits.
Backcourt Dominance
If you’re looking for the biggest reason the Gators were so overwhelming Saturday you can look no further than the guard trio of Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin, and Will Richard. Combined, they totalled 56 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists, 6 steals, and 2 blocks, a complete showcase of dominance over a younger Arizona State backcourt that simply couldn’t hang. Florida’s guards also combined to go 10-27 from three, and while that isn’t the highest percentage they’re going to shoot this season it was still very efficient on extremely high volume and the Gators will be ecstatic with that output. When you dominate the guard matchup you’re going to win a lot of games and the Gators showed just what their starters are capable of with what they did against Arizona State.
Up For The Challenge
Arizona State (who entered Saturday’s game 54th in the country in KenPom) is not only the best team that the Gators have faced this year but also the most physical. In the early minutes of the contest there was a lot of contact both around the rim and on the perimeter and it seemed like on every possession there were multiple players on the ground fighting for a loose ball. So far this season the Gators have been able to win games with their scoring and pace, but it was clear that they were up for the physical challenge as well. The Gators came up with most of those loose balls and were +14 on the glass, all numbers that will make Florida’s coaching staff happy as they finally got somewhat of a test in this area. The SEC is a physical league with a number of teams that pride themselves on physicality and toughness over anything else and this was a good sign that the Gators will be ready to step up when the time comes.
Defensive Strength
Entering Saturday’s game Arizona State was having a strong offensive season, regularly hanging 80+ points on their opponents and shooting the three at an extremely efficient rate coming in at 16th best in the country. Well, after a week to prepare the Gators were ready to shut off the water and completely suffocated the Sun Devils holding them to 0.88 points per possession as they shot just 37% from the field and 28% from three. The Gators haven’t played any stellar offenses yet which led to some questions about whether their stout defense was just a product of a weak schedule but going up against an Arizona State team that can put points on the board they clamped down and held them to 66. Most notably, Florida’s pick and roll defense was connected and tight as they took away Arizona State’s rolling big man, forcing the ball handler to pick up his dribble and reassess on most possessions. This will be a performance Florida’s coaches are thrilled with and will be a huge confidence booster moving forward.
Final Thoughts
A lot of national media thought that this might be the game where Florida finally slowed down but that wasn’t the case at all. Arizona State might have been a step up in competition from any of the teams the Gators have seen so far this season but you wouldn’t know it from how Florida completely dominated in just about every facet of the game. Florida will be riding high into Tuesday’s game against North Carolina which should be another step up in competition.