The pathway to an SEC regular season title is clearly laid out for the Florida Gators so long as they take care of business and win the games they should and that’s just what happened on Tuesday when they hosted the LSU Tigers and came away with a commanding 79-61 win. This game lacked any kind of drama or dramatic swings which is exactly what the team that’s favored wants. Florida was almost business-like in their focus and consistent effort, and playing a short-handed LSU team that is projected to finish near the bottom of the SEC, that was good for an overwhelming performance. With the win, Florida improves to 5-1 in SEC play and remains at the top of the standings.
Dominating The Glass
Rueben Chinyelu was a one man wrecking crew on the glass finishing with a remarkable 21 rebounds in what was one of the most dominant rebounding performances the Gators have ever seen. For further context, LSU had 30 rebounds as a team–so Chinyelu was almost singehandedly competitive with the entire Tigers roster for 40 minutes. As a team the Gators had 24 offensive rebounds to LSU’s 23 defensive rebounds which is another remarkable stat, but it was all started with the effort of Chinyelu. What he and his frontcourt teammates have done is nothing short of spectacular, and when the Gators are securing as many misses as they did Tuesday there isn’t much the opposing team can do. Oh, by the way, Chinyelu also had 15 points.
Offensive Explosion
Coming off the bench and immediately looking to gun, guard Urban Klazvar has become a fan favorite and he showed just how dangerous he can be when he gets hot with an 18-point performance. Whenever there was any breathing room behind the arc Klavzar was able to get loose for a jumper, and he even was able to hit one while getting fouled for a four-point play. Finishing 5-9 from three, Klavzar is the lone bright spot when it comes to three-point shooting for the Gators and every three he makes is massive for the offense. It was a quieter game for Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee offensively but Klavzar was able to pick up the slack and the fans in attendance loved watching the pure shooting stroke.
Defense-First
Florida’s offense wasn’t exactly crisp on Tuesday and many of their points came due to the offensive rebounding onslaught, but the Gators were executing at a high level on the other end. As much as the Tigers have had their struggles this year their offense has been pretty efficient but you wouldn’t know it with how the Gators were able to make them uncomfortable and in a lot of settings completely suffocate things and bleed out the 30 second shot clock. LSU finished the game shooting 43% from the field with 11 turnovers, and it seemed like every time they did score it was a challenged jumper or tough interior finish that was well defended. Between the steady defense and the dominant rebounding the Gators have a good recipe for winning games, even if their offense isn’t humming.
Final Thoughts
Whenever there is a game between a conference favorite and a team expected to finish near the bottom of the standings the favored team is simply looking for a clean game without any drama and that’s what the Gators were able to accomplish. Though the score never got out of hand and the Gators didn’t go on crazy runs it still seemed like the Tigers were never able to put together any stretches of momentum and the Gators pretty much led for the entire game. Getting another big offensive performance from Urban Klavzar is encouraging for the offense, and the monster game from Chinyelu will also be something to rally around. If the Gators can continue to have games like this against the opponents they’re favored to beat, they will easily earn a regular season championship banner.