Not much went right for the Gators on Wednesday as they were blown out 103-85 by the Ole Miss Rebels, dropping their record to 0-2 in the SEC and 10-5 on the season. With the win, Ole Miss improves to 1-1 in the conference and 14-1 on the year. It was a close game in the first half as the Gators stayed in check with the scoring ability of guards Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton but as soon as the second stanza began Ole Miss blitzed the Gators and jumped out to a large double digit lead and Florida was never able to respond. Even when shots started falling for them the Gators couldn’t get stops on the other end, especially in the second half when Ole Miss shot a remarkable 75% from the field before putting in their walk-ons for mop up duty. With Ole Miss picked to finish 10th in the SEC the Gators would have liked to have a much better showing against them and they’ll now go back to the drawing board to try and figure out how they can get their first SEC win.
Defensive Struggles
Ole Miss came into Wednesday’s game with a clear plan of attack–to go after Florida’s frontcourt in every way possible. The Rebels have two kinds of frontcourt players: smaller, more skilled bigs, and physical bruisers on the inside–and both were able to get whatever they wanted against the Gators. It was clear that Ole Miss liked any advantage they had when it came to the frontcourt and every action they ran either took Florida’s bigger power forwards on the perimeter, or had their more physical centers ducking in on the block to get an easy touch and finish. Ultimately the Rebels, who were only 61st in the country in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency entering Wednesday’s game, were able to hang 103 points on 59% shooting on the Gators. This is the first time a team has gone all in on attacking Florida’s frontcourt and with the success they had, look for other SEC teams to follow suit.
Slow Scoring
Florida’s 85 points looks like a good total, but it was largely due to the high tempo of the game due to how quickly Ole Miss was scoring on the other end. The Gators shot only 41% from the field with 13 turnovers, and it all started with their inability to move center Jamarion Sharp out of the paint. Sharp, a transfer from Western Kentucky, measures in at 7’6” and he had a massive impact on the defensive interior with a remarkable 9 blocks. Not only did he get his hands on 9 shots, but he affected Florida’s drivers greatly as they threw up wild floaters just to try and avoid getting swatted. It’s not often the Gators are going to run into a 7’6” center, but they knew what they were getting into Wednesday and didn’t have a plan to move him around and keep him from patrolling the paint entirely. The Gators also weren’t able to score in transition with only 5 fast break points. A few of their shot makers were able to do what they do and create buckets, but overall the Gators’ offense looked disjointed.
Bright Spots
Once again the backcourt of Walter Clayton and Zyon Pullin were productive offensively with Clayton posting 23 points and Pullin adding 18 points and 4 assists. These two were the only ones able to create anything offensively against an Ole Miss team that blew up Florida’s actions, and while both would tell you they could have done more and made some better decisions with the ball–it’s notable that even on a rough day for the Gators they were able to make some things happen.
Congratulations are also in order to Walter Clayton who surpassed 1000 career points. Only in his third year of college basketball, he is certain to add many more.
Another bright spot was Alex Condon who was arguably Florida’s best frontcourt player with 11 points and 15 rebounds. In addition to his counting stats he was the one player capable of holding up against Ole Miss’ constant actions to attack the Gators’ post players and you can already see the growth he has had defensively since the start of the season.
Situation To Monitor
Riley Kugel played only 4 minutes against the Rebels, and at the moment it’s unknown if that was due to an injury or if it was a coaching decision. Kugel was 0-3 from the field and looked to be struggling, though it’s possible he suffered an injury that wasn’t apparent on the broadcast. This will be a situation to keep an eye on.
Final Thoughts
Ole Miss played just about as perfect of a game as they could have. All of their offensive actions were working, they were hitting shots when they were open, and defensively they clamped down and played to the strengths of Jamarion Sharp on the inside. The question is–did Florida just run into a buzzsaw, or could they have executed better on the road? It seems like the Gators had no ability to adjust offensively to the rim protection of Sharp and they couldn’t move him around and make his job easier, and on the other end Florida’s drop and ice pick and roll coverage was getting picked apart with any noticeable changes. Florida spent much of the non-conference season trying to develop an identity and while they have found something with the play of Walter Clayton and Zyon Pullin with a bunch of wings and frontcourt players that crash the glass, they might need to be able to find some versatility against some of the better coached teams in the league.