Florida’s 2024 calendar year finished in the best way possible with the Gators winning their final non-conference game over the Stetson Hatters by a score of 85-45. Stetson cashed a three for their first points of the game to take a 3-2 lead in the opening minutes but after that it was all Gators all the time as they stretched their lead to 40. With the win the Gators improve to 13-0 on the season, officially completing an undefeated non-conference schedule. They are one of four teams to remain undefeated, with three of those teams being in the SEC which speaks to the quality of the league. With the win taking place in Gainesville the Gators have also won 15 straight home games and they’ll need to keep that raucous home environment as they move into the challenges of the SEC.
Shaking Off The Rust
Coaches are always looking to schedule an easier game after the holiday break and that’s just what Florida did with Stetson, the 350th ranked team in the country per KenPom. If you saw how the Gators played in the opening ten minutes of the game–you’re certainly glad they did that. Florida was sloppy for the opening minutes of the game with a number of turnovers on rudimentary plays that saw them pass the ball directly to an opposing player, off a foot of a teammate, or on several occasions–a fan in the 5th row. Against a higher-level opponent those plays could have been devastating but against an Atlantic Sun opponent they were able to go through those unfocused errors before dialing back in, and they came out in the second half with a much better effort that saw them play some wonderful basketball. In that way–this game gave the Gators just what they needed.
Leading The Way
Alijah Martin was a menace on both sides of the floor leading the Gators with 18 points on the offensive end and 4 steals on the defensive end. Throughout his career Martin has established himself as one of the best perimeter defenders in the country and he didn’t take a night off just because the Gators were playing a low-major opponent. He was guarding the ball like his life depended on it and if he wasn’t outright stealing the ball he was making his man through a dangerous pass just to get the ball out of his hands. Martin came to the Gators to play against some of the best players in the country and due to Florida’s lighter non-conference slate he hasn’t yet had the chance to do that but you can tell he is itching to get into SEC competition and that’s what he showed against the Hatters.
Rim Protection
A major difference between the way the Gators guarded last year and how they’re guarding this year is the focus on protecting the paint and they are seemingly improving at it every single game which was fully on display against Stetson. Florida had 7 huge blocks (led by Sam Alexis who had 2 massive swats that saw him rotate from the weak side to take away layups) but the total number of blocked shots don’t even tell the whole story. The Gators were deterring everything that was taken in the paint which led to some awkward Hatters attempts as they tried to avoid the outstretched fingertips of Florida’s shot blockers and ultimately they shot just 27% from the field with many of their misses in close. With Florida building their roster around two bigs rim protection is going to be a huge key to what they do in the SEC and they should enter league play dialed in after what we have seen in recent games.
Final Thoughts
A win over Stetson isn’t going to be anything that helps Florida’s resume but it was a game scheduled to allow Florida to shake off the holiday break rust and it served that purpose. Florida went through their period of sloppy play and unfocused mistakes that was almost certain to come and it’s much better to do that against arguably the weakest opponent on the schedule as opposed to trying to schedule a better game. The Gators should be back to midseason form as they enter league play in what is likely the strongest the SEC has ever been.