Florida’s hot start to the season continued on Sunday as the Gators took down the Troy Trojans in easy fashion, winning 84-45. The Gators jumped out to an early lead (scoring 8 points in a span where Troy only attempted 1 shot and continued to get the ball stolen by Florida) and never looked back, leading this game by a considerable margin for all 40 minutes. The game went exactly to script as to how the Gators would want to handle a Sun Belt team and they now get to look towards another high major opponent in Oklahoma on Wednesday.
Clamping Down
Defense continues to be the strength of this team and they were relentless in their suffocation of Troy’s offense. The Trojans ended the game shooting 32.7% and while doing so turned the ball over 21 times. At times they struggled to simply get the ball over the half court line against Florida’s pressure and it seemed like they had nothing easy all game. The Gators had 8 different players register a steal, something that speaks to how much they pressure the ball and how aggressive they are in looking to turn opponents over.
Balanced Scoring
This was about as balanced a scoring game as the Gators could possibly have with six players with double digit points but their high scorer leading with 12 (Myreon Jones and Tyree Appleby). Colin Castleton (10), Anthony Duruji (11), Phlandrous Fleming (11), and Brandon McKissic (10) also helped shoulder the load, and six scorers with between 10 and 12 points is a perfect example of just how balanced and unselfish this team is.
Lighting It Up
Another positive for the Gators was their three-point shooting as they knocked down 13 triples on their way to the win. Myreon Jones started the game on fire hitting four three-pointers in the first half, something he has been prone to do in his college basketball career. Troy’s defensive philosophy was to pack the paint and not allow Florida’s athletes to get to the rim and luckily the Gators had enough shot making to punish them over and over and over again. When the Gators defend and shoot like they did against Troy they’ll continue to mow down opponents.
Young Guns
One of the benefits of a sizable win was that the Gators were able to give some good minutes to their younger players and they played well, particularly Kowacie Reeves and Elijah Kennedy. Kennedy has already earned Mike White’s trust and seems to regularly be scripted into games and he showed his abilities once again knocking down a pair of threes. Kowacie Reeves has had a few struggles to start his season so when he got in the game and hit a tough turnaround jumper at the first half buzzer, you could see some relief. He went on to hit two three-pointers in the second half, and this could be the start of him gaining confidence and scoring more in upcoming games.
Final Thoughts
The Gators took care of business with flying colours and were able to go deep into their bench, saving some legs for an important game on Wednesday. With the win the Gators are now 6-0 for the first time since 2012, and with wins over Florida State and Ohio State that was no easy task.