Things couldn’t have gone much better on Senior Night in Gainesville as the Florida Gators came firing from the opening tip and completely dominating the #16 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on their way to a 105-87 win. Playing in front of an inspired home crowd the Gators were focused, energetic, and determined and it seemed like one of those nights where they could have been playing anyone and they would have come up with a huge win. With the Gators becoming known for some second half collapses in recent weeks they left no doubt in this one, suffocating the Crimson Tide any time they had any momentum going that would threaten the massive lead. Even the final score isn’t particularly indicative of how the game really went as both teams committed a foul nearly every possession for the last five minutes of action as the two teams combined to shoot an astonishing 71 free throws. With the win the Gators improve to 21-9 (11-6 SEC) on the season while the Crimson Tide fall to 20-10 (10-5 SEC).
Showing Pride On D
Look, you know it, I know it, and the team knows it–Florida’s defense has been rather poor for much of the season. Going into a game with the explosive Crimson Tide you knew there was going to be a lot of points and it was likely going to be the team that got more stops that came away victorious. That’s certainly the mindset Florida had as they came out playing some of their best defense of the entire season, completely slowing down the Crimson Tide’s dribble drive attack and frustrating them with long shot clocks and the contested jump shots that they ended with. The 87 points that Alabama ended with might look like a decent total, but many of them were free throws and buckets that came in garbage time. They had 35 points at half (one of their season lows), and only 50 points nearing midway through the second half. Alabama entered Tuesday night’s game as not only the most efficient offensive team in the country according to analytics tool KenPom, but they are the third best offensive team since 1999 (when this level of high data started being taken). The Crimson Tide have proven their ability to score time and time again and the Gators stepped up to the challenge to shut them down and they deserve a ton of credit for doing so. Will the Gators be a top defensive team the rest of the season? Perhaps it’s unlikely–but they showed on Tuesday that if nothing else they are able of digging deep and putting together stretches of elite play on their end.
Taking Advantage Of Mismatches
Defense was what really dominated the game for Florida but after a couple of rough offensive nights in recent weeks they bounced back with an efficient offensive performance that was centered around taking advantage of mismatches. Alabama isn’t particularly big or physical at the power forward or point guard spot and the Gators made an effort to go to Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel as much as possible in order to stress the Crimson Tide’s defense. It started with Samuel who got the ball in the post and continually spun to either the baseline or the middle of the floor, knocking his defender off balance while doing so and giving him the space to finish strong with a layup. Zyon Pullin also played with a similar level of physicality but on the perimeter where he would get a head of steam going towards a rim, waiting for the defender to try to move his chest in front before stopping on a dime, using that defender’s momentum against him, and pulling up for one of his patented mid-range jumpers. Florida hasn’t always had a lot of success going through their regular half court progressions but they have a lot of individual scorers who can create one on one, and against Alabama they showed that playing through advantageous matchups is an easy way to create scores.
Honoring The Seniors
Before the game Zyon Pullin, Tyrese Samuel, Jack May, Alex Klatsky, and Bennett Andersen were acknowledged as seniors. This shows how the face of senior nights has been changing alongside the sport. Florida’s senior night saw two graduate transfers and three walk-ons get honored, which is a definite departure from the days of four-year scholarship players. Even though things might be different–these players are still deserving of admiration. Pullin has played like one of the best guards in the country, and Tyrese Samuel has given the Gators a presence at the power forward spot the program hasn’t seen in years. Jack May and Alex Klatsky have been in the orange and blue for longer than anyone else on the roster and have made it easy for new players to learn the ropes around campus. Bennett Andersen quickly became a favorite since coming to campus and the student section has loved yelling at him to shoot every time he touches the ball.
We thank all of the seniors for their tremendous contributions to Florida basketball!
Final Thoughts
Alabama might not look great from a resume standpoint but the number that matters is the NET ranking where they are 8th–making this a gigantic resume win for the Gators. On Tuesday morning the Gators were a 7-seed on Bracket Matrix, and a huge quad-1 win like this will almost certainly see them get a bump to the 6-line. Also, while it was almost certain the Gators would make it to the NCAA Tournament–there is zero doubt now. No matter what happens in the last regular season game or the SEC Tournament the Gators will not only be in the field but be clear of any 11-seed play-in games, and we should see the Gators in a position to go on a run once we see the bracket on Selection Sunday.