Entering Saturday’s game Florida and Ole Miss couldn’t be on two more different trajectories as the Gators are cruising to an SEC regular season title while the Rebels toil near the basement on the league and you saw why as Florida was meticulous in their domination ultimately winning 94-75. Playing in a quiet Pavilion at Ole Miss there wasn’t a ton for the scattered crowd to cheer about as Florida controlled just about every aspect of the game, never going on any crazy runs but continually pushing the lead further and further to the point of the comfortable win. Center Malik Dia was impressive with 24 points and 6 rebounds as he tried his best to will his teammates on but the Rebels didn’t have the talent to stay in the game. With the win the Gators improve to 12-2 in SEC play and remain in full control of their own destiny while Ole Miss falls to 3-11.
Leading The Way
Depth is great but sometimes you need your best players to be your best players and while this wasn’t going to be a game the Gators needed their stars to find a way to win it was still encouraging to see Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon combine for 44 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, dominating the game from their wing-hybrid frontcourt positions. An undersized roster, Ole Miss was often playing 6’4” at the “3” and 6’5” at the “4” which gave Haugh and Condon clear size advantages and Florida was able to take advantage without just sending the action to the block where the bigger players could overwhelm. There was a bit of low post work but it still seemed to come within the flow of the offense without breaking rhythm which kept the game from getting choppy. Both Haugh and Condon were also able to hold their own defensively against the smaller, quicker matchups which is something that will also be important as we get into post season play in a few weeks.
Threes Looking Up?
It’s no secret that Florida’s three-point shooting has been a struggle for much of the season but there were signs of life Saturday as the Gators shot 50% from deep going 11-22 with a couple of inconsistent shooters perhaps breaking the seal with huge makes. Early in the game Alex Condon confidently stepped into a pick and pop three that caught nothing but net, and while it doesn’t take just one make to break a shooting slump this was encouraging to see–as was the shooting of Boogie Fland. Going 3-6 and shooting a few confidently in transition you could start to see the building blocks of a consistent shooter and that’s something he’ll look to grow from. Xaivian Lee was also 1-3 and didn’t quite have the same positive game–but it wasn’t a poor one. Of course, the Gators were led by Urban Klavzar who continued his incredibly hot streak from three going 4-5 and finishing with 15 points. Not only did he go 4-5 but he did it on some shots with a high degree of difficulty, flying off pindowns, pulling off the dribble, or leaning sideways to create space. Klavzar is now shooting 44% from three in SEC play and has been a massive spark for Florida’s offense.
Preparing For March
As the Gators look to go on another National Championship run they’ll look to improve in a few key areas and we saw them able to work on some deficiencies against Ole Miss. First, as already mentioned–the three-point shooting, which will hopefully build some confidence. Next, the half court offense. Florida’s first shot offense in the halfcourt hasn’t been great this year, but they’ve been able to put up points due to transition and with the offensive rebound. Against Ole Miss the Gators didn’t have to do either of those things as they weren’t getting out in transition a ton and weren’t dominating the glass with just 8 offensive rebounds (not a horrible performance–but much less than we’re used to seeing), they were executing in the half court in a way they haven’t for much of the season. Shooting 57% from the field the Gators had one of their best halfcourt performances of the year, and it couldn’t come at a better time as the Gators look towards runs in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. They did have 19 turnovers (though a few came in garbage time) and they’ll need to improve in that area, but overall this was one of their better games executing the half court offense and that will be something to monitor in the final regular season games.
Final Thoughts
At this point of the year you never know what you’re going to get when a team that’s on their way to an SEC regular season title faces off against a team that is trying not to finish last, and it was great to see the Gators treat the game with respect and come in with a focused effort. It wasn’t all great as they kicked the ball around and didn’t always value the possession, but some of the offensive execution was as crisp as it’s ever been and that resulted in some open threes that were finally able to fall. Florida will now turn the page to Texas who has started to play some better basketball as of late.