Playing in the Orange Bowl Classic the Florida Gators and George Washington traded blows at different points of the game but ultimately it was the Gators, led by a huge surge to start the second half, that were able to come away with the 80-70 victory. In this instance the final score doesn’t completely tell the story of the game as the final few minutes saw a lot of intentional fouling and free throw work that increased the end score, and really the story of this game was a grind it out, low scoring affair that saw the Gators win in the trenches. At halftime the score was just 30-27 for Florida but coming out the break they started piling up points in transition, stretching their lead to as much as 20 which was a big enough cushion to hold on for a double digit lead. George Washington has a talented roster with a number of high-major level players and this was always going to be a more difficult game than a lot of people expected and the Gators did well to hold on for a win without much drama.
Perkiomen Connection
Offensively Florida was led by former Perkiomen High School teammates Xaivian Lee and Thomas Haugh whose output was particularly notable in the opening half when they were the only two players to get anything going, combining for 21 of Florida’s 30 points. Lee ended up with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in what could be classified as his best game as a Gator, with Haugh dominant in transition finishing with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Lee is coming off a game where he had a good scoring output but he still didn’t shoot the ball well, and that makes the game against George Washington look like his first true breakout of the season as he shot 6-11 from the field and 4-8 from three, something that will allow him to exhale and feel a bit of weight off his back.
Sharing The Ball
Florida’s offense remains a little stagnant, and their offense wasn’t as good as 80 points would indicate as they were able to put up a bunch of points from the free throw line in the final minutes. However, while there are some clear issues that come with a lack of scoring punch on the perimeter and some difficulties making threes, one of the nice steps forward Saturday was when it came to sharing the ball and having players create shots for teammates. The Gators had 18 assists on 27 made field goals, an impressive ratio that indicates one of their best passing games of the season. Whether it was within the flow of the offense or a player making a read on a drive or ball reversal there was a lot of quick, intentional ball movement that led to scoring opportunities, and with the Gators lacking explosive individual scorers they will need this team oriented attack to be the north star.
Tough D
George Washington is a talented offensive roster who entered Saturday’s game in the top-50 of KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric and the Gators did an excellent job throwing them of course and keeping them out of rhythm with their length and physicality holding the Revolutionaries to one of their lowest point totals of the season. Everything around the rim was heavily contested, and any attempts at moving the ball around the perimeter was made more difficult with the length up and down the lineup. There were moments when the excellent shot making and well-designed plays from George Washington still resulted in made baskets, but generally the Gators made everything difficult as they continue to lean into a defensive identity.
Final Thoughts
George Washington could very well end up being a contender in the Atlantic-10 and this might end up looking like a sneaky good win on the resume, though more than that the Gators will have to be happy with the way they exerted their will physically and the way they were able to go on the massive run to start the second half. This might not be a team that can have consistent offensive production throughout a game, but they can use their defense and rebounding to have spurts of transition possessions that they can capitalize on and when they do that they can put up points in a hurry and nurse those leads with their overwhelming defense. This was ultimately Florida’s last real test of the non-conference season and they’ll now have some opportunities against low-major opponents to hone in on some of their deficiencies before SEC play.