Florida took down rival Florida State on the hardwood Friday night, 87-74, in a game that could have been a 20-point blowout but stayed within range until a pair of dagger threes in the final minutes.
[autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. led all scorers with 25 points, followed by [autotag]Alijah Martin[/autotag] with 17 and [autotag]Sam Alexis[/autotag] with 12 for Florida. Seminoles star Jamir Watkins scored 19, and three other Florida State players reached double figures.
The biggest difference between the two squads was the physicality Florida played with, made evident by an 18-rebound differential at the final buzzer. [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] missed his first double-double of the season by three points, but he dominated the boards all night.
Despite the 13-point margin on the scoreboard, Florida did not play its best basketball. The Gators turned the ball over 19 times, giving the Seminoles 16 points off turnovers. [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] set a goal of 12 or fewer ahead of the game, and Florida made this game closer than it needed to be by exceeding that total.
Still, a win is a win, especially when it comes against Florida State — even though the Seminoles haven’t won this matchup since the 2020 season.
The Gators move to 4-0 on the season with a chance to close out the first month of the season undefeated. Florida A&M, Southern Illinois and Wake Forest remain on the schedule.
Walter Clayton Jr. likes playing Florida State
Clayton dropped 19 against Florida State last year and didn’t hold back when discussing his feelings on the Seminoles in the post-game press conference. He followed that performance up with a 25-point outburst, most of which (12) came during the bookends of the game.
A shoot-first guard, Clayton can take over games when he needs to for Florida. The Gators have several scoring options, but Clayton can stroke it from deep and drive the lane when the defense gives it to him. He’s also 12-of-13 this year from the free-throw line, which means there’s no way to stop him from scoring without forcing a turnover.
Against Grambling State and Jacksonville, Clayton seemed more focused on distributing the ball rather than scoring. Tonight, he wanted to outplay Watkins and lead his team to a convincing victory. His team-high plus-minus of 15 confirms he was the X-factor in this win.
Another dominant night on the boards
Florida State has some big bodies down low, and they play defense better than other teams Florida has seen this year. But the Seminoles were no match for the Gators on the boards.
Florida’s 47 rebounds against FSU are the most so far this season, surpassing the 45 grabbed against Grambling State at the beginning of the week. Condon is the biggest contributor, securing 11 defensive rebounds and one offensive. He simply out-physicals the other big bodies in the paint, and those 12 boards came over just 28 minutes.
Not to be forgotten is [autotag]Thomas Haugh[/autotag], who had five defensive rebounds and four offensive for a total of nine over 20 minutes off the bench. It’s a luxury for Todd Golden to be able to rotate these two in and out, and there’s really no need for them to see the floor at the same time except for the fact that they are best friends.
[autotag]Rueben Chinyelu[/autotag] matched his season-high with six rebounds (three defensive, three offensive), and all three starting guards — Clayton, Martin and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] — added five apiece to the team total. When you get that kind of production on the glass from your starting five, it’s pretty easy to find a path to victory.
Too many turnovers
The scary about wins like this for Florida is that the Gators aren’t playing their best basketball. Clayton, Condon and Chinyelu all turned the ball over four times, and Martin added three more. Urban Klavzar traveled on his first touch of the season, and Denzel Aberdeen threw the ball to waste a possession.
And the Gators still won by 13 points.
There’s no doubt that the turnover margin needs to be cleaned up, but there’s reason to be excited about a team that can overcome a 19-8 differential with relative ease.
Richard was the only starter without a turnover tonight and it’s because he’s not a primary ball handler. Clayton’s trying a little too hard to prove he can dish the rock, and Martin is the second option. With Klavzar in the mix, it might be wise to let him take the ball up more, but he only played five minutes tonight. Aberdeen is another option at the point.
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