Tag: game recap

Three takeaways from Florida’s Gasparilla Bowl win over Tulane

Florida capped off the 2024 season with its first bowl win since 2019, and a four-game streak to close out the year has fans looking forward to 2025.

Despite some early struggles, Florida won the Gasparilla Bowl game, 33-8, against Tulane Friday night.

The win is significant for many reasons. It’s the first bowl win for the Gators under Billy Napier and also the culmination of one of the most up-and-down seasons in Florida football history.

Most fans and pundits wouldn’t believe that Florida could nearly shut out a 9-4 team that made it to a conference championship if asked a month into the season, but Napier managed to turn the program around following the first bye week of the year and it’s been nothing but improvements — save for the Texas game — ever since.

[autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag], who set a Gasparilla Bowl record with 305 passing yards, has Florida on the rise, but the defense has improved the most over the past three months. Finishing things off with a goose egg is a poetic way to end the year.

Defense puts on a clinic

Even though Florida played without a good chunk of its starting lineup — due to both transfers and injuries — the defense played with a first-string effort. They limited Tulane to 194 total yards and forced three interceptions in perhaps the most dominant performance of the season.

From big Desmond Watson picking up the Green Wave’s running back for a stop to reserve Alonzo Allen Jr. securing a pick, Ron Roberts proved that he’s the miracle worker on the defensive side of the ball. Florida will be just fine without Austin Armstrong next year.

Tulane averaged 2.6 yards per carry and had under 100 yards passing until a garbage time touchdown drive in the game’s waning minutes; against Florida’s walk-on/reserve unit at that.

A little rust from DJ in the first quarter, but vintage Lagway the rest of the way

Lagway didn’t have his best stuff at the beginning of this one. He threw a pair of first-half interceptions but still managed 190 yards on 14-of-22 passing. The second half was far more fruitful from a scoring standpoint, with Florida going field goal, touchdown, field goal on its first three drives. The Gators punted just once, ending the game with a pair of touchdown drives — the second of which was scored by walk-on running back Anthony Rubio.

Chimere Dike went out with a bang, catching six passes for 96 yards, and several young players performed well behind him. Tight end Tony Livingston hauled in four for 58 yards and a touchdown, and redshirt freshman Aidan Mizell also caught four passes for 50 yards. Both figure to be crucial pieces of Florida’s offense next season.

The future is bright in Gainesville under center, and there are plenty of elite receivers coming in to replenish the losses of Elijhah Badger and Dike.

It’s finally great to be a Florida Gator again

It’s been a long time since Florida Gators fans could proudly boast that the team is back, but a four-game win streak has everyone in college football excited about the program heading into 2025. Billy Napier managed to reel in a top-10 recruiting class, and the coaching staff has proven that it’s capable of getting results without starters.

The Gators haven’t had a winning season since 2020, but that’s all in the past now. For those who hung in there “through all kinds of weather,” this has to feel good.

That’s a wrap for the 2024 Florida football season. Until next year, Gators fans!

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Three takeaways from Florida’s big win over UNC at Jumpman Invitational

What looked like another double-digit win for the Gators quickly turned into an upset scare, but Florida came out on top against North Carolina on Tuesday at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte.

Although there was some doubt throughout the second half, the Florida Gators came away with an 11th-straight victory Tuesday night against the North Carolina Tar Heels, 90-84, at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte.

The Gators led by as much as 17 in the first half, but a 10-0 run after the break made it a completely new ball game. In the end, a pair of clutch offensive rebounds proved to be the difference as Florida pulled ahead in the final minutes. Thomas Haugh and Will Richard both sunk a pair of free throws to turn a two-point lead into a six-point win.

Richard led Florida with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting (3-of-5 from three), followed by a 19-point night from Alijah Martin and 12 from Walter Clayton Jr. North Carolina’s RJ Davis led all scorers with 29 points.

It’s the first close game for Florida through 11, and turnovers, three-point shooting and rebounds played a big role in the comeback for North Carolina. Still, a win’s a win. Let’s break down the most important moments from the victory.

Size matters

North Carolina is an undersized team, and it became apparent early that Florida could exert its will in the paint. Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon played with great energy in the opening minutes, setting the tone for the evening. Chinyelu grabbed three offensive boards and Condon finished the half with six overall.

The Gators actually lost the offensive rebound battle in the first half, 9-6, but some of those can be chalked up to the Tar Heels’ abysmal three-point percentage (13%). Overall Florida won the battle on the boards, 25-21, in the first half and 21-15 in the second. After the break, the big turnaround came on the offensive glass; Florida won that battle 10-4, including those timely rebounds in the final minutes.

Florida’s rotation of bigs won them this game, but it also might be the reason North Carolina came back. Chinyelu doesn’t have the stamina to play 25-plus minutes and Thomas Haugh ran into foul trouble early in the second half. Haugh had to play cautious after his fourth foul and that allowed the guards to attack him despite the mismatch.

Still, Florida doesn’t win this game without its bigs grabbing the rebounds they did.

Hot and cold

Three-point shooting has been a hot topic for this Gators team all year, and it played a role in this near-loss. Florida shot over 40% from three in the first half with big buckets from Condon and Will Richard (3 threes), but that number dropped to 26.7% in the second half thanks to a barrage of misses from Alijah Martin, who went 1-for-8 from deep after the break.

It’s not so much about who is and isn’t hitting the threes for Florida — although it’s really nice to see Richard finding his touch after struggling — but rather the streakiness in which those buckets come for the Gators. The timing of those misses made them all the more painful to watch, as North Carolina clawed its way to a four-point lead.

Good teams don’t compound bad defense with bad offense, and that’s still something Florida is working to stay away from.

Also, Sam Alexis should be banned from taking a three for the rest of the year. It’s not his game, and he refuses to accept that. Playing just six minutes tonight might get that message through, though.

Turnover monster rears its ugly head

Similar to the three-point issue, Florida has been up and down with turning the ball over this season. There have been good stretches and bad stretches, and tonight was the worst Florida has handled the ball since the Florida State game when it turned the ball over 19 times.

The figure tonight was 17, and about half of them were avoidable. North Carolina scored 24 of its 84 points off turnovers, and most of those buckets led to runs that ignited what was essentially a home crowd in Charlotte.

It’s hard to put the blame on any one player here. Florida simply played a sloppy game, especially in the middle 10 — final five minutes of the first half and first five of the second half. Both primary ball-handlers, Clayton and Martin, turned it over four times to a combined six assists, and Condon struggled a bit too with three turnovers.

The only Gator who finished the night without turning it over once was Haugh, who continues to be one of the best sixth men in the country.

After a five-game run where Florida turned the ball over just 38 times (7.6 per game), Florida has given it away 31 times over the last two. The competition level is certainly higher over the past week, but Florida can’t use that excuse come March. Something has to change.

BONUS: Still undefeated, can’t hate that

While there were certainly moments of dread in this win, coaches, players and fans can’t lose sight of it still being a win against a good North Carolina program. The Tarheels might not be ranked, but they’ve played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this year.

Florida is still a top-10 team and just proved it can win big games without Clayton or Condon going off. Winning 11 in a row doesn’t happen by luck, and now the Gators are poised to enter conference play with a perfect record — assuming they get the job done against North Florida and Stetson.

Next up for Florida

The Gators return to the O’Connell Center on Saturday, Dec. 21 to host the North Florida Ospreys. Tipoff is slated for noon ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Raiders vs Falcons Week 15: Las Vegas offense flounders as losing streak hits double digits

The Raiders lose again in week 15 to the visiting Falcons, Bringing the Vegas losing streak to ten games.

Things started terrible for the Raiders Monday Night. And they stayed there.

The first drive ended with a sack, a tackle for loss, and a fumble. A three-and-out ended with a punt and led to a Falcons touchdown on a short field to give them a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

The second quarter would see the Raiders make it into Falcons territory on a drive in which they got a field goal. But the following drive, they would be pinned deep in their own territory and on consecutive plays the run was stopped for a loss. The second of those runs was in their own endzone for a safety.

The third quarter would open with Robert Spillane picking off a Kirk Cousin pass. Only to have the offense three-and-out, losing 12 yards with a blocked punt.

The Raiders had just one first down in the third quarter. And for the game they had eight possessions with only one having made it into Atlanta territory.

With the game seemingly out of hand, down 15-3 with just over five minutes left in the game, things would suddenly get interesting.

For just the second time in the game, the Raiders would cross the 50-yard-line.

They would get a touchdown on the drive to make the score look not as bad. But even then, the extra point attempt was blocked.

The touchdown made it a six-point game. In order to have a chance, they would need a stop and a drive for a TD. A highly questionable roughing the passer penalty on Robert Spillane gave the Falcons an automatic first down. But even after that, the Raiders defense made the stop to give the Raiders offense 1:50 to go 80 yards.

It would take a new flawless drive to do it and that ended early in the drive with DJ Glaze getting flagged for holding. They would eventually pick up the first down, but it took a lot of time off the clock to get it.

A 22-yard catch by Jakobi Meyers put the Raiders in first down at the 35-yard-line with ten seconds left on the clock.

They would go for the Hail Mary on consecutive plays. The first incomplete. and the second was intercepted to end the game. Final score 15-9.

The Raiders losing streak reached ten games and brings the Raiders record to 2-12 on the season.

Cowboys declaw Panthers, defense and Dowdle dominate as Dallas defiantly remains in playoff chase

Despite Dallas’ victory, they inch closer to their inevitable elimination from playoff contention.

The Dallas Cowboys have no interest in laying down their weapons. Despite suffering two more season-ending injuries to defensive starters in the last week, the group came out and proved why Mike Zimmer was hired during the offseason. With a complicated system, it was predicted by those in the know that it was going to take some time for the players to realize its potential, but glimpses continue to peak through a miserable, lost 2024 season.

The Dallas defense harassed and bullied little Bryce Young throughout the Week 15 contest, sacking the diminutive QB six times and forcing him into four turnovers. With Rio Dowdle turning in another career performance, there was no need to lean on an inaccurate Cooper Rush. Dallas cruised to a 30-14 victory for their third win in their last four games.

Unfortunately though, that heartbreaking loss last week against the Cincinnati Bengals put them on disaster’s edge and with Washington escaping New Orleans with a last-second 20-19 win, Dallas inches closer to elimination from the 2024 playoff chase.

The victory improved Dallas to 6-8 on the season, and 5-2 on the road, but the disaster that has been the team at AT&T Stadium this year along with a ridiculously long major injury list will eventually be too much to overcome.

The Cowboys’ negative magic number was two, where a loss plus a victory by the Commanders eliminated them from the playoff hunt they somehow had clawed themselves back in to with back-to-back wins over Washington and New York to close November. Now that is reduced to just one.

RECAP: Wisconsin basketball snaps losing streak with 83-74 victory over Butler

Quick thoughts on Wisconsin’s win over Butler

Wisconsin basketball returned to the win column with an 83-74 win over Butler on Saturday.

The Badgers started hot, bursting out to a 9-0 lead in the game’s early stages. They kept that advantage throughout the first frame before an important closing 16-5 run built a 47-33 halftime lead.

Butler remained within striking distance for much of the second half. But Wisconsin held the opponent at arm’s length, holding on for a wire-to-wire victory.

The big story of the game was the performance of the Badgers’ big men, led by senior Steven Crowl. Crowl had been the center of conversation after he failed to record a rebound during the Badgers’ recent loss at Illinois. His response: 18 points and six rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting and 2-of-3 from three.

Nolan Winter was just as good, finishing with a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting.

Wisconsin rebounded the ball better than it did during its three-game losing streak. It grabbed 32 total rebounds, matching Butler’s total. Most importantly, the Badgers held the Bulldogs to just five rebounds on the offensive end.

That rebounding and interior performance carried the team throughout. The Badgers shot just 44.8% from the field and 24% (6-of-25) from three-point range. They did, however, make 25 of 27 free throw attempts, while Butler went just 22-of-32. Those margins are where the game was decided down the stretch.

Wisconsin improves to 9-3 on the season with the victory. Butler drops to 7-4. The Badgers now have just one game (Dec. 22 vs. Detroit Mercy) before Big Ten play heats up on January 3. The win over Butler builds critical momentum before a quiet few weeks.

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Infuriating, unbelievably dumb mistake costs Cowboys late in 27-20 loss to Bengals

The Cowboys suffered their first gut-punch loss of 2024, which is amazing considering how bad 2024 has been.

In front of Troy Aikman, no less. The Dallas Cowboys had one of those once-in-a-lifetime bad decisions haunt them in a winnable game. Harkening back to nightmarish memories from Leon Lett in Thanksgiving snow in 1993, a beautiful special teams play turned into a disastrous losing moment.

Late in the fourth quarter of a game tied at 20, Dallas’ defense pushed Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense way back to a 4th and 27 from their own side of the field. The punt, at the two-minute warning, would give the Cowboys a chance for a third win in a row and near them to .500. A block! But they touched it. Unbelievable. Bengals ball. Madness.

In a wildly disappointing 2024 season, this is the first gut punch loss for the Cowboys. Every other loss had been a blowout, even the ones they made look close. And despite all of that, Dallas didn’t give up on the season. But this loss? This one might have broken everyone’s spirit.

Cornerback Amani Oruwariye, just activated from IR before kickoff, attempted to corral a bouncing ball after linebacker Nick Vigil blocked the punt, but instead saw the ball bounce off his arm and past him. The Bengals recovered and a dejected Cowboys defense that had held the dynamic Cincy offense to just 20 points, came back out on the field.

Well, their bodies came back out, but their souls didn’t. A few plays later, Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase on the right sideline, and he spun away from an over-pursuing DaRon Bland and raced 40 yards for the score.

Bengals win, 27-20.

Dallas drops to 5-8.

Raiders vs Buccaneers recap, final score: Las Vegas losing streak hits 9 games

Week 14 saw Raiders defense keep them in it for two quarters vs the Buccaneers, but it wasn’t enough the losing streak reaches nine.

Things could not have started better for the Buccaneers in this one. Which means it really could not have started worse for the Raiders. Just 11 minutes into the game and the Buccaneers were up 14-0 with the Raiders having yet to get even a first down.

The Bucs got the ball first and marched right down the field for a touchdown to open the game. The touchdown coming on a 15-yard pass from Baker Mayfield to Jalen McMillan. The Raiders then answered by going three-and-out, ending on a 10-yard sack of Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders punted out of their own end zone.

Off the punt, the Bucs were close to midfield. They took that great field position and drove for another touchdown, this time from Mayfield to Rachaad White. That drive didn’t even have a third down and had just one second down. The TD coming on first and goal. So, in other words, too easy.

To begin the second quarter, it looked for a moment the Raiders might swing things back their way a bit. K’Lavon Chaisson got in a passing lane on the left side and picked the ball off. But on the first play of the Raiders possession, Aidan O’Connell fumbled the snap and gave it right back to the Buccaneers.

A short time later, the Raiders defense stepped up again, taking the ball back a second time, making this the first time all season the Raiders had multiple takeaways in a game. It cam on a strip sack by Amari Burney on the blitz that was recovered by Tre’von Moehrig.

This time, the Raiders offense took advantage. They got the ball at the Tampa Bay 45 and drove for a touchdown. The touchdown wasn’t exactly automatic though. On third and goal, O’Connell fell down as he threw and was bailed out when Brock Bowers came back to try and get it and was interfered with. Next play, from the one, O’Connell called his own number to sneak it for the touchdown.

The one-yard run for O’Connell was his first rushing yards of his career. And it put the Raiders on the board and within one score at 14-7.

The Raiders would make it a ten unanswered with a defensive stop followed by a 29-yard run by Sincere McCormick to put them inside the 20. Daniel Carlson added a 25-yard field goal to make it a 14-10 game with just over four minutes left in the second quarter.

It looked like the Bucs might extend the lead before the half, but Baker Mayfield threw an ill-advised pass under pressure from John Jenkins and Jack Jones picked it off in the end zone.

The third quarter was a tragic one for Aidan O’Connell. He led the Raiders on a drive that lasted over ten minutes and put them at the Bucs 10-yard line. Then everything fell apart. 

O’Connell threw for Brock Bowers and was picked off by cornerback Tykee Smith. After a Raiders defensive stop, O’Connell came back out and on his first play, threw a pop fly off his back foot for another interception. Another defensive stop for the Raiders and O’Connell came out and rolled out trying to convert a third and long. He completed the pass short of the sticks and was hit in the back and injured his leg on the way to the ground and was carted off the field as the Raiders punted the ball away.

Meanwhile the Raiders defense was keeping the Raiders in it, making their sixth straight stop.

Desmond Ridder took the field when the Raiders offense returned to the field. And went three-and-out including a fumbled snap he recovered for a loss.

Despite the Raiders defense doing their part to get them back in the game, the Raiders offense couldn’t take advantage, seemingly waiting for the Buccaneers to right the ship. And midway through the fourth quarter, they did. On three plays. 

Baker Mayfield found Mike Evans on a slant (and a hurdle) goes for 32 yards. Then Sean Tucker takes a handoff 34 yards to first and goal at the three. And Rachaad White finished it off on the run up the middle for the touchdown to give the Bucs a 21-10 lead.

Ridder looked to have thrown an interception on the ensuing drive, but it was overturned on review for not maintaining possession all the way to the ground. This allowed him to find Jakobi Meyers for 18 yards on third and five to put the Raiders in first and goal at the ten. But three plays later, the Raiders had to settle for a field goal to make it a 21-13 game with just over three minutes remaining. 

From there, the Buccaneers ended it quickly. On the second play, Mayfield found TE Cole Otton for 44 yards to put the Bucs in field goal range at the Vegas 33. Three plays later, Jalen McMillan made a wide open catch and literally jogged into the end zone to put the game away at 28-13.

RECAP: Turnovers plague Wisconsin as it falls to rival Marquette 88-74

RECAP: Turnovers plague Badgers as they fall to rival Marquette 88-74

Wisconsin basketball fell to 8-2 on the season with an 88-74 loss to rival Marquette on Saturday.

The game was a tale of two halves. The Badgers led 39-37 at the break, driven by hot shooting from guard Max Klesmit and wing John Tonje. That shooting was enough to overcome eight first-half turnovers and general offensive sloppiness.

But just as occurred during Wisconsin’s recent home loss to Michigan, the script flipped in the second frame. The Badgers’ turnovers became costly. Marquette forced eight second-half turnovers, numerous leading to points. The team built a lead fresh out of the locker room. Every time Wisconsin made a step to trim the lead, Marquette answered with a big basket.

Kam Jones led the way for the Golden Eagles with 32 points, six assists, four steals and two rebounds on 12-of-21 shooting and 3-of-7 from three. Starters David Joplin, Chase Ross and Stevie Mitchell all added double-figure outputs as the team combined to shoot a whopping 50% from the field.

The turnover discrepancy mostly decided the game. Wisconsin handed 16 possessions away, leading to 16 Marquette points. That while the Badgers forced just five turnovers, scoring seven points off those opportunities.

Max Klesmit led Wisconsin with 22 points on 6-of-11 from three in a resurgent shooting effort. Otherwise, most everyone else struggled both shooting and taking care of the basketball.

The Badgers are back on the court on Tuesday on the road against No. 19 Illinois (6-2, 0-1 Big Ten). Greg Gard’s team needs a win in that contest to avoid dropping three consecutive games after its 8-0 start.

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Three instant takeaways from Florida’s blowout win over FSU

It wasn’t the most efficient night for Florida’s offense, but a stout defensive performance led the Gators to an easy victory of Florida State.

Florida capped off its regular season with a third-straight win Saturday night, a 31-11 victory over the Florida State Seminoles that was never truly in doubt.

If there was a game that Florida could afford to be sloppy in this season, it was this one. [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] started off the game slow and his receivers didn’t help him out too much, either. Fortunately, the running backs came up big, combining for 223 yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries. It’s only the second time this year that Florida has gone over 200 yards rushing, with Montrell Johnson Jr. battling injuries for much of the year.

The defense also continued its dominant run through November by bulldozing through Florida State’s offensive line and getting to the quarterback eight times. The Seminoles fumbled seven times and never had a shot with that kind of turnover margin.

PLANT THE FLAG!

Fumblerooski

Okay, the fumblerooski is a trick play and FSU certainly did not have many tricks in their bag against Florida, but it’s fun to say and the Gators forced eight fumbles on the night, recovering five.

Florida’s defensive front started off the year rough, but that unit has been the key over the past month. Creating pressure against a true freshman quarterback who likes to take off is a tried and true recipe for manifesting havoc, and that’s exactly what happened Saturday night.

Eight sacks, 14 tackles for loss and just one touchdown allowed. What a night for the defense.

Shout out to long snapper [autotag]Rocco Underwood[/autotag] for getting downfield and recovering a muffed punt on special teams, too.

Lagway a bit off, RBs clean up

This was not DJ Lagway’s best game, but the Gators didn’t need it to be to get the win. Getting [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. back has been huge, and both [autotag]Jadan Baugh[/autotag] and [autotag]Ja’Kobi Jackson[/autotag] are still doing just fine.

It’s only right for the guy who came over with Billy Napier and returned for his senior year despite being a draft prospect to get the lion’s share of important carries, and Johnson made the most of his 10 against Florida State with 99 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter.

In fact, Johnson ran so well that Napier could afford to spread the love and get Baugh and Jackson 10 or more carries. Baugh ran it enough late to creep up to 81 yards and led the room with 11 carries. All three rushers finished the night with more than five yards per carry — Johnson at 9.9, Baugh at 7.4 and Jackson at 5.1.

The running backs room in Gainesville is loaded with talent, and everyone but Johnson will be back next season.

Not the best night for Florida receivers

Florida’s passing attack suffered throughout the game, but it’s not all on the quarterback. Yes, Lagway was a bit off, but the bulk of the incompletions tonight can be put on the receivers. Several players dropped balls that hit their hands, and that can’t happen in a rivalry game.

Lagway’s lone interception is a result of a miscommunication by the receivers, too. Veteran guys like [autotag]Elijhah Badger[/autotag], [autotag]Chimere Dike[/autotag] and even Marcus Burke are supposed to make things easier for a true freshman, but Lagway didn’t get much help from them.

Badger and Dike get a pass because they’ve been solid for most of the season, though. It was just a rough night for that group.

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Takeaways from Florida’s ESPN Events Invitational Championship win

The ESPN Events Invitational Championship game wasn’t much of a contest after Florida got rolling. The Gators won by a season-high 37 points on Friday.

Florida claimed the ESPN Events Invitational Championship trophy with an 88-51 win over Wichita State on Friday.

The Shockers kept things within range for the first 15 minutes of the game, but it was all Gators from there on out. Florida closed the first half with a 16-0 run and kept things going throughout the second half. Florida led by 48 points at one point, allowing the backups to come in and get some good minutes to close out the win.

Wichita State appeared outmatched in almost every category, but Florida’s most dominant area came in the frontcourt. The starting forward duo of Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu dominated the paint on both sides of the court.

Walter Clayton Jr. led all scorers with 19 points, draining five three-pointers. The rest of the backcourt, Alijah Martin and Will Richard, had a quiet game, but that speaks to Florida’s ability to win in a variety of ways.

Big run, Big blowout

At its best, Florida looks like a top-10 team in the country, but the Gators have a habit of delivering Jekyll-and-Hyde performances. The 27-point run in the middle 10 (last five minutes of the first half, and the first five of the second), put this game out of reach in a hurry.

Todd Golden has talked about getting a 40-minute effort from his players several times this season, but there was no need to keep his best players on the court over the final 10 minutes of this one.

Five of the 11 makes during that period came from distance, which is a positive sign for a team that struggled beyond the arc to start the season.

Dominating weaker teams for extended minutes also means that Florida should be able to remain competitive against the SEC’s best. The Gators have played a relatively light non-conference schedule, but Wichita State came into this one ranked inside the top 75 in adjusted defensive efficiency.

While the bulk of the conference is ranked inside the top 50, Florida won’t need to put together a 27-point run to stay competitive with many of those programs.

Frontcourt dominance

Chinyelu continues to grow more comfortable in Todd Golden’s system, and the stats are reflecting that. Friday marked Chinyelu’s first double-double in the Orange and Blue, and four of his 11 rebounds came off the offensive glass. He tied a season-high with 14 points and doubled his season-high in blocks with four.

At times, Chinyelu has looked like the weakest member of Florida’s four-man frontcourt rotation, but this kind of breakout is going to keep in his starting spot.

Condon had a similarly dominant afternoon, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds. His five offensive boards and Chinyelu’s four outpaced the entire Wichita State team, which finished with seven, and the duo challenged the Shcokers’ overall rebound numbers 30-20 — Florida won the rebounding contest handily with 56 in total.

As one might expect, Florida also won the points in the paint battle, 36-22, and outscored Wichita State on second-chance attempts, 20-10.

Ball handling continues to improve

Through the season’s first four games, Florida had 56 assists to 51 turnovers, keeping the ratio marginally positive. Since then, the Gators have found their rhythm moving the ball around the court, with 70 assists to just 32 turnovers. That 2.19 ratio outpaces the current NCAA leader, Mississippi State (2.13), and has Florida approaching a top-50 ranking in that category.

It’s hard to say where that change comes from, but Walter Clayton Jr. isn’t forcing as many passes as he was to start the season. Alijah Martin picking up his scoring certainly helps, as do the big-man points, and even Will Richard is thinking pass more than shoot at times. Richard finished the game with a season-high five assists on Friday.

Turnovers are a killer in any sport, but they can lead to quick and extended runs in basketball. If the Gators can continue this trend against the SEC, they are a team to watch out for come the spring.

Next up for Florida

The Gators return to the O’Connell Center for a rematch of last year’s non-conference game against the Virginia Cavaliers on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Tipoff is slated for 7:15 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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