Florida men’s basketball opened the 2024-25 season with a 98-83 win over the South Florida Bulls on Monday.
[autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. led all scorers with 29 points, followed closely by [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag], emphasizing the impact the returning duo had on the team. Four of the five Gators starters finished the game in double figures, with [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] giving eight off the bench.
Florida won the rebounding battle 37-32, even with starting forward [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] on the bench for nearly half the game thanks to some foul trouble. Clayton finished the game with four fouls as well, but the bigger news is that he hobbled off the court in the closing moments of the game.
Perhaps he didn’t need to be out there with a 15-point lead and two minutes to go, but the Gators only played eight against a tough USF squad that led at the half.
Double-headed monster dominates
Getting back Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard is a huge deal for Florida. The veteran duo combined for 54 points on 20-of-32 (62.5%) shooting for the Gators, 33 of which came in the second half. Elite players take over in the final 10 minutes, and that’s exactly what Clayton did. He missed just one shot in the second half and scored seven from the line to put the game out of reach.
Richard is the X-factor of this team. If he’s not on, there’s little hope for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament come the spring. He took 10 minutes to get going but got hot in the middle 20. A 2-for-7 night from deep isn’t ideal, but he put up solid all-around numbers.
Alijah Martin, who transferred from FAU, has a chance to be the third head of this monster, but he struggled shooting the ball tonight. A 3-for-12 night with zero makes on six attempts from deep isn’t going to cut it in SEC play. Fortunately, Martin’s best tool, his defense, was on full display with four steals on the night.
First-game jitters evaporate in second half
Even though Florida won the game by double digits, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the Gators all night long. In fact, the Orange and Blue trailed by 13 with 6 minutes left in the first half, and USF entered halftime with a one-point lead.
Taking nothing away from the Bulls — who were raining down threes at a torrid pace early — Florida seemed a bit skittish to start the season. Clayton, Martin and Richard forced shots, hitting just five of the team’s first seven attempts. Then, the big men, [autotag]Sam Alexis[/autotag] and Alex Condon, found success in the paint, opening things up for the backcourt to score.
The same thing happened once [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] checked into the game. The offense looked rushed and a bit lost, leading to a 1-for-9 stretch. Once again, Condon scored two buckets down low, sparking a barrage from Clayton and Richard.
No such magic was needed in the second half, though. Condon got into foul trouble quickly after the break, but Clayton started to attack the rim. The Gators went on one four-shot cold streak in the in the first five minutes of the half, but they only missed consecutive shots once more through the rest of the game.
It’s not too concerning to see some of those early struggles. This is a new team with new roles, even if 60% of last year’s points return to the lineup. Chalk it up to first-half jitters and commend the team for figuring it out before things got too ugly.
Living at the (free throw) line
Florida’s free throw success was a major reason for the second-half comeback. Good teams know how to get the line, and the Gators missed just one of its first 20 shots at the stripe. A couple of late misses led to a 27-of-33 finish at the charity line, but Clayton was a perfect 7-of-7 and the bigs were 7-of-9.
Alijah Martin missed three of his 10 attempts, which could be cleaned up a bit, but it’s a positive to see him getting to the line frequently on a night he struggled in the field.
It may seem minor, but good free throw discipline is one of many small signs that the Gators are a legitimate threat to finish the season ranked for the first time since 2020. There are still 30 games to go in the regular season, though, so let’s not put the cart before the horse just yet.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.