Florida men’s basketball season is officially up and running after the team tallied its first win of the season over the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds.
Florida’s offense broke out early and jumped to a 25-8 lead midway through the first half, thanks to sophomore guard Riley Kugel.
The returning Gator compiled 23 points and helped to shut down Loyola’s offense by collecting six steals. While Kugel took over the Florida offense, two other names at the forward and center positions were quietly excelling in the paint and from distance.
Kugel went 0-for-3 from three-point land, but sophomore center Micah Handlogten shot 100% from the distance, simply because the open space was there.
Florida head coach Todd Golden was perfectly fine with the shot selections, especially since they went in.
“Well he usually doesn’t shoot them,” Golden said. “Listen, he’s a skilled player for his size. And they weren’t guarding him out there. (Walter Clayton Jr.) pitched it to him. One thing I love about Walt is he does a really good job of infusing confidence in his teammates. He pitches it to him and says, ‘Knock that down.’ It’s like, ‘OK. Bang.’”
Handlogten recorded 16 points for the night, six of those from coming from downtown.
“It all really goes together that way” Golden continued. “Do we want to live and die on Micah Handlogten shooting threes? No. But at the same time, I’m not going to get upset if he takes a wide-open naked one from the top key in the middle of the game.”
Freshman center Alex Condon also showed flashes while sharing the hardwood, impressing the coach who recruited him to the team. Condon collected 13 points, with another six arriving from three-point land.
“(Condon’s) really skilled that way,” Golden said. “He can really dribble, pass and shoot for his size, and has good moves inside. Again, similar to the shots that Micah got, if he gets those threes from the middle of the floor those are great shots. They’re going to go down. I thought he played well.”
The pair of bigs collected nine rebounds and Handlogten swatted a block during the Gators defensive blitz over the Greyhounds. With the loss of Colin Castleton to the NBA, the pair are shaping up to be a fair replacement.
Up next for the Florida Gators is a road trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to challenge the Virginia Cavaliers in the Hall of Fame series. The game tips off at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
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