Takeaways as No. 5 Florida basketball routs Stetson at the O’Connell Center

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Wrap up of the Gator Football Season

Gainesville Sun Reporters Noah Ram and Kevin Brockway talk about the season ending game for the Florida Gators

This story was updated

The final tuneup for Florida basketball before SEC play went as smooth as expected.

Grad transfer guard Alijah Martin led three scorers in double figures with 18 points and four steals, lifting the No. 5 Florida Gators to an 85-45 win over Stetson before a sold-out crowd of 10,676 on Sunday afternoon at the O’Connell Center.

Will Richard added 17 points for UF while Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 12 points and seven assists.

Florida, which entered the game 37.5-point favorites, raced to a 46-27 halftime lead and extended it to 40 points at the final buzzer.

With the win, Florida (13-0) finished off its non-conference slate unbeaten and maintained UF’s best start to a season since the Gators began the 2005-06 season 17-0. Florida will open SEC play on Jan. 4 at No. 10 Kentucky (noon, ESPN).

“We definitely feel like we’re prepared,” Clayton said. “There’s obviously things we got to fix up. Just been a lot of learning through winning. So just continue to learn, not be complacent and I think we’ll be ready.”

UF posted five of its 13 wins over power conference opponents, a list that includes Florida State, Wake Forest, Virginia, Arizona State and North Carolina.

The sellout crowd included a pair of former Florida basketball legends as Dan Cross, the point guard on UF’s first Final Four team in 1994 and Chris Richard, a center and key bench cog on UF’s back-to-back national championship teams in 2006 and 2007, were in attendance.

Here are three takeaways from the Florida win:

Florida basketball dominates on fast break

Florida was on the run throughout the game, outscoring Stetson 34-2 in fast break points. UF turned defense into offense throughout the afternoon. scoring 15 points off 15 Stetson turnovers.

Guards lead the way for Florida basketball in the first half

Florida’s three starting guards ― Martin, Richard and…

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Source link : https://www.gainesville.com/story/sports/college/basketball/2024/12/29/takeaways-as-no-5-florida-basketball-routs-stetson-at-the-oconnell-center/77102236007/

Author : The Gainesville Sun

Publish date : 2024-12-29 19:47:00

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