Image Credit: UAA
The best team in the SEC all season can now statistically back up that claim after the No. 17 Florida Gators battled through a rough first half to soar past the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday night in College Station, Texas. Barely breaking a sweat over the final 20 minutes on the way to an 86-67 win, Florida now stands alone atop the SEC standings … for the first time since 2014.
Ending that 12-year drought, despite largely playing imperfect basketball this season, the Gators have flexed their muscles against even the league’s stiffest competition as the campaign has progressed. The track will not get any easier with one month of regular-season games remaining, though head coach Todd Golden does seem to have his crew primed for the closing stretch.
Let’s take a look at what went down Saturday night as UF won its fourth straight road game with some Fastbreak Takeaways.
It was over when … junior forward Thomas Haugh scored five straight points, including a dagger 3-pointer from the corner with 4:40 remaining, to push Florida ahead by 26 points in the closing minutes. The Gators were aggressive immediately out of the break, opening the second half with a 20-5 scoring stretch to take a 26-point lead with 15 minutes remaining. While that advantage ultimately hit 27, the Aggies clawed their deficit down to as low as 17 but never got closer.
First half focus: Florida led by double digits for most of the first 20 minutes amid one of the strangest periods of the season. While the Gators played poorly on offense and put themselves on pace for their lowest scoring total of the season, the Aggies were even worse. Texas A&M opened 1 of 27 from the floor (missing 23 shots in a row) and 1 of 12 from downtown, only scoring three points over the first 12:12. The teams then went back and forth over the final 7:44 with UF holding an 11-point lead at the break. Florida’s advantage would have been larger, but it had two bigs in foul trouble and got outrebounded in the opening frame.
Exceptional efforts: Junior center Rueben Chinyelu was limited in the first half due to fouls but completed his third straight double-double, seventh in the last eight games (all wins) and 14th of the season. With 10 points and 15 rebounds, Chinyelu also became the third UF player this century to register 250+ boards in consecutive seasons, joining Joakim Noah and Al Horford. He added a pair of blocks for good measure.
Five Gators scored in double figures, led by Haugh, who scored a game-high 22 points, adding seven rebounds, three assists and two swats. At one point, Haugh posted 11 straight points and 16 of 18 for UF in the middle of the second half, going 11 of 13 from the free-throw line in the game. Sophomore guard Isaiah Brown registered the second-best scoring game of his career with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting, while junior G Urban Klavžar was clutch, hitting 3 of 5 attempts from 3-point range for 11 points.
Odds & ends: Florida improved to 12-9 all-time against Texas A&M, 3-3 uner Golden with its first such win on the road … the Gators have won eight of their last nine games with four straight road victories, matching the third-longest streak in program history and longest since 2017 … UF is in sole possession of first place in the SEC for the first time since 2014 … Florida improved to 15-1 when leading at halftime, 17-1 when leading with 5 minutes left, 17-4 when outrebounding an opponent, 12-1 when shooting better than 45% from the field, 15-0 when outshooting an opponent, 13-2 when attempting more free throws, 11-2 when winning the bench scoring battle, 16-2 when 4+ players score in double figures and 10-0 when 5+ players score in double figures … UF’s last eight wins have come by 21.1 points per game, 21.8 during its four-game road win streak
What it means: The Gators’ winning stretch has been fueled by the emergence of Chinyelu, who has formed a dominant one-two punch with Haugh that has carried the team through most games. Florida dominated paint scoring by doubling up Texas A&M, 48-24, and it came back to win the rebounding battle, 50-43. As long as the supporting cast continues to be effective — even if those who stand out from the pack rotate each game — Florida can continue to do a lot of winning this season. The problem remains that UF is basically a black hole from the perimeter, and while it can overcome that scarlet letter in SEC play, come the NCAA Tournament, poor outside shooting — more than anything else — can lead to an early exit.
Now 23 games into the season, it is clear that improvement is simply not coming. Florida entered Saturday night’s game ranked 354th out of 361 teams nationally in 3-point shooting (.289), worst among power conference teams and worst in the SEC by 2%, yet actually hit below their average, making 26.1% of their attempts from long range. Sophomore G Boogie Fland (nine points, four assists, three boards) is now 0 of 14 from deep since Jan. 17, while senior G Xaivian Lee (10 points, three dimes, three rebounds) is 1 of 14 over his last three games. The starting backcourt combined to go 1 of 11 from downtown in the game but only amassed two turnovers (both from Fland) and played strong defense throughout.
What’s next? It will be a quick turnaround for a Gators team that had a week off before Saturday night’s contest. Florida will remain on the road when it visits Georgia on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off with the game airing live nationally on ESPN2. UF won 92-77 over UGA back on Jan. 6.