The Florida Gators defeated the Colgate Raiders, 90-60, on Sunday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville.
Xaivian Lee led all scorers with 19 points despite a 1-for-6 day from beyond the arc, and Rubenem Chinyelu (16), Alex Condon (16) and Thomas Haugh (17) all scored 15 or more points as well. Chinyelu and Condon had 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively. It’s Chinyelu’s sixth double-double of the year and Condon’s fifth. Boogie Fland was the odd man out with just seven points. Urban Klavzar had eight off the bench.
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These Quadrant 3 and 4 matchups go a certain way for the Gators. Lesser teams can’t handle Florida’s physicality and size in the frontcourt battle, which explains Chinyelu’s and Condon’s big games. The Orange and Blue doubled up the Raiders on the glass with 49 rebounds to Colgate’s 22 total. That leads to boring games, in a sense, but any excitement in these kinds of matchups would be concerning.
Florida enters the Christmas break with a three-game win streak, winning those contests by an average of 27 points. There’s not much more Gator Nation can ask for, and a similar outcome should occur in the final game of the calendar year against Dartmouth on Dec. 29.
Florida’s first-half offense was up and down
Florida only hit two of its first six shots, but the went on a 4-for-6 stretch to take a double-digit lead. That back-and-forth pattern continued for most of the first half, which prevented the Gators from taking the 20-point lead they probably should have had.
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At a glance, a 17-for-32 half isn’t bad, but Florida dominated Saint Francis earlier this week, shooting 81% on 2-point field goals. Colgate is a better team than Saint Francis, but Florida missed a couple of opportunities, starting at the free-throw line. Florida went 6-for-12 from the stripe in the first half. That kind of free-throw percentage can be costly against Quadrant 1 teams.
The Gators also shot just 3-for-13 (23.1%) from 3-point range, including a 1-for-5 half from Fland and Lee. This has been a problem all season, and it’s not going away after 12 games. Fland started to attack the rim a bit more, but he failed to convert the and-one 3-point play at the line. Lee missed all three of his 3s, but he went 4-for-4 from the stripe.
A better second half for the Gators
Things stabilized in the second half, thanks to a strong performance from the starting lineup. Excluding Fland, Florida’s starters scored 42 of its 47 second-half points. Condon and Haugh combined to go 3-for-4 from deep, and Lee turned it on for 13 points in 14 minutes. Chinyelu is simply too physical down low and can score at will, especially off an offensive rebound.
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Micah Handlogten’s seven second-half rebounds can’t be understated either. He gets a lot of flak for his limited offense, but Handlogten is one of the best vertical defenders and rebounders in the college game. At 7-foot-1, he should be fouling a bit more, but his ability to go straight up produces results on both ends of the court.
Before the reserves fully took over, Florida’s starting lineup shot 14-for-21 (66.7%) from the field. That’s the kind of efficiency Todd Golden is looking for in these games.
Florida’s starters kept the ball safe
Turnovers have been a problem for Florida all year, but the Gators played their safest game of the season on Sunday with just four giveaways going into the final 3:30. The reserves completely blew it, turning it over five times in the last few minutes, but it’s an important stat for the starters to be proud of. Fland had the only turnover from a starter in the second half.
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Florida is just a few plays away from beating Duke and UConn, and turnovers were part of the problem. Yes, those teams play better defense, but Florida has played all year sloppily. Confidence is contagious, and stringing together a few good games of good ball-handling should go a long way in SEC play.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators basketball vs. Colgate Raiders recap, takeaways
